SHINE, SHIMMER & SPARKLE

Hulllooooo!!!

In Feb 2010, when this blog was still in its infancy, I had posted a poll here, asking if anyone would be interested in seeing the L'OREAL HIP range being launched in Singapore (you can check out the poll results HERE).  When I sent the poll results to L'oreal Singapore, they gave me a little hint - there had been numerous requests for L'Oreal HIP to be launched in Singapore and they were gathering allll the consumer preference info and would try to work something out.  So I've been waiting and waiting and 6 months after the poll, HIP is HERE!!! Woohooo!!!  Thank you L'Oreal!!! :D

So L'oreal arranged for a little preview event, including a makeup demonstration by L'Oreal Makeup Artist Julyen, at Heirloom and Caramel last Saturday.  Here are some shots from the event:

Makeup Artist Julyen with the face-charts he had prepared. 

Makeup demonstration - Julyen actually did 2 looks on the volunteer; one with the deeper shade on the inner eyelid and the other with the deeper shade on the outer crease. 

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And all of us at the event :)

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And on to the products!!!

(2nd photo courtesy of Amy. Thanks!)

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CLEO magazine (Oct 2010 issue) has a special feature on the L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow Duos and the Chrome eyeliners.  I thought these are useful since they show pairing suggestions (which of the duos you can mix and match and what Chrome pencils will complement the eyeshadow duos)

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Swatches!

Let's see the CHROME EYELINERS first

L-R: SILVER LIGHTNING;  GOLD CHARGE;  VIOLET VOLT;  BLACK SHOCK

SILVER LIGHTNING is the brightest of the lot - its really intense bright platinum silver - no greyish tones.  GOLD CHARGE on the other hand, is not so much of a bright yellow gold - on me, it had a wee bit of an antique gold appearance to it.  VIOLET VOLT is a deep purple with slight blue-tones, which I realise I prefer to the red-toned purples.  And BLACK SHOCK is a deep deep black - rather than metallic, it has the tiniest silvery-black micro-micro shimmer.

And I tried rubbing them off with a paper napkin:

As you can see, the paper napkin is largely clean.  However, a word of caution - these eyeliners are EXTREMELY SOFT and CREAMY.  You need to apply them gently (which is really not a problem I imagine - something as soft and creamy as this should not tug) and LET THEM SET; once set, they seem to be largely budgeproof (although skin on the eyes is way different from the hands).  Since I have oily eyelids, I would also prefer to set the eyeliners with eyeshadow (as I do with allll my pencil eyeliners).

I received SILVER LIGHTNING and BLACK SHOCK but I am keen on picking up VIOLET VOLT when it launches in store. 

THE HIP CHROME COLOUR EYELINERS will be available at all Watsons stores and will retail at SGD$17.90 each. 

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And moving on to the eyeshadow duos:

TOP, L-R: FLAMBOYANT;  ADVENTUROUS

BOTTOM, L-R: RIOTOUS;  PLATINUM

NOTE:

All swatches are medium swatches, with NO BASE on NC43-45 skintone.  All duos have been swatched dry and wet; wet swatches were made with MAC FIX+ (I picked up the eyeshadow with my finger first and then sprayed my finger with FIX+ from a distance.  I tried using a moistened sponge-tip applicator on the purple shade - it left a WET SPOT. So for these eyeshadows, I think you might need to load up the shadow on your brush or sponge-tip applicator and THEN moisten it, if you want to apply them wet.

 Note: The foiled pink swatch stained my skin a little

I noticed in most duos, one shade is creamier-feeling and applies with a higher pearlised finish than the other:

• Flamboyant - the gold shade applies smoother and with a highly-pearlised finish while the purple has more of a satiny finish
• Adventurous - the nude and pink shade take on a more pearlised finish when foiled 
• Riotous - the green shade applies smoother and with a pearlised finish both dry and foiled 
• Platinum - the silver shade is amazingly creamy both dry and foiled; the black shade applies a tad sheer when dry

Of the 4 duos I received, my personal favourites are PLATINUM and RIOTOUS - I'm looking forward to trying out the blue duo, SHOWY, when I can get my hands on it!

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And while I was swatching these, some other eyeshadows in my stash came to mind - some are close, some are a touch different and some are definitely NOT dupes. Here are some comparison swatches (some of which are Limited Edition):

NOTE: All comparison swatches are medium-swatches, with NO BASE and DRY.

MAC Vibrant Grape (LE; MAC Style Warriors collection) is pretty close to the purple shade in HIP Flamboyant, both in terms of shade and texture. The comparison has also been pointed out in other reviews prior to this (I remember Diana Adorebeauty making the same comparison)

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I NUOVI Rich Gold is not an exact dupe for the gold shade in HIP Flamboyant but they're pretty close - HIP Flamboyant's gold is a touch more yellow and a wee bit brighter but both apply beautifully - pigmented and with a high-pearlised finish

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MAC Hey (LE; MAC Prep For Colour Collection) is pretty close to the nude shade in HIP Adventurous - Hey seems a touch brighter and a little more intense; it also has more of a pearlised finish.

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MAC Rated R (LE; MAC Starflash collection) is not as close to the green-shade in HIP RIOTOUS as I had initially thought.  Rated R is a bright charteruse shade with a touch of yellow in it, while HIP Riotous is more of a lime-green. 

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MAC Sumptous Olive is completely different from the khaki shade in HIP Riotous.  I'm including the comparsion shot anyway - why? When I first saw Riotous, I thought it looked like a bright green and khaki-olive duo, but swatching it beside MAC Sumptous Olive (which is definitely an olive shade), I realised how much of a brown-toned khaki shade it was. 

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URBAN DECAY Oil Slick is a much deeper black - no dupes here either.  While the black shade in HIP Platinum looks like a very inky black in the pan, its less inky when applied dry - I like how it looks when its applied foiled. 

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While all 3 are pigmented and beautiful silvers, MUA Bullet pulls blue ever-so-slightly, while BOBBI BROWN Silver (Chrome collection) has a slightly more greyed-tinge.  The silver shade in HIP Platinum on the other hand, is a true bright silver.

The HIP Eyeshadow duos will be available at selected Watsons stores and will retail at SGD$18.90 each

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So, which HIP eyeshadow duos and/or Chrome eyeliners are you eyeing? Share with us all!

That's all for now; hope you found the swatches useful and thanks for stopping by!

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DISCLAIMER: All L'Oreal products and I Nuovi RICH GOLD were provided to me; I did not pay for these products. All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.