Hail Britannia! Anglophiles will love the look of the Rimmel Glam’ Eyes HD Eyeshadows, which I’d read about online a few months ago. I never thought I’d see them here because, well, I never hold out much hope for anything so everytime we do get a collection or item in, I’m always pleasantly surprised. Better that way eh? :)
Anyway, I spotted these one day while at a random Guardian Pharmacy trawling the aisles and I decided to pick up both Rimmel palettes on a whim just to see what the fuss was about. If you don’t see them in the top display, look lower – these were hidden on the lowest shelf, towards the back as if it was some illicit drug – I never understand the marketing techniques of some brands. But anyhoo….. :P
The shades I got were Royal Blue on left and Green Park on right. Green Park in particular, has received widespread raves internationally for being a very nice green and gold palette and above all, being inexpensive with great quality. I naturally had to see if it lived up to the hype ;)
Might I just say right off hand that I am a bit of an Anglophile – I blame it on a steady diet of Enid Blyton books as a kid. You cannot imagine my delight the first time I went to a fair and had toffee apples and barley sugar. Granted, I was a university student by then, but in my heart I was 12 and itching to picnic on heather hills and eat toffee apples all day long (which are delicious btw!). That was also when I realised that with the temperamental and mostly wet British weather, its amazing how anyone actually manages to squeeze in enough sun for a picnic – Enid wasn’t quite telling us all the facts :P
Rimmel Glam Eyes HD Eyeshadows Union Jack palettes Left: Royal Blue Right: Green Park
Green Park is a park near Buckingham Palace, and the name of a Tube station near the said park. I enjoy strolling through Green Park in autumn – its a lovely place to have a spot of lunch :) The Rimmel eyeshadow palette is laid out in the shape of the Union Jack, which is a very nice touch (In fact, the Royal Blue could easily be the Scottish flag if you disregard the cross in the centre!) but as I will show you below, quite impractically designed.
As you can see, the palette isn’t very large – I have small hands too so while its quite easy to get to the main colour that you see in the cross, the other shades are quite hard to reach even with a small brush. Its a right pity, because the textures and formula is very impressive.
There are 4 colours in each palette, and each colour is soft to the touch, pigmented and infused with shimmer that isn’t over the top. There is a main colour, a highlight colour and 2 deeper crease colours. The ones I have the most trouble with are the smallest triangles in each palette. I honestly think Rimmel could have done better with these – make them larger, for example. The concept is a good one, but whoever designed these palettes isn’t a makeup user, that’s for certain!
Top: Royal Blue Bottom: Green Park swatches
When you manage to get the colour out, they are very lovely.
Royal Blue – Shimmer Teal, Shimmer White, Black (Little Shimmer), Navy Blue (Little Shimmer)
Green Park – Shimmer Green Gold, Shimmer Gold, Shimmer Dark Brown, Shimmer Brown
The shadows are a little soft, and you may experience some fall out. I apply them using the dabbing method – dab it on your skin to make it stay put longer and have better colour intensity – and it lasts most of the day for me. By the evening, it does tend to have faded a little but then, what do you expect from these, really! :P
I like the shimmer in the shadows. They aren’t over the top, and they are so pretty from every angle. That gold colour in Green Park deserves special mention for being a gorgeous gold shadow… if you can get your brush into the narrow bit of the palette that holds it.
In a nutshell
Inexpensive innovatively designed eyeshadow palettes from Rimmel. The texture of the shadows are good even if the formula is a little soft. However, if you use the dabbing method to apply you will experience less fall out or if you use a primer. The quality is overall, very good with good pigmentation and shimmer that isn’t over the top nor too glittery, given the price. The palettes are a little hard to use given that some of the colours are very small and hard to get to with your brush. However if you aren’t overly fussy I’d say these are nice eye palettes to check out.
Pros: Affordable, Good pigment, Nice shimmer without being over the top or being glittery, Soft texture makes it easy for brushes to pick up colour
Cons: Soft texture can result in fall out (use the dabbing method or primer to apply to counter this), Palette is a bit hard to use especially the very small sections which fit only the smallest of liner brushes
Here are a couple of eye closeups to give you an idea of how I wear both palettes.
Green Park – wore this one with just a touch of green in the edges, but mostly just using the gold. This is a warm gold toned green palette that you can wear to show off mostly green or mostly gold to your fancy. The deep brown isn’t quite deep enough for lining on its own so I still need a separate liner.
Royal Blue – I wore most of the teal all over the lid with the white shimmer to blend it out and only using the navy blue and black to line. I experienced more fall out with Royal Blue than with Green Park but less fading as the day wore on.
I actually quite like these. They are nice to use and I use a little liner brush to get into the darkest shades to use as a liner. The triangle of the second darkest shade can fit a pencil brush if you are a wee bit more careful so on an overall basis, I’d say this is still a winner of a palette :) I didn’t see many colours locally though – only Royal Blue, Green Park and True Union Jack which has as it main colour, a bright pink I didn’t think I could rock :P
Have you seen or tried the Rimmel Glam Eyes HD Eyeshadow in the Union Jack palette? Have you tried any Rimmel shadows before this? I’m not too familiar with Rimmel cosmetics so if you have a rec, I’d sure love to hear it! :D
Paris B
Rimmel Glam Eyes HD Eyeshadow palettes Price: RM35.90 Availability: Rimmel counters at local pharmacies
The teal is gorgeous! Really similar to the teal in the Garden Pastels (green) palette from Dior. I used that to line my lower lash line too. Love. Rimmel does really good stuff and for drugstore prices, the quality is really something.
Other than a lipstick, this is the only other Rimmel product I’ve tried! Its not bad really for the price. I’m not sure what else to try though – there aren’t many recommendations on what’s good from the brand.
drool~~~~~
these look awesome on you Paris!!!
My! i love the cute britan flag design~~ and its so affordable!!!!!!
just went to watson and got a remmel eyliner yesterday….didnt come across this at all!!!
humph~~
You probably have to look down the shelves, or near the eyeshadows. These were so tucked away, like Rimmel was embarrassed of them or something :P I hope you get to check it out soon ;)
I saw this and I was like “wow cute!!!” but when I tried swatching them, the colour pay off was just meehh. But yeah, Green Park is really pretty, it’s just isn’t pigmented enough for me
It is quite reminiscent of some Japanese shadows for texture and colour :) A bit more pigmented than most Japanese shadows, but not quite as strong as some other Western brands.
I like how cheeky the design is–totally sold on that already-haha! And of course the colours are gorgeous, may hop over to the store to check it out!
I think Green Park would look lovely on you! Or there’s a brown one too that gets loads of raves if you can find it.
Eeeeks, they look pretty indeed. Now my hands are itchy… >.< I MUST check these out!! *Runs to nearest drugstore*
Haha! And pretty affordable too! :D
The colore are pretty! I love the gold color too! and the design is cute :)
I’m not sure if you get this one there, Issa, but if you do, its worth taking a look! ;)
Oooh looks so good! The Union Jack design is really sweet. Can’t decide which I like better… maybe Green Park :D
I know right? The Union Jack layout is so eye catching! There are a couple more colours available but I only saw a few locally – I actually liked wearing Royal Blue more than Green Park :D
Never tried Rimmel before but the teal is very lovely.
Its my first time trying their shadows too :) My only other Rimmel is a lipstick but I hated the smell.
The Green Park reminds me a lot of my neutral-green eyeshadow from Studio Gear (study in olive). It’s lovely! It’s a shame it’s so hard to get the color out though, that would drive me nuts!
A narrow brush does the trick but yes, it can otherwise be a pain ;) Colours are pretty though eh? ;)
haha, I was seriously wondering how to get the stuff from the narrow parts too!
Very England palette here. But it does looks good enough.
Its not hard if you use a brush – a slightly narrow one for eyeliner does the job quite well :)
These are super pretty! You just need to use the right brush to get at the tiny sections! I have the brown palette – it’s gorgeous!
I’ve heard a lot of raves for the brown palette! I didn’t spot it locally though – the only other palette I spotted locally was the one with the bright pink – would be very hard to wear :P
Green Park is so pretty! Love the design too.
Cute right? Do you get it in Italy?
I agree I saw them at guardian but they weren’t priced so I thought it might cost a fair bit. The colors all look so lovely but I don use es on regular basis so I might forgo this collection all together. They look lovely on you though :)
Aww they are a nice little palette to play and experiment with, Biianca! ;) That way, you’ll be ready for the big eyeshadow leagues! ;)
Green Park is so pretty! You make me feel like travelling to the UK! :)
I made ME feel like travelling to the UK >.<
They are beautiful! I love your red lipstick reviews, especially of Shiseido Dragon (I want that lippy!!! I love their Natural Red Tender Sheer it’s the best wearable red.)
Thank you K.Lee :) I have the Shiseido Tender Sheer red as well and its very wearable as you’ve pointed out – may have to feature it some time :)