Tuesday 12 July 2011

Review: e.l.f. Brightening Eye Colour Quads.

After the big '10 free quads with £20 purchase' offer, my sister and I have almost all of the quads (except Matte Mauve) between us, so I thought it would be a good time to give them a review :)

I love these shadows, when I went travelling last year (3 months, tiny make up bag) these were fantastic- 4 shades in a little palette, the only eyeshadows I took were: Drama, Silver Lining and Blue Moon- which was more than enough for everyday, nights out and a wedding! :)

The packaging is very sturdy (all three quads survived 3 months being bashed around in my backpack) and practical; I love the clear top because it makes it really easy to tell which is which at a glance. The tiny mirror is surprisingly useful- I've managed to use it for a full face of make up when no other mirror was available- but I don't generally use the sponge tip applicators (I often take all mine out and keep them separately) though they may be useful if you're travelling without brushes or for on-the-go touch ups.

The shadows themselves are really great, they are smooth and easy to apply. Some of them are a little more on the powdery/chalky side, but I always use my trusty e.l.f. eyelid primer (the essentials one, I feel another review coming on) and I've never had a problem with fallout or patchy application. On the whole they are very pigmented, with good colour payoff. Some of the matte shades are less pigmented but they are still very easy to use.

There is a huge range of colours- 18 quads in total, and each quad has a good selection of shades that work well together (though of course I like to mix and match too!) There is a nice mixture of shimmer, matte and satin eyeshadows, and I don't think there is a quad with only one type of shadow, so one quad could easily give you a full eye look.

I would love to do swatches for each and every shadow, but frankly I haven't the patience and I'm sure many people have done it better than I could! (a Google Image search should give you decent swatches, if not, please let me know and I'd be happy to swatch some shades for you) The photos below also show true-to-life shades :)


Drama, Blue Moon

Pretty N' Pink, Glam
Punk Funk

Luxe, Rocker
Day 2 Night

Brownstone, Ethereal
Butternut

Blue Moon, Nouveau Neutrals
Hazy Hazel

Nymph Dreams, Ivy
Teal Dream

They are available from the e.l.f. website for only £1.50 (well worth it!) and I definitely recommend them to absolutely everyone!

What are your thoughts on the eyeshadow quads?


                                                                                   xGretalRabbitx

3 comments:

  1. OMG~~~thats sooo many of them~~~i luv ELF they are soo cheap and quality is real good~~~i only have butternut and matt mauve~~~but i do find their eyeshadow a bit powdery though~~~

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  2. I know, I almost want to complete the set with Matte Mauve now! Some of them aren't mine though (they're my sisters) Yeah the more matte shades can be a bit powdery, but with a good base (I use the e.l.f. regular eyelid primer) I don't find it to be a problem :)
    xGretalRabbitx

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  3. I LOVE ELF!!!! especially bc their so cheap but great in quality! I have a couple of these pallets. I think I got a few at the dollar store, gotta love beauty bargains!!!!

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