Tried and Tested: Max Factor Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadow + Swatches

I've had my eye on these Smoky Eye Effect bad boys for a while, and during a fact-finding mission to Liffey Valley Boots a week ago, I made a beeline for the Max Factor stand and picked up a trio of them.  The blogosphere bubbles with the word that these are a direct copy of sister-company Covergirl's Smoky Shadow Blast, and from top, you're looking at Indigo Mist, Onyx Smoke and Citrus Thunder. There was a three-for-two offer in place, meaning I got one of my €9.99 double-ended shadows for free. A good start, eh?

First impressions on these is great. They look fab: all chunky and perspexy and brightly coloured, you really want 'em to do what they say they will. But almost immediately, I came unstuck.  While I'd be of the opinion that this line of six shadows is designed  for those who are unsure how to create a smokey look with powder shadows and brushes, it's actually not easy to know what to do with them, which is completely counter-productive.

There are absolutely no instructions on the bullets, barring the wording 'step 1' on one end, and 'step 2' on the other. I was a bit flummoxed, especially in the case of Onyx Smoke, (middle, the black and white), because the first step is to apply the white.

Eh, yeh wha? Isn't this a smokey eye we're going for here?

Here's the first-step in each product. Shades look nice, the texture is creamy and they've all got a slightly pearlised finish.

And here's your step two. More effects-based than the first step shade, these have shimmer and glitter. It's nice that they've shaped these to a tapered tip - because in theory, that should make it easy to get in at the parts of the eye you want to contour and shade. In theory.

And here are swatches. On the hand, pay-off is decent, but for some reason, it's a whole other ballgame when it comes to using them on the eye. It is really really hard to build any sort of intensity, especially with Indigo Mist and Citrus Thunder.  And speaking of application, I was still a bit confused, so I had to go to Max Factor's website to look for some instructions on the correct way to apply these. They're looking less and less novice-friendly by the minute, aren't they?

Here's what you're told: "first blend the lighter end over your eyelid and finish by applying the darker end along the lash line and into the crease of your eye." Ok, I did that with Onxy Smoke, as I liked the colours of this the most. I applied the white shade on the lid and then took the black end to my face. Layering cream over cream - and especially as these don't seem to set - isn't a particularly great idea, I don't think.

Because while the brand may be hoping it works to effortlessly blend shades into each other, IT DOESN'T. It works to smush colours together and the white mixes with the black, delivering a messy-looking, wishy-washy grey that's hardly visible. I was actually amazed at how terrible it looked. So I got out a blender brush to see if I could blend it out a little for a more pro finish and hey presto, it all lifted and attached to the brush, leaving me with baldy shadow patches. Groan.

In desperation, next up I tried to see if it was any cop as a base, layering a sparkly Barry M pigment in a deep purpley-black over it. That seemed to work ok, until I went back and checked my face half an hour later. It had all settled and creased and looked awful. Creasing was common across all three shades.

So, the verdict? These look lovely and they're not a bad price for two cream eyeshadows. The idea is good as well, but based on my experimentations, the product doesn't perform as expected. I have read a couple of gripes about the bullets snapping off as well, and all-in-all, I think these need work. Stronger pigments, a formulation that sets and better instructions on how to apply would all be excellent improvements.

If you do want to invest, I'd point the nod to Onyx Smoke as the most usable out of the three I tried - but don't try to layer the shades. Use the black on lid and lower lashes, gently smudge with a finger if needs be and keep the white end for highlighting the brow bone.  With Indigo Mist, the blue shade is good - it's vibrant and visible and would be nice as an upper-lash liner, but it fades very quickly so you'd need a primer. Citrus Thunder was definitely the weakest, both in concept and pay-off - I could hardly see a thing.

Have you tried these? What do you think?