Product Description
What it is: Maybelline Nude Romance Plush Silk Eyeshadow came out as part of the Spring 2014 Dare To Go Nude Collection. It is a limited edition quad with warm neutral shades that can be used for “everyday” or smokey eyeshadow looks. The formula is supposed to be silky smooth and offer rich color payoff.
Price/Quantity: About $10.00 for 2.5g
Availability: I found mine at Rite Aid. Sometimes limited edition stuff can be hard to track down but typically they can be found at drugstores like Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS, and other stores like Fred Meyer, and Bed Bath and Beyond stores that have a Harmon’s inside.
Selection: There are 4 quads to choose from.
Colors/Finishes: The individual shades do not have names but I will describe them from left to right:
- Semi-opaque, matte, warm light beige.
- Semi-opaque, matte, warm terra cotta brown.
- Opaque, mostly matte, dark earthy brown.
- Opaque, satin, dark chocolate brown.
Packaging: Plastic, snap-shut compact. It opens and closes easily and stays closed securely. Inside, there is a double sided sponge-tip applicator. New at the store, the quads are sealed with a small perforated label that breaks when you open the lid.
Smell/Fragrance: No discernible smell or fragrance.
Performance
Application: These looked very similar either over a primer or over bare lids. All the shades have good color payoff but don’t look as even as I’d like on the lid so I had to apply 2-3 layers for an even application. The two lighter shades were easy to blend but the two darkest shades took more work. The rightmost shade was the hardest to blend and actually became very patchy when I attempted to blend it.
Texture: The shadows were soft but not as silky as the ones in the other quads. They aren’t stiff or packed too tightly in the pan so plenty will come off on a brush when you swipe it over the powder. They had very little fallout when I was applying them as long as I tapped off any excess from the brush.
Pigmentation: The lightest shade had enough pigmentation to hide redness and veins on the lids. The second lightest shade had a similar amount of pigmentation and was easy enough to blend out smoothly. The two darkest shades had very good pigmentation but were difficult to get to blend out smoothly.
Longevity: When worn over bare lids, these started showing minor creasing after 5 hours and got worse over the next few hours. When worn over a primer, they creased very slightly after 6 hours and remained that way until I removed the shadows at the 8th hour.
Overall Opinion
Pros:
- The eyeshadows are soft and not packed too tightly in the pan.
- They have great color payoff.
- I got very little fallout as long as I tapped off any excess from the brush.
- These quads are inexpensive.
Cons:
- The two darkest shades are hard to blend.
- The two darkest shades are very close in color and aren’t really distinguishable from each other once applied.
- If you have oilier lids, you’re going to need a primer for these to last all day.
- Limited edition drugstore products can sometimes be difficult to track down.
Worth Buying? It’s definitely a usable palette but it would have been far better if the two shades on the right weren’t so similar and were easier to blend. It’s not going to be the best choice if you like doing smokey eyes and you like to have a nice smooth gradient. It could be good for grungy, smokey looks or graphic stuff like I did in the previous post though. There’s just enough that I don’t like to say that I wouldn’t recommend it.
