L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow Review, Swatches, Photos
L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow has landed on our shores.
Released early last year in Europe, these shadows are making the rounds in drugstores here in the states. So far I’ve caught them at Harmons, CVS, and Walgreens with prices ranging from $7.99 to $9.49.
They got pretty strong raves on UK blogs when they were originally introduced and I was quite curious to try them out for myself so it’s nice to see them locally. L’Oreal has some pretty strong releases for Spring 2012 up their sleeves and I do believe Infallible Eyeshadow will get some strong raves across the board. The formula is very nice however it has a few hiccups worthy of a mention.
Let’s take a peek!
For me these are a cheaper version of Armani Eyes to Kill and Lancome Ombre Magnetique. These are a loosely packed pigment eyeshadow just like Armani and Lancome’s version. Think of a MAC Pigment and think of it pressed into a compact and you’ll pretty much have the formula for Infallible Eyeshadows.
The formula here feels like a cross between a cream and a powder. I find they are creamier in texture than Armani’s version and have a smoother more even glide. I also felt like they crumbled less and had less problems with fall out although fall out is still a factor here. Application is incredibly smooth here, they glide on beautifully but I do think it deserves mentioning that they’ll work best on a smooth lid. If your lids are uneven, wrinkled, etc…you might feel application comes across a touch patchy. The shadows are a heavy weight in my opinion, yes, they are weightless once in place but when color is built up the formula starts to get heavier and heavier so you’ll want to blend these out fully once you’ve added layers.
Wear time is incredible. I have drier lids and without primer they pretty much last from the start of my day straight through the evening with a little minor creasing, very minor, around the 10th hour in. I think they should fair well on oily lids but a little primer underneath will aid in the wear time for oily lid users.
The texture reminds of a buttery velvet somewhat like Stila Eyeshadows but with more of a creamier feel. The finish on all the shades I tried was very metallic, they have a liquid metal effect that’s very pretty. A few shades did come across a touch frosty but it blended out well enough.
The best application method here is with a sponge tip applicator as it smooths and builds color easily. Using this with a brush will cause some pretty bad fall out plus the colors don’t apply as nicely unless you’re patting them into place. Sponges work best in my humblest opinion.
I do think you might be limited to how you wear these as I feel like they don’t quite blend well or play nice together. I get a little bit of a muddy looking going on if I’m trying to contrast two shades. If you have some major skill in the blending department you can probably create a great look but I personally thought they didn’t play so nicely together so I limited myself to wearing a single shade.
The shades I purchased were:
- Amber Rush (coppery bronze)
- Bronze Taupe (taupe-y brownish bronze)
- Golden Sage (sage green)
- Eternal Sunshine (bright buttery gold)
- Iced Latte (icy cream beige)
On the downside I think if your eyes are aging slightly you might feel these apply a bit unevenly. My lids are pretty smooth but my sister expressed a bit of irritation during application and felt they didn’t have as nice a glide as I was expressing excitement over.
I have to admit formula is amazing, pigmentation is incredible, and wear time is super but…I didn’t really love them as much as I thought I would. The formula is a little too much dare I say? Color pay off is really, really bold and the color on my eyes looked like I applied a little too much when in reality I hadn’t that was just how pigmented the product was.
Overall, these are definitely one to look out for particularly if you like strong, bold formulas. Personally they weren’t a complete win for me but I can’t deny L’Oreal did a very good job with them. I believe there are twelve shades total to choose from so variety is a factor here as well. If you love Armani Eyes to Kill these are an excellent dupe at half the price tag!
Anyone try?
What do you think?
Do share!