Rimmel HD Glam Eyes Review, Swatches, Photos
Rimmel introduced its HD Glam Eyes Palettes earlier this year in the UK. A celebration of all good things British these eyeshadow palettes feature four shades of shadow in a Union Jack design. Anglophiles like myself swoon when we see makeup and the UK combined.
Formula is amazing on these little guys and the price isn’t too bad either at $4.99 each.
Can you guess the problem though here?
I hauled two of these from ASOS several weeks ago but they are popping up in drugstores now. I got two more recently at CVS (or might have been Harmons don’t quote me). The price jump is huge as at ASOS they are over $10 each and US drugstores have them for as little as $5. Rimmel does surprise me on occasion and that would be the case with these as the formula is quite amazing for such a little bitty price tag.
Each palette features a dual sided sponge applicator and four shadows. The shadows are laid out in a Union Jack design. I admit the design slayed me, I die. I just love the way they designed the shadows to form a Union Jack. It’s terribly cute and incredibly impractical but more on that later.
The formula is like a light version of a Stila Eyeshadow with a velvety smooth feel and a texture that blends like butter. But where as Stila goes off base sometimes with a bit too much frost these have a soft sheen of a finish that looks quite gorgeous on and proves very easy to apply and blend. I liked the formula alot and felt like it was fairly new for Rimmel as it isn’t comparable to any of the other shadow formulas that Rimmel currently offers. The shadows prove to have more than enough color pay off as well and build easily for more pop!
I appreciate that Rimmel included fairly great shades for contrasting with here as well. The shadows graduate in color and each one matches perfectly together to create a single look. Some brands are guilty of throwing strange shades at us which in turns puzzles us during application but HD Glam Eyes have perfectly matched shades that are never muddy when blended together nor do they end up looking the same so you can get some nice definition and contrast in the looks you create. Rimmel also includes a lovely little diagram in the back of each palette to show you exactly how to get the look.
By now I imagine you guessed the issue here right?
As lovely as that little Union Jack design is, it does, indeed, prove completely impractical. The main shadow is a large cross which is easy to get to with a brush or sponge however the other shades of the design have smaller well strips and aren’t as easy to pick up color from. These tiny strips of color prove a challenge to get at even when you’re using a sponge applicator. Thankfully enough the sponge applicator included with the palette is long and thin so it does fit into the wells nicely but…….it still proves tricky to get enough color on the applicator for decent color build up. At first you’ll be enchanted by the design but as you work with the palette you’ll probably end up cursing it.
Shades I tried:
- Green Park (chartreuse, golden green, olive green, brownish green)
- English Oak (dark chocolate brown, creamy beige, coppery bronze, light golden brown)
- English Rose (pale pink, plum, taupe-y plum, dusky plum) (worn below)
- Heart of Gold (bronze-y brown, bark, light beige cream, bright gold) (worn below)
Overall, Rimmel HD Glam Eyes are definitely worth a purchase but be warned that the design of the palette proves a pain in the arse to work with and I do question whether the wonderful formula and lovely pigmentation is worth the extra effort to get at. Good stuff here but a damn shame the sweet packaging kills the deal in the end.
Tried ’em?
Thoughts?
Do share!