Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Global Goddess Tribal Quad Eyeshadow

Global Goddess is a small cosmetic line by celebrity makeup artist Shalini Vadhera, you can read more details about her and the makeup line on the official website, so I'm not going to go into details here. I've never heard of the brand, and the majority of the stuff doesn't really attract me because they don't look like they would go well with my skin tone. And plus a lot of the Global Goddess products are very sunny-bronzy looking, too tropical oriented where as I'm more into the pastels, light and airy, sheerer colors.

That said, as soon as I saw the Tribal Quad Eyeshadow palettes on Victoria's Secret website, I just had to have them even though they are a whopping $42 bucks each! From the description of the palettes on Global Goddess's website, the eyeshadows sound pretty exotic with baobab and moringa oils as ingredients, but holysmoke, $42 is still a whole lot for an eyeshadow palette!

But then I caved, and bought not just one but two palettes. Yes, I'm a total sucker, but how can you blame me? Look at those color combos! Aren't they just freakin' gorgeous or what? I'm not into the turquoise and green in the Mombasa palette, but the Eldoret and, especially, the Arusha palettes are just breathtaking! I bought both of them, and I don't even wear plums and purples usually!

***Picture from Global Goddess.

I held my breath when they arrive, and wow, the color swatches on the Global Goddess's website were dead on! The palettes look exactly as shown online, at least to me they do, but you should judge for yourself too. The Arusha palette is just as beautiful as I expected it to be, and the Eldoret is very pretty as well.

The Arusha palette comes in a black snake skin-print paper case with a plastic slip cover. Inside, there are no applicators included but there is a mirror.






The colors in the Arusha palette includes (from left to right):
- Plum: luminous, medium intensity
- Rose pink: luminous, medium intensity
- Milk chocolate brown: luminous, high intensity
- Pink champagne: luminous, very sheer


Despite the beautiful colors in the Arusha palette, I'm sorry to say I haven't had much luck with the eyeshadows, unfortunately. They showed up lovely on the back of my hand, but they just would not cooperate upon application to my lids. The lighter colors did not show up at all, while the darker colors did not blend very well. In the end, I looked so bruised up you'd think I got punched in the face :(


The Eldoret palette comes in a similar fashion as the Arusha, in a brick red animal-print paper case with a plastic slip cover.






The colors in the Eldoret palette includes (from left to right):
- Off white: luminous, very sheer
- Muted turmeric yellow: semi-pearl, low intensity
- Coppery brown: luminous, high intensity
- Golden ginger: luminous, low intensity


The Eldoret palette is even more disappointing than the Arusha palette, sigh... :( Given 3 out of the 4 colors are sheer to low intensity, I had a really hard time getting them to show on me, even though, again, they showed up fine on the back of my hand. I particularly struggled with the coppery brown color, which turned muddy, and the pearly shimmering muted turmeric, which totally fell flat upon application!


What's the problem here? I don't get it! I wonder if the oils in these eyeshadows were not getting along with my waterproof sunscreen (which I do wear on my lids) or something? But I've never ever had any trouble with makeup application over my sunscreen. If anything, my sunscreen makes a great base/primer! Gah...what did I do wrong? I'm so sad I couldn't work these correctly! May be I will try again (and probably again, and again) using different brushes in the future - the makeup artist did mention on her website that a good brush is key to application. I want to be able to wear these eyeshadows, they're so pretty (not to mention they cost an arm and a leg)!!! *pouts* :(

4 comments:

Citrine said...

The simple solution is to ditch your suncreen and wear sunglasses instead...

Actually I think the problem might be still with the shadow itself...like how a lot of drugstore eye color goods great on the back of the hand but the color doesn't adhere well on softer, more delicate surface like eyes. (kind of like it's easier to write with chalk on paper than kleenex...)

btw, those lip balm look really nice. I think I am getting the fuchsia and the clear one!


Citrine

D. said...

See, the problem is these eyeshadows are not drug store stuff! I wouldn't be complaining if the drug store stuff didn't work as well as I expected because, well, I get what I paid for. But these... :( And they're so pretty too!!!

Yeah, I love those lip balms, not so much the shimmers, but it's not like there's anything I can do about that...

Anonymous said...

How disappointing! The colors look so vibrant and with all those oils, I thought your experience would be different.

I find that a great set of brushes makes a world of difference in makeup application.

I use this set: http://www.salonhive.com/23-pc-black-handle-makeup-brush-set-w-pouch-ts-202.html

They are so soft and there is literally a brush for everything. I also like how the pouch keeps everything clean and organized.

D. said...

Hi Jenna,

Thank you for leaving a comment and even giving me recommendations for brushes :D

Yes, the eye shadows were terribly disappointing! But you are absolutely right, quality brushes have a lot to do with the outcome of the shadows. I will definitely take a look at those brushes you recommend. Thanks again!

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