"Tempted by the fruit of another..."

Let's talk eyeshadow, shall we?

I've mentioned before that, for the most part, my heart belongs to high end eyeshadows. They're usually more pigmented, easier to blend, long-lasting, and just higher quality in general. That being said, I'm definitely not a makeup snob. I love my drugstore mascaras more than anything, and I often venture into the beauty aisles, tempted by the shiny displays and allure of low prices, ready and willing to give new products a try.

The other day I was perusing the various sparkly displays Walgreens was trying to entice me with and I came across a new range of eyeshadow quads by Maybelline.

These are the Eye Studio Quads and there's quite a selection of colors. Almost all of these are quite shimmery and let's face it, anything that shimmers is something I NEED to have in my life.

Unfortunately, the price point is a little higher than your typical drugstore eyeshadows - I believe I paid around $10 for this quad - so I fought my initial instinct and only grabbed one palette, the Taupe Temptress.

The verdict? Surprisingly wearable, despite the immense amount of shimmer. It really borders on glitter, actually, especially the white highlight shade, but not too intense. The colors are all really pretty and the staying power was quite good (at least when used on top of Urban Decay Priming Potion - not sure how it is without it). The combination of the four colors gives you a great range of options and I was impressed with how easily they all blended - I've had problems before with other Maybelline eye shadows that wouldn't blend worth a damn.

The texture is super soft so be careful when using a brush to apply as it can get very powdery, but it's really smooth and any stray flakes come off easily. Also, don't be dismayed by the high shimmer effect. The effect is pretty subtle unless you load on layer after layer.

Yay Maybelline for coming out with a great eyeshadow!

Has anyone else tried these? What do you think? What about the other products in the Eye Studio line, like the eye shadow duos or gel liners?

[photo credits: makeupalley.com]