A Long-Time-Coming Review of L'oreal's Infallible Eyeshadows (and Yet I'm Still Unsure)

As you may recall, I've been growing my modest collection of L'oreal's Infallible Eyeshadows for months now, yet never actually giving a formal review.  It's only as I write this that I realize just how actively I've been avoiding writing this review.  I've given myself a dozen excuses as to why but I think the main reason is that I still have absolutely no idea how I feel about these shadows....

But before we get into my absent opinion, let's start out with the facts:

L-R:  Eternal Sunshine, Pink Sapphire, Golden Emerald, Endless Sea

First, what are they?  Well, they're pressed pigments basically.

Inside of each jar, you'll find a presser (I'm not sure that's what its officially called, but it's what I call it so that's what it's going to be today) that keeps the pigment in it's pressed state.  If you took the presser out I believe that over time with use the pigment would become looser and looser like a traditional loose pigment.  

Eternal Sunshine

You may remember that Eternal Sunshine was the first Infallible shadow that I picked up and I already have swatches up of this one.  Color-wise, it's exactly what you think of when you think of a traditional gold shadow.  It's warm and metallic with tons of gold shimmer.  I love using this shadow as a pop of golden light in the middle of lids with a ton of different looks.  I've done a similar look like this with Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Fierce & Tangy.  You can view that here.

Pink Sapphire

I've also already featured Pink Sapphire's swatches on this blog.  This shade was part of limited edition collection L'oreal came out with this summer so I'm not sure of it's current availability.  Pink Sapphire is a semi-warm pink with a golden sheen and shimmer.  This shade has gotten a lot of use out of me because there's nothing I love more than golden pinks on my lids.

Golden Emerald

Recently L'oreal has expanded their range of Infallible shadows and the first I purchased of the new shades was Golden Emerald.  Golden Emerald is a good way to describe this shade in it's most basic nature, but it fails to capture its true complexity.  Beyond the initial emerald green base with it's golden shimmer, it also has a dark teal undertone that comes through as you blend.  It reminds me of MAC's club, but without the brownish-red facet, if that makes any sense (probably not).

Endless Sea

Endless Sea is the latest addition to my collection.  At first look it's simply a shimmery aqua blue, the perfect color to remind you of the sea.  But, like with Golden Emerald, as you blend the color out you become more and more aware of a slight lavender tone hidden within it.  It's a very beautiful color.

L-R:  Eternal Sunshine, Pink Sapphire, Golden Emerald, Endless Sea

In terms of color, the Infallible shadows excel greatly.  I love the subtle hints of unexpected tones in the cases of Golden Emerald and Endless Sea.  And in the case of Eternal Sunshine and Pink Sapphire, the finishes really make you feel like you're wearing jewels on your lids.

Another plus is that despite the very shimmery nature of these, I don't experience as much fallout as I would have expected.  Don't get me wrong, fallout happens, but not as much as you'd think with traditional pigments.

What has me a bit weary is actual application.  These apply great with you fingers.  And by great, I mean wonderful!  There's very little fallout and you easily get maximum pigmentation with little effort.  Which is great for people who prefer to use their fingers.  I'm not one of these people.

I don't mind using my finger to put down my base lid color, but putting down and blending a crease color is a horse of a different color without a brush.  And I also find that when using the brush, the color just isn't as vibrant as with your finger and, at times, come out patchy.

I'm also disappointed that there aren't many matte, or just a bit less shimmery shimmery shadows in the range.  Wearing all these colors at once can be a bit much.  There are 2 mattes that I can think of off the top of my head and a few more that aren't too shimmery, but they are few and far between.

Bottom Line:  Amber Likes...I think....but I'm not sure.

I'm in love with the shades but application lets me down quite a bit.  I genuinely don't know how I feel about these definitively.  I get really excited when I hear there are new shades coming out, but once I actually get my hands on them my enthusiasm tends to waver.

You can get more information about these shadows at L'oreal's website.  They are priced around $8.