Review: Maybelline Stylish Smokes Quad in Natural Smokes

Let me start off by saying that I am not much of a snob when it comes to eyeshadows. I don't feel like I need a High End product in order to pull off the perfect look. Many Drug Store brands offer just as beautiful colour choices with just as great lasting power as the High End brands. As long as the shades that I choose are well-pigmented and show up on my skin as the same colour that they appear to be in the pallette, I am satisfied.

This Maybelline Stylish Smokes pallette caught my eye on a recent trip to Shoppers Drug Mart. There was no tester available and I had not previously reviewed the product, but I was so in love with each one of the colours in the pallette that I decided to go in blind and make the purchase.

The pallette comes with a beautiful matte ultra light pinky-beige base colour, a shimmery greyish-brown lid colour, a darker shimmery brown contour crease colour, as well as a matte dark grey liner. There are two regular sponge type brushes included, which are, in my opinion useless if you're applying more than one colour.

Upon swatching the colours, I had mixed feelings. The base colour, which is the largest colour in the pallette, does not show up at all on my skin. As well, as soon as I attempt to blend it, it seems to disappear altogether as if it was never there in the first place. However, the two shimmery brown shades for the lid and the crease are well-pigmented and show up beautifully. The only issue I have with these colours is that they are more sparkly than shimmery, as you can see the tiny sparkles within the swatches. The liner colour is also well pigmented and looks great against my skin.

A benefit of this pallette is that it shows you exactly which shade goes on each part of the eye in order to create a smokey eye look. The part of the eye where the specific colour is meant to be placed is indented into the actual eyeshadow colour, which will be erased upon your first use of the product. However, on the back of the package is a smaller diagram of the eyelid and the corresponding colour placement. I think this is extremely helpful as a guide for someone who isn't familiar with creating a smokey eye.  Although, I would recommend that if it is your first time creating this look that you search for a more detailed step-by-step guide online or, even better, on you-tube. But this is definitely a great reference guide to have right on the back of your pallette.

I will likely continue to use all of the shades in this pallette, even the invisible base colour. I will have to layer another one of my light matte shades over top of it, but I think it will have the intended effect that I am going for, that being a neutral day-time appropriate smokey eye.

I will not likely repurchase this product. Instead, I would look for the well-pigmented shades from this pallette that I did like and purchase them separately if I haven't already found other shades that I like better by the time I reach pan.

If you are interested in purchasing this product, or any of the other Stylish Smoke quads (there are quite a few really gorgeous options), you can find them at your local Shoppers Drug Mart, Target, Rexall or any other retailer where Maybelline products are sold. I purchased mine for $7.99 on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart, but I believe they are regularly around $9.99.