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Friday, September 21, 2012

Swatches: L'Oreal Limited Edition Project Runway Electric Fantasie Eyeshadow Quads in The Mystic's Gaze and The Muse's Gaze

As promised, today I'd like to show you the two eyeshadow palettes that I purchased at Rite Aid from the L'Oreal Limited Edition Project Runway Electric Fantasie Collection. This collection might already be at your local drugstore but if you haven't spotted the displays yet, keep looking because I'm hearing they're just starting to pop up in certain locations.

Of the four eyeshadow quads in this collection, these two stood out to me as containing the most original, interesting colors:
L'Oreal Limited Edition Project Runway Electric Fantasie Eyeshadow Quads in
The Muse's Gaze and The Mystic's Gaze
(retail: $8.95 each at Rite Aid, 0.16 oz) 

Keep reading for swatches and dupe comparisons... 

Let's start with The Muse's Gaze:



This quad contains the following shades:
  • Shimmery light aqua blue
  • Metallic gold
  • Shimmery light copper with a slight pink flash
  • Matte black with blue-green glitter

Based on the photos above, I thought that the black shade was actually a blackened dark green, but as you'll see, it's not (all of the following shadows were swatched on bare skin and then over primer):



As you can see, three of the colors in this palette have good pigmentation even without primer. However, the black matte shade is horrible without primer--very dry and patchy. Again, I was disappointed with the color in the pan vs. the color on my skin, since it looked like it was going to be a blackened green when, in fact, it's just black with blue-green glitter. The gold shade is by far the best in the palette as it is the most buttery and smooth during application with the best color payoff.

Some comparisons:
 

In the pan, the aqua shade really reminded me of Urban Decay Minx (but without the chunky silver glitter that's in Minx).


In the pan, the copper shade sort of reminded me of NARS California.

But as you can see, neither of the shades look anything like the UD or NARS shades when swatched:


 No dupes here,  but hopefully this puts the colors in this quad in perspective seeing them side by side with other popular shades.
 

The gold shade in this quad reminded me of NARS Silent Night. I'm always looking for a good substitute for Silent Night because that shadow got to the most crumbly, fallout-heavy eyeshadow that I own, as you can see in the following photo:

 

On the skin, Silent Night has a lot of glitter (there's no glitter in the L'Oreal shade) and it's also more of a true yellow gold. The L'Oreal shade is not as yellow, and it also has a metallic finish:



 Next up, The Mystic's Gaze:



This quad contains the following shades:
  • Shimmery medium lavender with a slight pink flash
  • Shimmery teal-green with a slight gold flash
  • Matte royal blue
  • Blackened navy blue with royal blue shimmer

All shadows swatched over bare skin and then over primer:



As you can see, the two shimmers in this quad are very nice, even without primer. The teal shade has the best color payoff of the four colors in this palette. The worst shade in this quad, by far, is the royal blue matte. This has got to be one of the worse shadows I've come across in quite some time. I had to struggle to get it to show up on  bare skin, going over the color multiple times with three different applicators (sponge tip, brush and I even tried a Q-tip). Over primer, the royal blue matte wasn't much better. Patchy, inconsistent and just awful to work with.  The navy blue shade was a complete surprise. On bare skin it looks like a plain black matte, but over primer? Wow! Stunning.

Some comparisons:


The teal shade reminded me of Urban Decay Shattered, but on the skin it's not a dupe at all:


As you can see, the L'Oreal color doesn't have the metallic finish of Shattered. I would say that the L'Oreal shade has a more "mermaid-y" feel to it with a lovely transparent quality.


Now for a comparison that's near and dear to my heart. MAC Contrast was the very first MAC eyeshadow I ever bought in the mid 90s and it's still a favorite of mine. I love it for lining my eyes (as you can see by the liner brush marks in the pan below). It's a stunning blackened navy blue, so I was excited to compare it to the blackened navy blue in the L'Oreal quad:
 


Not a dupe, but close. The shimmer in Contrast is more of a violet blue, whereas the shimmer in the L'Oreal shadow is more of of a royal blue:


But they're both definitely blackened blues:


Summary for The Muse's Gaze:


Beautiful aqua, copper and gold shimmers in this quad (actually, the gold shadow is more of a metallic) with a nice, workable consistency. The black matte with blue-green glitter is quite dry and patchy. The gold shadow has the best consistency and color payoff of the four shades in this quad. I think this quad is worth a purchase if you're attracted to the aqua, gold and copper shades. If you were going to buy this quad solely for the matte black shade, you will no doubt be disappointed as the color is nowhere near as interesting as it appears in the pan (plus the texture is sub-par).

Summary for The Mystic's Gaze:


Beautiful lavender and teal shimmers in this quad with a good, workable consistency. The royal blue matte is one of the worst shadows I've come across in a long time--extremely hard consistency with zero-to-little color payoff and horrible, patchy application. The blackened navy shadow is in the same family as MAC Contrast but not a 100% dupe, although it would be a nice substitute if you don't own Contrast but are looking for the same feel. If you are attracted to the lavender, teal and blackened navy blue shades in this quad, then I'd say it's worth a purchase (the teal shade has the best consistency and color payoff of the four colors). If you were considering buying this palette for the royal blue matte color, I would tell you to run in the opposite direction and not waste your money on this one.

Do you own any of the L'Oreal Project Runway Fall 2012 quads? I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you missed my review of the purple lipgloss in this collection, you can check that out here. And please check back soon because I'll be reviewing one of the lipsticks in this collection in the next few days.
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21 comments

  1. wow the shadows are quite pigmented!!! LOVE IT!

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  2. I bought all four and I have about the same opinion. I will say that queens gaze is my favorite though. It's the grey themed one. I swatched all of them on my blog.

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  3. I was really on the fence about these since I have enough eyeshadow and because I thought the packaging was too far from being pretty for me. Thanks for your post since I now know that I can skip these without worrying I'm missing out! You saved me more money! :)

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  4. This helps so much!!! Couldn't you have just purchased the brownish quad too, cuz it's the other one i've been considering. It would be great for travel for a quick weekend. I was tempted by the bright quad, which I now know I don't need, and never looked at the other one that you got, which I now think I probably DO need.

    People, run fast when you see the display. I got to my Walgreen's the day after they put it out and some things were sold out and others were half gone. They go FAST!!

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  5. I cannot find these anywhere! I really want the Mystic's shine gloss. Maybe it is where I live. Does anyone know who has it online?

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  6. Thank you so much for this post! I was tempted by some of the quads, the colors are so pretty, but I'm picky about eyeshadow texture and now I'm glad I passed.

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  7. I bought all four and these two are my least favorite but they just look so pretty. I'll probably use them as eyeliner. The Temptress' Gaze is my favorite! And the Queen's Gaze is great too.

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  8. Great post G! Some of the colors look pretty but I'm on the fence since none of them look To Die For. ;)

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  9. love the comparisons to the high end product, its so helpful for trying more affordable alternatives!

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  10. That shimmery light copper from The Muse's Gaze looks ALOT like Urban Decays Penny Lane in the new Vice Palette......dupe alert?

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  11. That light copper w pink flash looks ALOT like Penny Lane from UD Vice Palette......dupe alert?

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  12. These are the two I was curious about, so thanks for the review! I decided in store that i had similar shades for most of these, except that matte blue- glad to know it's not worth the bother.

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  13. That bright blue reminds me of Sugarpill's Velocity and Royal Sugar but it's no where near as nice. The navy might be closer to MAC Deep Truth which is a blackened navy with blue shimmer.

    I certainly don't need another blackened navy but every time I see one my eyes glaze over and I drool Homer Simpson style.

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  14. I went with a couple of polishes instead. ;)

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  15. Thanks for this post - I wasn't wowed by last year's Project Runway release and ended up returning my purchases - I feel the same way this year, but your swatches reinforced that for me. Of course now I really want MAC's Contrast!

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  16. I'm not impressed enough to make a purchase, something about these quads screams "cheaply made"

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  17. These quads caught my eye, but I was waiting for your review before I bought them. Now that I've seen swatches, I think I'll pass on these. They seem to be too much of a mixed bag.

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  18. Thanks for the great review! While I might pass on the quads, I am certainly going to get some lippies from this collection!

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