Majolica Majorca Eyeshadow Quad Swatches - Part 2

Alright, here's the next Majolica Majorca quad that I swatched!~

This is another of the Jeweling Eyes series, and this is VI782. Apparently this is one of the original 8 in the series that was released last year. I'm beginning to see a pattern with MM palettes -- the darker colors are usually less shimmery and more pigmented, while the lighter colors are usually shimmerbombs. I really love this quad though, and it doesn't pull too red (some plums do).

I'll be making another post this weekend with the third installment of my swatching project, and maybe some swatches of my new Guerlain quad. It's gorgeous!

Majolica Majorca Eyeshadow Quad Swatches - Part 1

I have four Majolica Majorca quads, and this week I will be reviewing them one at a time.

Here are all four of them together. The packaging is adorable, hm?

First up is top-left, the Jeweling Eyes in BL711. This color combination is brand new for Spring 2010; there is another quad new for Spring as well.

This quad includes a shimmery light butter yellow, a shimmery mint green, a shimmery sky/baby blue, and a shimmery brown taupe. The latter two are more metallic and pigmented than the lighter two.

The quads come with a diagram on the box for the suggested look -- the Jeweling Eyes are meant to be worn with the leftmost as a highlight, the inner two on the lid and crease, and the rightmost as a liner.

Cameleon 36 Color Professional Eyeshadow Palette

Hoo boy. Yes, I'm crazy. But this was just so crazy I had to get it when I was shopping on Sasa. This is indeed a 36-color palette, packed with neutrals, brights, and everything in between. At only $7, what did I have to lose?

 

Sorry for the stock photos; I didn't take any of the palette itself before I started swatching!

For starters, the palette itself is tiny. It's about 3"x6", so you can imagine how small the actual pans are. The shadows are soft and easy to use, but they are so soft that they crumble a bit. :/

Swatches! Yes, I swatched them on my leg. My arms are too small to fix 36 eyeshadows on them.

Taupe is Dope - Eyeshadow Swatches

I love taupe. I wish I had more taupe, because it's fun to wear as a more intricate EOTD, but it can also look pretty on its own.

I've rallied up the five taupes that I have, swatched 'em, and reviewed all five (yes, just five) for you! Three of them are from palettes, so they have no specific shade name. I've photographed them without flash and with flash, as the flash shows off the shimmer/metallic finish more.

 

L-R: MAC Satin Taupe, Christian Dior Incognito, Majolica Majorca Majotrick BR711, Majolica Majorca Jewelling Eyes BL711, Laura Mercier Alloy.

MAC Satin Taupe: This is a Veluxe Pearl shadow, which is my absolute favorite finish from MAC. It's soft, creamy, and pigmented and applies like a dream. For the longest time I would just wear this with Naked Lunch as my go-to look. It also looks incredible on its own.

Christian Dior Incognito: This is one of the five shades in the Incognito quint by Dior, and it's my only matte taupe. I find that the matte Dior shadows are easier to work with than the shimmery ones, which are so sheer I look like I have discoballs on my eyelids once the color is built up enough. The entire quint is neutral but I have to say the light pink and the grey-toned taupe are the standouts of the group.

Majolica Majorca Majotrick BR711: This is part of a quad from Shiseido's popular drugstore line in Japan. It's actually quite similar to Satin Taupe, but not quite as warm as it has a silver flash to it whereas MAC's has more gold in my opinion. MM shadows can be hit or miss, especially their palettes, but I found that it applies very well on the eyelid even without a primer.

Majolica Majorca Jewelling Eyes BL711: Brand new for Spring 2010, this quad has a lovely cool taupe as the darkest selection. I haven't tried a complete look with the quad, only with the green and blue, but the taupe is lovely and I'm sure I'll be using it soon.

Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Color in Alloy: I have another of LM's metallic cremes (in Platinum) and Alloy does not disappoint either in terms of pigment, staying power, and ease of applying. It's one of the best formulas for creme eyeshadow that I've tried, and Alloy is such a gorgeous color. It's more red than Satin Taupe. It is definitely the warmest of my taupes, and I'm a NW10 so I'm amazed I can pull it off.

And that's the last of them! I'm hoping to get my hands on some more taupes in the future, as they are so wearable and my favorite neutral. There are so many different kinds! Please feel free to drop a comment with your recommendations for other taupes. :)

Annabelle Custom Quad Magnetic Compact

I recently decided to downsize my MAC eyeshadow collection to the few shadows I actually use. I went through a neutral phase where everything I bought for the eyes was neutral, so I had a lot of duplicates. Lately I've come to realize that I have dupes in other, smaller palettes that I prefer to their MAC equivelant.

I went from having 13(!) pans to just 4. Since the nearest MAC store is half an hour away, I decided to go for instant gratification and picked up a magnetic quad from Annabelle.

Annabelle is a Canadian exclusive drugstore brand that just recently came out with a system similar to MAC's pro palettes -- customizable quads with the pans ready to be popped into them. Unlike MAC's system, Annabelle's quads are magnetized, not the eyeshadow pans themselves.

The Annabelle quad is available in a couple of designs, and currently they are only available in Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada. RRP is $4.95, but I paid about $5.75 for mine which is just a few cents less than the MAC ones. They feel heavier and more sturdy though.

If you are in the United States, you can order from Annabelle directly by calling their CS line. More information is available in their FAQ on the official website.

Here's my quad in action next to my MAC 15-pan (which will hopefully be going to a new home!) Eyeshadows pictured are MAC Shroom, Naked Lunch, Satin Taupe, and Brun.