REVIEW & EOTD: Revlon Colorstay 16 Hour Eye Shadow (545 Attitude)

Revlon's newly released 16 Hour Eye Shadow quads were on my to-try list so I bought one as soon as I saw them on the stand at Priceline.  I chose the neutral pink/brown Attitude quad as a work appropriate palette reasoning that I'd use a long-lasting eye shadow during those seemingly never-ending weekdays, when my make up goes on just before 7am and doesn't come off until after 10pm *sigh*...

Here's the pristine, unopened palette. The packaging is average pharmacy/drugstore standard although perhaps a bit sleeker and chicer than some:

Let's have a closer look at the colours in this quad.  Clockwise from top left the shades are: a soft matte pink;  shimmery light taupe; matte blackened brown and a warm matte brown.  I like the idea of the different sized pans although the sizes don't reflect the way I would use the colours in this quad - I know I tend to use the lighter base and lid shades more heavily so I'd personally prefer more of the taupe, and less of the warm brown crease colour.  Can't please everyone, all of the time I guess...

Moving onto the swatches you can see the difference in pigmentation and texture.  I found the lighter shades to be very sheer, disappearing into my skin no matter how heavy I tried to make the swatch.  I also noticed the texture of these shadows were not as soft as some of the older Revlon shadows so they took a bit more effort to get out of the pan.

L - R (Swatched in daylight):

Matte pink, Shimmery taupe, Warm matte brown, Blackened matte brown

The ultimate test was the EOTD.   I applied the shades on my bare, unprimed lids exactly as directed by the diagram on the bottom of the quad.  Initially I tried using the sponge applicators in the quad resulting in harsh, unblended edges - Fail! - and resorted to my brushes to try and blend out and soften the edges.  This was the other issue:  the darker shades are very difficult to blend so you can still see a definite edge to the crease contouring even after blending in my EOTD below.  Not my best look so thank goodness the colours are neutrals!

Okay, so what about the 16 hour claim?  The day I tried this eyeshadow I actually wore it for around 14 hours but it definitely hung in there.  I have oily eyelids and there was no creasing and no noticeable fading so that is the upside.  There's obviously a bit of a trade-off here:  don't expect silky, easily blendable eyeshadow if you want it to last - at least not from Revlon Colorstay.

Pros:

• Long lasting without the need for primer - no fading or creasing
• good range of different colour combinations and finishes from neutrals to brights
• Reasonably priced at around $25.95 for 4 shades 

 

Cons:

• Inconsistent levels of pigmentation in the quad
• The configuration of different pan sizes may not suit your needs (I personally would have preferred more of the lid shade)
• Formula is difficult to blend on application

Would I repurchase this?
You can see from the fifty/fifty split of the pros and cons I'm a bit conflicted about this one.  Bottom line:  It does what it says - the colours stay looking fresh on my lids after several hours.  In all honesty I was a bit disappointed with the difficulties in the actual application of the shadows in my quad so for that reason I'm not tempted to repurchase. 

That's all for now.

Vita :)