L’Oreal Infallible Color Eyeshadow : What are these shadows and are they worth the hype?

The L’Oreal Infallible Color eyeshadows have gotten a lot of press recently, and mostly good. I had been quite curious about it ever since I came across mention of it, because I already had the Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill shadows at that time, and I’d read that the L’Oreal ones were similar in terms of texture (but not in colour complexity). I picked up my first – Permanent Kaki 009 at Changi Airport last year. There were very limited colours available and I never thought to write about it for various reasons (mostly related to forgetfulness).

As far as I know, Singapore has some of these L’Oreal Infallible shadows but they are notoriously hard to find. If anyone from Singapore wants to chip in as to where one may find these babies, please do! 🙂 Locally in Malaysia, I’ve gotten conflicting reports about whether we will get these. Some say yes, the PR people said no but I still hold out hope! 🙂

I picked up 2 of the deeper shades – Eternal Black and All Night Blue – on my most recent visit to Hong Kong but the rest were a surprise from my fairy godmother, Tracy all the way from Canada! 😀 *mwaks*

Now that I actually have more of them, I am more inclined to blog about it 🙂 Most of you when surveyed on Facebook, preferred to see all colours in one post (hence the delay) but here we are! Some thoughts, swatches and a couple of looks I pulled off. Plus I’ll also tell you if its worth lusting after these, and how does the shadow really looks when its shattered all over the floor (and why you shouldn’t panic). Yes indeed. Lots to see so grab a coffee or tea and sit back. Here we go! 😀

Some of you may be wondering if these are cream shadows and if so, are they even worth the bother because cream shadows dry out. If these were cream shadows, I’d not even bother to be perfectly honest. I don’t “collect” cream shadows, because they do dry out and when they do, its icky. So I’m happy to report that despite how they look in the tub, these are NOT cream shadows. Rejoice! 😀

Top L-R: 001 Time Resist White, 002 Hourglass Beige, 004 Forever Pink, 006 All Night Blue

Bottom L-R: 007 Unlimited Sky, 009 Permanent Kaki, 014 Eternal Black, 015 Flashback Silver

The names here are the Canadian and Asian versions which by some stroke of luck, match. I believe the Europe versions also carry similar names. The USA versions carry a different name but I don’t know if the colours match up. I wish brands would be more standardized in this global age.

Anyhoo… these are in fact powder eyeshadows. Surprised? If you can imagine loose powder shadows or pigments, ready pressed into a container, you will be able to grasp the concept. The colours are in the main shimmery with very good color pay off and adheres to the skin very well.

(1) 001 Time Resist White – shimmer white (2) 002 Hourglass Beige – shimmer beige (3) 004 Forever Pink – shimmer pale pink (4) 006 All Night Blue – shimmer midnight blue (5) 007 Unlimited Sky – shimmer pale blue (6) 009 Permanent Kaki – shimmer green-gold (7) 014 Eternal Black – black with silver sparkles (8) 015 Flashback Silver – shimmer silver with purple tint

Descriptions are my own as I perceive them and these swatches were with 2 layers. One layer is very pigmented, but 2 gives you the opacity and intensity you see here. Its pretty impressive stuff! Provided you like shimmer of course. If you don’t, you will sniff at these in disdain.

The happy news is that the shimmer isn’t crazy or overboard. Barring Eternal Black which has silver glitter in it, the rest are fine and flattering albeit a bit metallic.

I find that due to the texture, I apply these best using fingers. They adhere to the skin much better and due to the shimmering texture, I often use these on their own with no other complementing colour, just liner and mascara. It actually works very well and saves a lot of time in the mornings 😀

My favourite colours are Hourglass Beige (the perfect “nude” shadow that gives me a my lids but better look), Flashback Silver (this one is very flattering on my skin used on its own) and All Night Blue (Lovely midnight navy blue that makes a lovely smokey eye). I surprised myself as to why I didn’t pick the green and although its pretty I didn’t feel that it was very special in any way. I hear there’s an Emerald shade available and if so, I’d really want that one!

Here are some examples of how I wear and wore these L’Oreal Infallible shadows.

Permanent Kaki worn on its own, heavier near the lash line and blended out towards the top. Its a pretty colour and very refreshing.

Hourglass Beige worn on its own with prominent liner and lots of mascara. The colour matches my skintone and its a very nice natural sort of look, with just a hint of shimmer on the eyes. Its very good for a lazy everyday sort of look or as I did, for travelling. I didn’t want to fuss about with makeup too much so this one was perfect for a polished look without taking too much trouble. I highly recommend this color 🙂

I wore it with a bright cheek (Dior Rosy Glow) and lip (Guerlain Violine Kiss Kiss Essence gloss) and it looks very fresh and understated.

I love wearing Flashback Silver on its own with a nice dark liner and mascara but when I picked up Eternal Black and paired it together, I really loved it! Its a very nice smokey-ish eye look that I quite easily rock in the day time (less black, more silver) and which has a surprising enlarging effect on the eyes.

And for an idea of how I wore it with the rest of my face, it was quite simple 🙂 I love wearing black shadow because it really goes with everything 😀

See, its not all that dressed up on the eyes is it? Quite a basic sort of look that is super easy to pull off because you just literally swipe on and go. If you want it darker, increase the black and reduce the silver.

I must note that I do not have oily lids so these shadows lasts most of the day for me. By late evening, there is some fading but minimal creasing and I did not experience fall out. It might be because my lids aren’t oily and because I use fingers to apply these shadows. I did try with a brush but I found it too much of a bother to build up colour. I prefer fingers for this one (which makes this so much easier and faster too!)

In a nutshell

L’Oreal Infallible Color Eyeshadows are a new style pressed powder eyeshadow that are actually pressed loose shadows in a pot. The colours aren’t very complex and contain shimmer which may not may not be your cup of tea. I find that they apply best with fingers and they adhere well to the skin. I don’t experience fading or creasing until late in the evening after about 12 hours wear and no fall out but I do not have oily lids. I like the texture and the fact that you can get away with using just 1 colour all over your lid for most of the colours. If you have access to these, I think they are absolutely worth getting. I don’t know if they are coming into Malaysia due to conflicting reports but it would be lovely if they did 🙂

Pros: Nice soft texture makes it easy for fingers to pick up colour, Colours are relatively opaque and intense with shimmer, Quite long lasting on non oily lids, A powder shadow that looks like a cream but does not dry out

Cons: Unavailable in some countries for now, Packaging is quite fiddly due to the “cap” inside

I had a little accident while I was taking the photos for this post, and ended up with Eternal Black all over my floor. It was however quite a good (albeit messy) way of learning just what sort of texture these shadows really are and thats when I learnt first hand, that they are in fact, pressed powder eyeshadows. They are compacted into the tub and there really isn’t very much of it in the tub – just 3.5g. If you try to pick up a piece, it crumbles quite easily.

I somehow managed to get most of the larger pieces back into the pot and using that cover/damper thingy included, pressed down on the broken bits. It did get the shadow pressed back together although it didn’t quite look brand new any longer. Still, its better than just chucking it, were it a regular pressed powder shadow!

So do not toss that cover inside the pot. It will help you press back all the loose bits of the shadow after use and in the event of an accident like mine, helps you put everything back together again.

If you’d like to see any specific colour here featured in more detail, please do holler. I wasn’t sure if there might be a demand hence this picture and word heavy post. I do think a single shadow review may be easier to digest but this helps you visualize them all together 🙂

Have you tried these L’Oreal Infallible Color Eyeshadows yet? Do you like them or are you not too keen on all that shimmer? I like these very much and would love to get more colours. I saw a deep chocolate and deep plum in Hong Kong but they looked like mud on me so I passed. I am on the lookout for the Emerald and Gold one so… anyone knows where I can look? 😉

Paris B

L’Oreal Infallible Color Eyeshadow pots Price: HKD89/S$14+ (that I paid) Availability: Not in Malaysia yet. Regionally available in Hong Kong and limited shades in Singapore