L'Oreal Paris Infallible 24HR Eyeshadow

So I've had these L'Oreal Paris Infallible 24HR Eyeshadows for a while now. They were released first in Europe in spring 2011, made a huge splash, then a year later released in the US in spring 2012 driving an even bigger hoarding craze. I'd read great things about them, and out of the original 12 colors released in the US, I bought 9, intended to bring them to Taipei with me.

...And then I changed my mind and decided to shelf them until I get back, and of course when I got back I moved here and there and well, here they are now, almost two years later -.-' But hey, one good thing about waiting is that since then, I've collected quite a few more colors in addition to the 9 below. I'll post all the colors I have in batches by order of accumulation, so they'll be out of order in terms of release date and seasonal collection.

Anyway, out of the 12 colors that were first released, I bought...
Top row: 222 Infinite Sky, 333 Golden Sage, and 555 Perpetual Purple.
Middle row: 888 Iced Latte, 889 Midnight Blue, and 890 Bronzed Taupe.
Bottom row: 892 Amber Rush, 899 Endless Pearl, and 997 Eternal Sunshine. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.


These are not pressed powder but are the newish hybrid powder-cream formula. They feel both powdery and creamy, are tightly packed into a "cake" and slightly damp to the touch. When you press with a finger or a firm brush, their surface will depress. When you pick at them, you won't get any fine dust but rather damp clumps or even chunks.

Packaging wise they're in clear plastic pots with flat square base, screw on cap, and a plastic "stopper." This stopper is not to be discarded, and you'll need to put it back onto the eye shadow prior to recapping, to keep the powder-cream "cake" from falling and breaking apart since it only fills up about half the pot. The whole process' a bit clumsy I guess, and not exactly travel-friendly, which was the reason I decided against taking them to Taipei. But boy do I love them. LURV them.

Texture wise they are buttery smooth, and most of the colors are very well pigmented but not entirely opaque, which means you can build up to the intensity you like. The best part is that the majority are either intensely metallic and/or super sparkly, and neither can go wrong with me so I was glad to pick up these 9 out of 12 original colors, having skipped the remaining 3 that were only subtly shimmery, satiny, or matte.

Another bonus is that these eye shadows can be used dry or wet. I haven't tried all the colors wet, but for those I have tried, to be honest I didn't find much difference. The colors and texture remained the same, and the wet application only added a slightly more foiled effect to the already intensely metallic finish.


So do these sound like perfection in a plastic pot or what? Not quite. One of the biggest complaints I've read is that even when used dry, these eye shadows can be a challenge to pick up with a brush, causing some to just make do with finger application. I can attest to this, having tried a few different brushes before settling on the Stila #34 Jewel Eye Shadow Brush for general lay-down or and all over wash. And I say settling because although the Stila #34 can pick up some color, it still applies a patchy and some effort is required to even things out. For crease and accent colors I use the Stila #7 Precision Crease Brush Short Handle (long handle version still available) and the shadow brush end of the Stila #30 Dual Ended Shadow Brush (still available), both of which pick up even more color than Stila #34 but are too small for lay-down or wash purposes. Will update this post with pictures of the Stila #7 and #30 brushes later. I just realized I have a few brushes I'd been using for a long time now but never took pictures of :X Oops.

Using a brush to pick up this eye shadow when wet is even worse! The application is super patchy and requires a lot more work to spread and blend. So yeah, the slight foiled effect on top of the intense metallic finish is nice, but not worth the time and effort in my humble opinion. For wet application I use the smaller end of the dual ended Stila #33 Complexion Brush (also available), although I got mine from a 5 Piece Brush Set that was released as part of the 2011 holidays collection.

- 222 Infinite Sky: metallic, high intensity. A vivid sky blue.

- 333 Golden Sage: metallic, medium intensity. A moss green.


- 555 Perpetual Purple: semi metallic, high intensity. A deep purple with satiny finish and a semi metallic sheen when seen at an angle.


222 Infinite Sky, 333 Golden Sage, and 555 Perpetual Purple. Top row are all dry swatches. The bottom row is one wet swatch of 222 Infinite Sky, just to show you the reflection of the foil-like effect. It's gorgeous, but it took a whole lot of work just to get that swatch, so I can't imagine wrestling with it on my eyes.


- 888 Iced Latte: metallic, high intensity. An ivory powder color that looks frosty due to the metallic finish. I actually haven't worn this color yet due to this frostiness from the swatch.


- 889 Midnight Blue: semi metallic, high intensity. A deep ink blue with a satiny finish and a semi metallic sheen when seen at an angle, similar to 555 Perpetual Purple above.


- 890 Bronzed Taupe: metallic, high intensity. A brownish taupe that's intensely metallic.

888 Iced Latte, 889 Midnight Blue, and 890 Bronzed Taupe. All remaining swatches are dry unless otherwise noted.


- 892 Amber Rush: metallic, high intensity. A warm fleshy pink with peachy tone in the pot, but the peachiness becomes much more prominent on my skin, turning slightly coppery even. This color is also intensely metallic.

- 899 Endless Pearl: matte, medium intensity. A cream and the only matte color I own. I use it to highlight the inner corners of the eyes, and in a pinch, as a brightening powder for the under eye area. It does a pretty good job in both!


- 997 Eternal Sunshine: metallic, medium intensity. A warm 18K gold.


892 Amber Rush, 899 Endless Pearl, and 997 Eternal Sunshine.