As much as I love a good bargain, budget beauty doesn’t always deliver. With some drugstore beauty products, you just don’t know what caliber of quality you’re gonna get.
The HiP Eye Shadow duos we looked at last week from the new L’Oreal Midnight Muse collection showed a lot of promise, and you showed a lot of interest, so I took two of them (Enchantress and Darkwave) out for indoor test drives today.
Now I know why these HiP shadows have so many fans. 🙂
The matte and high-shine shimmer shadows in both duos are easy to blend and exhibit very little fallout. These are top-shelf drugstore beauty products. We’re talking glass case material here, like the kinds of products that deserve their own display at the very front of the beauty aisle.
I like the shimmers more than the mattes, which are a tad chalky and would benefit from more pigment, but I can still see them working well as liners along the lash line.
These Eyes
For this look I started by patting the shimmery green shadow from the Darkwave duo on the outer half of my eyelid and the shimmery taupe from Enchantress on the inner. Then, I added the black matte shade from Enchantress in the outer V, lined my waterlines with Korres Petrol Blue Eyeliner and smudged the matte blue shade from Darkwave along my lower lash line.
Cheeks and Lips
I swept Dolce & Gabbana Blush in Rosebud on my cheeks and L’Oreal Colour Riche Lip Gloss in Wicked (also from Midnight Muse) on my lips.
Clockwise from left: HiP Eye Shadow Duo in Darkwave, HiP Eyeshadow Duo in Enchantress, Dolce & Gabbana Blush in Rosebud, L’Oreal Colour Riche Lip Gloss in Wicked
L’Oreal Colour Riche in Wicked
Swatches from left on NC35 skin: black matte shade from Enchantress, shimmery taupe from Enchantress, blue matte shade from Darkwave, shimmery green shade from Darkwave, Korres Eyeliner in Petrol Blue and Dolce & Gabbana Blush in Rosebud
L’Oreal Colour Riche in Wicked
L’Oreal Colour Riche in Wicked
I think I might try this look again but swap the blush for something plummier…maybe Benefit Sugarbomb. Truth be told, I only went with Rosebud because it was within reach, LOL! I had killer cramps today and couldn’t do a lot of moving.
Products mentioned in this post
So what do you think? Now that you’ve seen these $8 HiP duos in action, are you more or less interested?
The World’s Best Cat Litter!
Kinda random, I know, but have you ever tasted The World’s Best Cat Litter? Wait, wait, hear me out! Here’s the commercial:
The secret ingredient: corn. No kidding, but this stuff puts Fresh Step to shame. Tabs and I are big fans.
Notice in the commercial when the hosts taste it (hopefully pre-cat poop). Gross or fascinating? You be the judge. 🙂
El Hub says he’s gonna give it a try, but he sure as heck better brush after!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Haha. We use that litter, but I’ve never seen that commercial!
That gloss is so gorgeous. Looks very similar to the MAC gloss I wore today (Plushglass in Power Supply). Might try it when the MAC runs out!
Hi Amber,
The gloss is great. Have you ever worn any of the Lancome Color Fever Glosses? The texture/payoff is very similar.
Whoever thought of making the actors eat the cat litter is a genius. It’s certainly memorable!
Nope, never tried any Lancome products at all. I’m not very picky about gloss texture, though.
Eh, some of its pretty cool but it doesn’t always take my breath away.
Anyway, I kinda like this more than the Lancome one because it’s not as heavily scented and more affordable. 🙂 Yay, bargain!
The eye-look is gorge, but the gloss really caught my attention! I need it!
I haven’t tasted it (and not planning to) but that really is the best litter I’ve ever used, pricey, but stink-free and eco-friendly!
Wicked is SO your style. I want to see you rock that with a smokey gray eye!
Looking gorgeous as always! I think I need to request the “Karen” next time i get a haircut.
OMG that cat litter commercial is too funny! Is it sad that now Im considering finding this litter? Maybe Tabs should be the spokes model.
Hi Lindsay,
You’re so cute. I gave my stylist a pic of Vanessa Hudgens, believe it or not! That girl’s got some nice hair.
As for the litter — it really is all that and a bag of chips. I never thought I could get enthused about cat litter, but this stuff’s great.
I’m really tempted to try the L’Oreal shadows now, since they look so great on you! Have you tried the Revlon Luminous Color shadows? I have one in Platinum Glimmer and for a drugstore shadow it’s very nice.
Karen, I’ve had a package sitting in my car for literally months with your name on it. I keep forgetting to mail it, so tomorrow when I go out it *will* get mailed, LOL, now that I’ve put it in the comments. With the Canadian postal system being the way it is it should arrive in about ten days.
Wow, you look fab!
I will have to keep the kitty litter in mind…my family and I have been looking for the perfect kitty for about six months.
Hi Stephanie,
It’s like the Cadillac of kitty litters. 🙂
Where have you guys been looking for a kitty? If you’re in the Bay Area the organization Purebreds Plus has some great cats up for adoption.
http://www.purebredsplus.org/
Even though I live in NY, I had to look at the Purebreds Plus page. They have some lovely cats that I wish I could adopt – I love Birmans. Currently, I have 3 wonderful kitty girls that I adopted from my local SPCA a few years ago.
Hi Regina,
Good for you for adopting from your local shelter. There are so many cats out there who need good families!
What I like about Purebreds Plus is that they also feature non-purebred kitties too. 🙂 And everyone who works there is a volunteer, so when people donate $ it all goes to the kitties. Plus they place cats all over the US, and not just the bay area! If Tabs was more open to it I would volunteer to foster. Unfortunately I’m afraid he’s got too much of a dominant personality and would bully other cats.
How long have you had your three cats?
I think it’s a pretty eye look. Definitely love the gloss on you. You look very pretty 🙂
Hi Phyrra,
Thanks, babe! I’m glad you like these shadows. Do you think you might pick any up?
I was never interested in green eyeshadow, but that particular shade looks really, really good on you!
Hi Audrey,
Greens are great! What’s cool about the color is you have so many possibilities. You could do a more mellow green, like this shade, or brighter more vibrant yellow green. The possibilities are endless.
you always have the best looks! haha to be honest though, i wished the shimmery taupey shade was in a duo with the shimmery green! 🙁 seems like i would use those two much more than the darker shades haha but thanks for posting 😀 now its time for me to do some drugstore shopping 😀
Hi Agnes,
That would be a killer duo. Maybe put these on your list for the next BOGO sale at the drugstore?
I love seeing your dramatic eye looks! I usually stick with colors in the brown and gold families, because every time I try a grey smokey eye, I look like I got punched. Or like I’m a drag queen. Or both.
Hi Mrs. Kinne,
I don’t mind looking like a drag queen… some of those gals rock some serious fierce eye looks! But yeah, I know what you’re saying. I feel the same way with certain shades, like cranberries and reddish purples.
Since you like brown and gold, I think you’ll easily be able to pull off greens and blues. Totally pick up Darkwave. It’ll make a nice “starter” duo for your introduction to color. 😀
Definitely more intrigued! I like the fact that there’s not much fallout. Though, truth be told, I sort of like the fallout in the glitter shadows because it makes me sparkly. I realize that this is weird. 🙂
My friend raves about that litter too, but I haven’t tried it. We’ve used Fresh Step forever, but I’ll have to give this one a try. With 3 kitties/boxes, we really need the best available litter!!
Hi Kim,
I don’t mind fallout if the shadow could pass for a blush! 🙂
Oh, yes, I should have mentioned that it’s the light beige/gold fallout that I really like too. I’m sort of laughing while picturing a dark fallout. Very Cinderella before the fairy godmother make-over! 🙂
We use feline fresh which is made of pine, but I will have to watch out for this stuff. I am curious to give it a try!
Love your blog by the way! 🙂
Hi Candace,
I haven’t heard of that brand! I bet it smells good, hahah!
You look gorgeous! The eye makeup is very pretty and the gloss beautiful!
Hi Gio,
The gloss turned out to be a very nice surprise. I’m glad you like this look!
Thanks for doing a look with these shadows. You look great! I would love to try an break out of my neutral eye look and try something different. This looks like a good place to start. 🙂
Hi Ruchita,
You’re welcome. I agree that this would be a good place to start. The colors have some vibrancy, but they’re not too over the top. 🙂
BTW, I wore neutrals for years. It took a while to get comfy with greens and blues, but I’m so glad I did!
Looking gorgeous! Really love the greens on you. I just recently got some Hip eyeshadow too, really love it as a supplement and a way to play with bright colors for not too much $$. 🙂
Thanks, Trude!
What colors did you pick up?
That lip gloss is killer. Killer!
Hi Trisha,
I was surprised to find it was so pigmented! It’s one of the better drugstore glosses I’ve run into in a while. 😀
wow, that gloss is sooo prettyfull!! i loves 🙂
he better brush afterwards!!
i agree, a plummier blush nxt time b/c this look is beyond hot!
Hi Karen, I really love love this look! I don’t have any of the products, but might b able to recreate similar look with the warm palette from Red, She Said and mauve gloss from Revlon.
I have to look for these eyeshadows in the UK!!
Karen,
I love your look! Do you know where they still have the collection on sale? I checked two Targets and my local CVS and didn’t see this collection!