You may have gathered that I am a bit of an eyeshadow addict. Pretty colours in a palette makes me go weak at the knees and I am always on the look at for great colours. The L’Oreal Colour Rich Eyeshadow Quad in Smoking Disco is a pretty palette of swirling matte black, shimmery purple burgundy and yellow which I bought during a three for two offer in Boots a few weeks back.
The light plastic packaging is secure but not very sophisticated or sturdy. I don’t know how this would fair for a couple of months at the bottom of my heavy bag. I like the fact that you can see the colours through the top of the quad and the pattern shows off the colours to great effect. I have mixed feelings about this quad. The colours need a base to stick to get the best colour pay off. I found that Two Faced Shadow Insurance or a Mac Paint pot gave the shadows longevity as well as colour intensity. Application directly to my bare lid just did not work.
The shadows themselves are soft but only the black and the yellow are the same in the pan as they are on the skin. After a few hours on the skin, the purple is more blue on the skin and the red tones in the burgundy come through quite strongly on the skin. You also have to use quite a lot of product to get the intensity of colour that for example one swipe of a Bourjois or Sleek eyeshadow would provide.
I like this palette, but I don’t love it. If you are an eyeshadow newbie this would be a good starting point. There is not a huge amount of shadow in the palette so if you get bored of colours, or the size of a Kiko shadow freaks you out, this is a good option for you.