When it comes to eyeshadows from the drugstore, the Maybelline Color Tattoos are easily some of my favorites. I wear them as eyeshadow bases nearly day to day & also wear them on their own. When I heard they were coming out with pigments…I was ecstatic. I LOVE pigments! These are the first true mainstream/drugstore pigments I’ve tried that weren’t some form of sheer. After reading some reviews I picked up 7 shades. I have since picked up all but one! Keep reading to see my swatches & thoughts!
So I bought some from Walgreens & others from Walmart. I noticed they have different labels though, how weird is that? I just wanted to point that out in case anyone else noticed the same! Each jar contains 0.05 oz of loose pigment along with a sifter. The containers themselves are plastic with a twist off lid. I tend to knock some onto the lid for application then use a brush in the lid. You can use these wet or dry & I recommend using a primer to reduce fallout & fading. Without primer these shades faded on my eyes rather quickly. They all vary in texture/finish/opacity but if you want to apply them sheer use a fluffy brush or more opaque with a firm, damp brush.
All swatches done over ELF Eyelid Primer with a slightly dampened fingertip to get pigments to cling more smoothly.
Left to right: Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments Eyeshadow in Improper Copper, Downtown Brown, Black Mystery, & Breaking Bronze.
Improper Copper- A darkened warm brown toned shimmering copper. This is the shade I was most excited about & I’m not disappointed. This is beautiful foiled, especially with blue eyes!
Downtown Brown- Cool toned shimmering brown. Very pretty & actually blends nicely. Buildable & lovely foiled as well.
Black Mystery- A blackened charcoal with fine blue glitter. This one is patchy & a bit difficult to blend. it takes work & I don’t recommend it for subtle looks because it just doesn’t show up as well. I prefer this one damp & used over black eyeliner for a bit of pizazz.
Breaking Bronze- Slightly orange toned shimmering bronze. Pretty but it looks more orange than I had anticipated once on my lid! Pretty but not my personal favorite.
Left to right: Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments Eyeshadow in Wild Gold, Potent Purple, Forest Fatale.
Wild Gold- A very yellow toned metallic gold. So beautiful & nice pigmentation. This is great layered over other shades as well.
Potent Purple- Shimmering grape purple with cool toned shimmer. Patchy. Hard to blend. Not my favorite. I’d say pass, it definitely isn’t as good as other purple pigments I’ve tried.
Forest Fatale- A shimmery medium hunter/forest green with lighter green shimmer. I really like this shade, especially foiled. Pretty for Fall.
Here they are all together just so you can see the different tones in the eyeshadows together. Pretty right? These are all foiled & not too heavy. You’ll notice that these shades were all applied damp…they just aren’t all that impressive dry. I rarely use them that way unless I’m blending something out.
Overall…pretty but not mind blowing. I think Maybelline really listened to customers when it comes to neutral shades. Out of 12 shades about half are neutrals. Woohoo! If you’re really into pigments & buy from online sources (like Glamour Doll Eyes or the Jesse’s Girl pigments I used in my Drugstore Mermaid Tutorial) then these probably won’t blow your mind. I like a few of the shades a lot but they aren’t all shades I’d wear dry which speaks more to their pigmentation. I’m happy to find more loose pigments in the drugstore but these don’t have the KA-POW! I was expecting. I’m interested in using the newer shades I’ve bought to see if I enjoy them more.
What do you think of the new Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Color Pigments? Any shades in particular catch your eye? Are you interested in seeing all the shades I end up with in a future post?
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