Maybelline Colour Tattoo Eyeshadows: Pictures & Swatches

Behold the elusive and shy Maybelline Colour Tattoo by Eyestudio eyeshadows, people.  Shhhssh - no sudden movements, please. We don't want to startle them. Lesser spotted on stands as of yet, while they won't go nationwide until this month, they have been seen in Boots and Superdrug stores and I've scoured stands both in Ireland and the UK to source some, but to no avail. Hiding, they were. Shy, you see.

This trio actually came from the US where a pal Elly got them for me on a recent work trip.  I've not had a chance to do much with them yet but have a cursory point, swatch and one wear, so consider this a heads-up and an oooh and ahh kinda post as opposed to a full review.

With that in mind, lets get to the pictures! In Ireland, these'll cost a recommended retail price of €7.49 (though I'm sure we'll see all sorts of three-for-two offers on 'em) and they come in nicely expensive-feeling glass pots with 4g of product inside. There's a mix of finishes and colours available - I went for two shimmers and a matte for my picks so you're looking at Tough As Taupe (matte), Bold Gold (shimmer) and Painted Purple (shimmer) above.

The gen with calling them Colour Tattoo is that they're a long-wear product. There's a 24 hour claim but I'd take that with a salt cellar of brine. Who wants their shadow to last them a whole day and night? Dirty stop outs, that's who. I'm seeing comparisons online to Mac Paintpots and Make Up For Ever's Aqua Creams with these and from swatching and my one line-out with them, I'd say they're a bit more on the MUFE side of things.

Bold Gold, Painted Purple and Tough As Taupe

They set, which means they stay put (for a period of time at least), and pigmentation and opacity seems to vary across the trio I've tried at least. The setting-factor means you can also use these as a primer or a first step for an eye makeup look, to intensify a matching shade as well as wear them solo.

Swatches of Tough as Taupe, Bold Gold and Painted Purple. Both Tough as Taupe and Bold Gold are smooth and pigment-packed and opaque in one swipe but Painted Purple seems a lot sheerer.

The proof, of course, will be in the wearing. So far, I've trialled Tough as Taupe which I wore to work on Monday, applying it over a first layer of powder shadow. I applied a layer of product with a flat synthetic shadow brush (synthetic brushes are better for placing cream products) and then blended it out up to the crease with a regular fluffy blender.

I found the texture easy enough to work with and of course you could use fingers, but surprisingly, while I liked the colour a lot (there's a hint of mauve the camera didn't pick up), I didn't think longevity was great at all for something claiming 24 hour wear. By that evening there was a lot of gathering in the crease and wear-off, and I'd really never notice that with powder shadows, bearing in mind I've dry lids.

I'll be testing these out some more over the next wee while, trying them with each other, with primer etc, so watch this space!