Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadows

Posted by: Jen February 7, 2012 in Drugstore 2 Comments

My collection of 6 Maybelline Color Tattoo shades Maybelline Color Tattoo 24-Hour Cream Eyeshadows really do live up to the hype. I was going to review them separately, but it turns out all the shades I purchased perform equally well, so the separate reviews would have been pretty redundant. Note that both Temptalia and Makeupgeek felt Painted Purple didn’t show up well and was hard to work with (and they gave high marks to the rest of the line), so I didn’t buy that one and it’s not part of this review. Nor is any other color I don’t own.

The formula

I don’t love cream eyeshadows, but these may have won me over because they actually look like powder eyeshadows once they’re applied. They don’t have that wet shiny look that so many cream shadows get. They come in a variety of finishes, matte to shimmery. The current color selection is a little weird – most of the colorful shades don’t go with each other (teal and pomegranate, anyone?), so the only flattering looks I’ve found involve pairing a colorful shade with a neutral like Bad to the Bronze, Bold Gold or Tough as Taupe. Maybe Maybelline will come out with new colors soon, since this line has been so successful.

Lid color, eyeliner or base. You can obviously use these as lid color, but they also make terrific “cream” liners that do not budge – in fact, this is one of my favorite uses for them. I suspect they’d wear fantastically in the waterline, but I haven’t tried that yet since they don’t say they’re safe for it. As a base, they won’t help with holding onto glitter or preventing fallout, but they may help with creasing (see below) and can definitely work to make colors pop.

Wear time is incredible. I don’t know about twenty-four hours since I’m not about to leave anything on my eyes that long, but I can attest to 16 hours of perfect wear. When you apply these, you can blend them or even sheer them out. But once they set, they don’t budge. I rubbed my eyes, and nothing came off on my finger or shifted on my lid. This reminds me of their 24-hour lip glosses – when you want to remove it, it comes right off with remover, but until then it’s not going anywhere.

Creasing? I rarely have trouble with creasing because my lids are normal/dry, so I let a friend try Tough as Taupe. Any product – powder, cream, whatever – tends to crease on her within an hour even with Urban Decay Primer Potion (without primer, it’s thirty minutes). So she has serious creasing issues, right? Tough as Taupe lasted somewhere between an hour and two hours before creasing – without primer. With primer, she would almost surely have gotten more than two hours. So if you have creasing issues, don’t expect these shadows to last twenty-four hours without creasing, but do expect them to outlast other products on your lids. Make sure your lids are as dry and velvety as possible before applying these – that will help delay creasing.

Application and blending. I use my fingers to apply these, and to blend them. I pat on the color to apply, and then I press my finger gently against the edges where I want to blend harsh lines. If that’s not enough, you can also gently move your finger the way you would a brush to blend the colors.

Layering. You can blend two colors to get a new color by layering one on top of the other – just do it fairly quickly, before the bottom layer sets.

The colors

Here are the individual colors I got, with swatches and descriptions.

Closeup of Bold Gold eyeshadow

Swatch of Bold Gold eyeshadow on my arm

Bold Gold is a shimmery gold. It’s got a strong yellow base, so it’s definitely a warm neutral.

Closeup of Bad to the Bronze

Swatch of Bad to the Bronze eyeshadow

Bad to the Bronze is a shimmery golden brown. This is the most neutral shimmery color in the collection. It’s on the warm side, but will flatter many skin tones.

Closeup of Pomegranate Punk, to show its texture

Swatch of Pomegranate Punk eyeshadow

Pomegranate Punk is shimmery cranberry with gold flecks. This is another warm color. It can lean toward brown if used in a shadowed area like a distinct crease, but it’s a gentle plummy color on the lids. This is easily my favorite of the group – it’s really versatile.

Closeup of Tough as Taupe

Swatch of Tough as Taupe

Tough as Taupe is a matte taupe. You can apply it very darkly in the crease or outer corner, or you can sheer it out on the lid for a lighter taupe. I haven’t worked with this one that much because I don’t find it really quite goes with any of the other colors, which surprised me. I don’t like taupes with warm or bright colors, so maybe that’s just me.

Closeup of Fierce and Tangy

Swatch of Fierce and Tangy

Fierce and Tangy is a nearly matte orange with just a hint of yellow sparkles. It looks so pretty in the pot, but it’s just garish on my skin. It looks like a neon stripe on me rather than a friendly burst of tangerine. Maybe it looks better on people with more yellow undertones (mine are neutral)? I find this one unusable, except as a base.

Closeup of Tenacious Teal

Swatch of Tenacious Teal

Tenacious Teal is a shimmery blue with a hint of green that shows up more in certain lighting. It’s a gorgeous shade that reminds me of ocean water. It can be a tad tricky because, as the swatch shows, it’s two very different colors depending on lighting. So just because it looks the way you want it to in your makeup mirror doesn’t mean it’ll look the same in other rooms. For that reason, I find it needs to be a lid color. In the crease or outer V, it can go unexpectedly pale in some lighting and look odd.

Bottom line

The formula on these is superb. I hope they add some more subdued/neutral colors to the range in time!

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Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadows

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