These products were provided by NEUTROGENA. Thoughts and opinions are my own. #gotitfree
What I want most out of my eye makeup is intense color payoff and fabulous long-wear. You all know about my love of lippies. At a close second is my love of eye shadows. I may have smallish blue eyes, but I still like to play up their color, while attempting to make them look bigger.
When I was sent the Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer, $9.99, I was interested to see how these tiny palettes would perform. Designed to last up to 12 hours, these eye shadows are formulated with a built-in primer, as well as vitamins and a conditioner to help nourish the delicate eye area. The shadows have also been ophthalmologist-tested to ensure they won’t irritate eyes and can be safely worn with contacts.
The collection features six shades, each with four shadows that you use as a lid, highlighter, crease and liner shadow. I received Classic Nude (60), Cool Plum (10), and Smoky Steel (30) to test out.
The first quad I tried was the Classic Nude, which features a soft pink shadow designed to be used on the lid, a pale beige shadow, which works as a highlighter, a soft brown for the crease, and a dark brown, which is supposed to be used as a liner. Upon first application, the shadows were very powdery. Even if I tapped off my brush, there was still fall out, and I found that the shadows easily got into my eyes. I wasn’t too impressed with the smokey brown look this quad was supposed to create. I looked like I had put too much brown liner around my eyes. As the day wore on, the shadows did feel comfortable on my eyes, but the staying powering was seriously lacking. I tried the Classic Nude quad a couple of times, and each time, it didn’t live up to their 12 hours promise.
The next quad I tried was the Smoky Steel. It features a silvery gray shadow for the lid, a creamy white shadow for the highlighter, a metallic gray for the crease, and a dark black shadow, which is designed to be used as a liner. Of the three palettes I tried, Smokey Steel had the longest staying power. I applied the quad at 8 am, and it was still growing strong at 8 pm. I did have a little problem again with the shadows being powdery. This black is very intense, so make sure to smudge it out.
The last quad I used was the Cool Plum, which featured my favorite eye shadow color variations of purples. First there was a light brownish-beige shadow, which I swept over my lid. Then, I used the pale pink as a highlighter. I followed that up with the shimmery mauve in my crease, and then finished the look by lining my eyes with the dark shimmery plum. As with all the other quads, these shadows were also powdery. I did love the colors and the look I created, but unfortunately, they only lasted about four hours.
Overall: While I like the idea of the Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer, $9.99, I feel like the staying power doesn’t quite live up to its 12-hour promise. I will say that they do feel nourishing on the eyes, and the built-in primer prevents creasing. If I had to recommend a quad to try, of the three I reviewed, I would recommend Smoky Steel, as it has the best color payoff and staying power.
Nourish Your Eyes with Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow!