Neutral Border, Russet Centre

Before I get into the blog post, just a quick but heartfelt thank you for all the sweet comments in my last post. I know I should be a lot better at responding to comments, but if I couldn't/didn't reply to all of you individually, know that I truly appreciate the time and effort it takes to leave a note, and for all the support, encouragement and understanding.

Remember how I wasn't supposed to buy more makeup? Well, that failed. Miserably. While roadtripping with my parents in the days after Christmas, I noticed My Chemist were having a 50% off Rimmel, Maybelline and Revlon sale. I wasn't intending to purchase anything, but when I spotted the Rimmel Glam'Eyes HD 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Brixton Brown (022), my willpower crumbled. This was the same palette featured on major UK beauty blogs about a year ago (see I Covet Thee, Lily Pebbles, Vivianna Does Makeup), and for a period, it was popping up in videos and on my blog feed regularly. As with every hyped product, I couldn't resist seeing for myself what the fuss was about.

I've only had this palette for 2 weeks but for some reason it looks more like 2 years.

l-r (as marked in the diagram at the back of the palette): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The highlight shade (1) is a beige, slightly pinky, pearlescent shimmer — quite whitish and concentrated. The matte on the bottom left (2) is a medium, neutral tan/camel shade (kind of what I imagine MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork looks like). Oddly, I always thought it looked khaki in the pan, but it doesn't translate on the lids as green in any way. The second darkest shade (3) is a dark chocolate brown with somewhat mauve/ashy tones. The darkest colour (5) is a deep, cool-toned brown, close to black but not quite. The red in the middle (4) is a very metallic, vibrantly pigmented russet/burnt orangey-red — distinctly autumnal in character.

(MAC Eye Kohl in Powersurge on lower lash line.)

My first impressions of Brixton Brown weren't great, mainly because when I opened it, the light brown shade basically couldn't be swatched. It was like it had no pigment. Maybe the surface had sealed the way a lot of my blushes do and needed to be scratched to get any colour payoff. When I returned home from my trip and tried brushes to apply the shadows (as opposed to my fingers or the sad sponge applicator it came with), the palette redeemed itself in my eyes.

I've been relying on the e.l.f. Essential Blending Eye Brush to pack on the light brown shade all over the lid. I then blend some of the second darkest shade from the lower lashline upwards, focusing the darkest shade on the outer corner and finishing by patting some of the red on the centre of the lid. Admittedly, the whole look is a tad heavy and smoky for the daytime, but since I usually wear black-rimmed glasses, the stronger eye makeup isn't as apparent and balances out my dark frames.

As shown in the swatch of all the shades, the shadows themselves are nicely pigmented (though the light brown shade is still the weakest link in that respect, as much as I love the colour). They're fairly soft, borderline powdery in texture, and while there's a bit of fall out with the darker shades, it's nothing that tapping your brush to get rid of excess pigment can't fix.