Maybelline Eye Studio Color Explosion Luminizing Eyeshadow Part II

These Maybelline Eye Studio Color Explosion Luminizing Eyeshadow in 10 Amethyst Ablazed and 20 Blue Blowout were part of an impulse purchase during a sale ^.^ I've had them for a few months now and my goal is to go through all my back logs (from prior house moves, etc.) before July when my classes start.

All pictures taken n natural light without flash.


I reviewed 05 Caffeine Rush and 25 Pink Punch a couple of years ago. For 10 Amethyst Ablazed and 20 Blue Blowout, the driest and grittiest shade is again the sparkling top wash, which is to be expected. The next chalkiest shade is the liner shade, Chevron strip at the center. The other 3 are fairly smooth, with the base/highlighter at the bottom being silkiest.

That said, I'm disappointed with both palettes and do regret this purchase. First, the finishes. Out of 2 palettes, there's only 1 semi-metallic shade and 1 metallic shade, both the base/highlighter. Other than the 2 sparkling top washes, the rest are either matte or matte based with floating shimmers :( Second, the patchy and uneven pigmentation for the lid, medium crease, as well as the liner shades, pretty much the majority of the palette! All 3 colors have major dusty fallouts. Argh!

- 10 Amethyst Ablazed: these colors are gorgeous, which only disappoint me more because, well, I wish they were better made.

- Top: sparkling top wash, high shimmer, very sheer. White with multi-color shimmers.

- Middle: liner shade, satin, medium intensity. A deep eggplant. 

- Left: lid shade, matte based with floating shimmers, medium intensity. A matte carnation pink with floating gold shimmers. Looks pretty in the pan but is totally flat and uneven once applied.

- Right: medium crease shade, matte based with floating shimmers, medium intensity. A bright matte neon purple with floating violet shimmers. Again looks gorgeous in the pan but is totally dull once on. You can see this color's patchiness in the swatch photo below :(

- Bottom: base/highlighter, semi metallic, low intensity. A translucent shell pink.

- 20 Blue Blowout: this palette is slightly better than 10 Amethyst Ablazed above, but I don't wear blue very often at all! I know, why the hell did I buy it, right? :(

- Top: sparkling top wash, high shimmer, very sheer. White with multi-color shimmers. Pretty much identical to the one above.

- Middle: liner shade, matte, medium intensity. A nice navy, but rather dull without any shimmers. 

- Left: lid shade, matte, high intensity. Gorgeous pool blue that's super soft, silky, and pigmented. The problem? It's completely matte, which I'm sure some folks can pull off but definitely not me :(

- Right: medium crease shade, shimmers, medium intensity. A very pretty shimmery denim blue. Too bad there's a ton of fallouts. Sigh.

- Bottom: base/highlighter, metallic, low intensity. A lovely metallic pastel blue. I like this color a lot, but being a base/highlighter it can't carry the whole palette on it own.

See my previous posts:
- Maybelline Eye Studio Color Explosion Luminizing Eyeshadow
- Maybelline Hyper Diamond Shadows (Japanese release under a different name)