Of Toys and Co: Maquillage Eye Color Part II

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Maquillage Eye Color Part II

There have been 2 releases of Maquillage single eye shadow refills, the Eye Color, and the Eye Color N, which I will get to later. Packaging wise, I much prefer the Eye Colors because they come in quality and sturdy clear sliding cases. But unfortunately, they have been discontinued, replaced by the Eye Color N's, which come in much crappier soft plastic "holders," because Shiseido really really wants you to buy the separately sold compact even though it can only hold 3 (or was it 2?) shadow refills at a time. Will I bite? Not a chance. I will probably end up getting a large compact to fit them all in by alphabetical order :P

The Eye Color range had many colors and I managed to collect 31 of them. I will post 10 at a time until I go through them all, then I will start with the Eye Color N's, which I have been hunting down since living in Japan. Most of the pictures below were taken indoor with flash with only a few taken in natural light without flash. I will note either way.

In terms of texture, these Maquillage Eye Colors have been my "standard" for a long time, something I compare all my other pressed powder eye shadows to. And to date, there are very few that measure up to this standard, like Lavshuca Star Decoration Eyes and the pressed powder palettes from VOV Castledew Diacut Eyes. Of course there is always an "up market," but my firm belief is that up to a point, paying more won't necessarily get me better quality. Perhaps better packaged and definitely better hype, but quality tends to plateau off after a while. I am saying these eye shadows are very well worth my investment. They have exquisitely soft and buttery texture, blend like silk, and are a pleasure to play with and wear.

Unlike Majolica Majorca Shadow Customize, many of which are crazily pigmented, these Maquillage Eye Colors are more middle of the road when it comes to pigmentation. They're not too sheer, but they're not super pigmented either. The colors are more on the "safe" side, which means nothing popping or adventurous like Majolica Majorca. But I find them interesting enough, though I do lament the lack of bling and wish there were more intensely metallic shades. Otherwise there's a good variety of base/highlighters, crease shades, and a few liner shades.

- BE141: shimmer, very sheer. It's an ecru, so sheer it barely shows up on the back of my hand no matter how much of it I layer on. It's quite shimmery for a base/highlighter, yet at the same time, it's not sparkly enough for a top wash, at least not in my opinion ^.^ So I conclude that it's a subtly shimmery top wash, yielding a more sophisticated finish suitable for work.

The next 5 pictures were taken indoor with flash.

- BE242: semi metallic, low intensity. A very pretty champagne gold lid shade.

- BE263: satiny pearl, low intensity. A pale peach beige that makes an awesome base color because it brightens my entire eye area. You can read more about in my previous post.

- BE711: shimmer, low intensity. A shimmery peach that's shade or two darker than BE263 above. Makes a very nice lid shade.

- BE781: semi metallic, low intensity. A nude skin color with a distinctive silvery semi metallic sheen that leaves a wet finish. A very cool lid color!

From left to right: BE141, BE242, BE263, BE711, and BE781. Swatch picture taken in natural light without flash.

- BK972: shimmer, medium intensity. A nice shimmery black that wasn't as pigmented as I expected, but still makes a nice liner shade.

The next 2 pictures were taken indoor with flash.

- BL102: shimmer, medium intensity. A pretty icy blue that goes on me with some periwinkle.

- BL167: semi metallic, medium intensity. A gorgeous pale blue green!

Picture taken in natural light without flash. I realized I hadn't taken a picture of previously because it was still sealed!

- BL172: pearl, very sheer. This color is kind of neat. If you look at it directly, it's an opaque pale blue that appears pretty much a chalky white. But from an angle it's more translucent, reflecting a periwinkle iridescent pearl sheen.

The next 2 pictures were taken indoor with flash.