We are onto week eight of my Affordable Beauty Series and this week is all about eye shadow.
Over the last number of years, affordable/drugstore brands have really upped their game with the quality and range of their products.
Eye shadows are something that in the past I found lacked pigmentation and the quality just wasn’t there, thankfully that has changed and you can now get some amazing products for very little money.
There are various brands and eye shadow types that I love and repurchase and frankly they give their more expensive counterparts a run for their money.
One such product are the L’Oréal Infallible eye shadows (with Amber Rush being my absolute favourite). It is a beautiful rosy-peachy golden shade that suits everyone.

I have two shades, Amber Rush and Bronzed Taupe, both of which I love and wear regularly. They are intensely pigmented so a little goes a long way.
I find my fingers the best way to apply these because there’s less fall out and they apply better to the eyelid I feel.
These have been discontinued in Ireland, which baffles me because anyone I know who uses or has used them, loves them.
They are creamy, pigmented, last well and look gorgeous as well as being available in a good range of shades.
I get mine from Walgreens usually, however Amazon (linked above) have them too.
If you haven’t already tried these; you’re missing out, they are fabulous and are well worth checking out.
From Rimmel, I love the Scandaleyes Shadow Sticks. I have Bluffing and Bootleg Brown. Both of WI have repurchased time and time again. These are bomb proof. They’re not expensive either and they come in a range of colours on Amazon UK.
Once they are on you need to work quickly to blend them out because one they set they go nowhere.
I love the brown one to use on my top waterline because it doesn’t transfer.
They’re not the easiest thing to get off mind. I need to use something oil based to remove them and I need to go over my eye area twice to ensure they are fully removed and is no residue left.
They last for hours once applied, regardless of whether you place shadow over or under them, they do not move. So, no worries about creasing, fading or smudging. Not to mention the pigmentation. These have serious pigmentation especially the darker colours.
I have a similar pencil by NARS in the shade Iraklion which is a lovely neutral shade, however, it is not as pigmented, creamy or long-wearing as these Rimmel pencils.

In the above photos you can see Iraklion swatched. In the middle photo, I had to layer it three times to get that opacity, whereas with Bluffing by Rimmel, I would opacity in one swipe.
Makeup Revolution are another brand that make really good quality affordable eye shadows. They are known for making alternatives to Too Faced’s eye palettes, namely Too Faced’s Chocolate Bar and Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palettes. Too Faced’s palette retail for €40+ and Makeup Revolution’s palette’s are under €15.

I have two MUR palettes, I have their Beyond Flawless Palette and their 2018 Ultimate 144 Eyeshadow Palette. Both palettes are pigmented, longwearing, creamy and smooth.
If you are just getting into makeup, have a teen who likes makeup or you like a bargain, MUR are well worth checking out.
Maybelline’s Colour Tattoo Cream Eye shadows are another great product that I love, but have none of at the moment. They remind me of MAC’s Paint Pots.
They are both cream eyeshadows, they come in a range of colours and essentially, they do the same thing.
MAC’s Painterly Paint Pot is a skin/nude colour and it’s great to use as a base, but cheaper alternatives are the colour tattoos in the shades Breathless, Creme De Nude, Creamy Beige and Pink Nude.
The colours might not be exactly the same but they don’t need to be. These make great bases for powdered shadows and loose pigments to adhere to.
There is, in my opinion, very little difference between them except for the price. The colour tattoos are €7.49 in Boots and the MAC Paint pots are €22 in Arnotts and Brown Thomas.
That’s quite a difference in what is essentially the same product that does the same thing. The only other difference is that you can save your empty MAC pots for the BACK2MAC scheme.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post.
Until next time, take care xx
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