Review - e.l.f Studio Eye Enhancing Eyeshadow Blue 2

I recently made a large purchase from e.l.f. during their sale on free nail polish.  With their exceptionally low prices on good drug store makeup, it is easy to splurge.  The affordability of their products makes it easy to try out new items in colors that I would not have picked up while out shopping at the store.

Case in point is the new Eye Enhancing Eyeshadow palette in Blue 2.  The palette retails for $6.00 on their website.  I purchased it because it has a good range of colors and I did not have any eyeshadows that I thought would duplicate the blues or the terracotta in the palette.  I do not normally wear blue eyeshadow, so this was just something to play with.

The palette comes in a sleek, small case that is easy to open.  In the clear window opening, you can clearly see all the eyeshadows.  From here they looked well pigmented.  The package includes a mirror when the case is opened and a sponge tip applicator.

There was already some fallout just after opening the palette that got along the outer edges of the pans.  More fallout was to come as I swatched each eyeshadow.  The palette includes six colors.  The dark navy blue has blue glitter in it, while the gold/tan color has red glitter in it.  The sky blue and gray blue have a little shimmer to them, while the linen white and terracotta color have little to no shimmer, but I believe it would be a stretch to call them purely matte.  After seeing the sparkle in the dark blue, I was very excited as I had not seen anything quite like it before and thought that it would be fun for a "night on the town" sort of look.

After swatching however, I wasn't nearly as impressed.  The navy blue does not hold the pigmentation or the sparkle once used.  The glitter came out in chunks and ended up everywhere but on the swatch.  It was messy and hard to work with, even on my arm.  The lighter blues were not as bad, while the linen shade took several applications to get it to stand out.  The golden and terracotta colors were nice, but the sparkle in the gold color did not translate either.  The eyeshadows are powder and very dry, they do not feel buttery and smooth like other drugstore eyeshadows I have tried.

I tried the three brownish colors on my eye, but the results were less than wonderful.  There was a lot of fallout, both in the pan and on my cheeks.  The golden color, which I used on my eyelid, did not show up after trying to build it, which was disappointing.  The linen color would work well as a highlighter with other neutrals but would not hold up on its own.  The terracotta did standout, but after a short time of wear it was very dull and faded.

I believe all the colors could be enhanced with an eye primer, though I don't think that will help the navy blue.  It seems very unworkable, in my opinion.  It would take some work to build the colors and blend them.  If anyone is looking for a navy blue color Wet n Wild has two blue palettes that contain one and it may work better.

In summary, I would pass on this palette if anyone is looking to get it.  The pans are small and the pigmentation in the palette doesn't quite translate to the eye, only leaving a powdery mess all around.