g l o s t i x

And now, for something I was entirely disappointed in. When I found out that my Influenster Beauty Blogger Voxbox included an NYC palette, I was pretty stoked. I’d tried some of their lipsticks before and loved them, so I was happy to have a chance to try their eyeshadow.

The IndividualEyes Custom Compact palettes come packaged in a fairly well-weighted package, with a dual sponge tip applicator, four eyeshadow colours, a primer, and a highlighter cream. On the back of the package are handy dandy application suggested for the average joe, which is always nice – especially since the directions actually make sense with the colours included (something that other extreme budget brands *coughwetnwildcough* seem to have a hard time doing).

Application and Wear

To test this bugger out, I applied the NYC primer to one eye, and my usual UDPP on the other. The results on initial application were similar between primers, so if nothing else, the NYC primer does serve as an effective base. Though I was rather disappointed at how much layering it took to show a somewhat satisfactory level of pigmentation on my lids. We’re not talking about a second layer to sharpen up what may have gotten lost in blending. We’re talking three layers before you can even get to blending, and two more to sharpen up what you may have muddied up. There was also fairly horrible fallout during the entire application process, due to how powdery the formula of these shadows. At this point, I’m less than impressed.

Fast forward to the end of the day, after a long day at work. I check my shadow to see how the primers have held up. The UDPP held fairly well, with only a slight amount of fading – which is great, considering how much packing it took to achieve what little effect I did get. The other side faded quite a bit more, and creased horribly. This is the first time in about ten years that I’ve had eyeshadow to actually crease on my lids – back when I was an idiot and thought chapstick was an effective primer. I don’t even have creasing issues when I wear eyeshadow on my bare, unprimed lids. But the NYC primer is apparently really, very “special”.

I’d comment on the highlighting cream, but it pretty much did nothing, so what can I really say about it?

Brass Tacks

All in all, I was quite unimpressed, and may actually qualify as dissatisfied if I had actually paid for the item. The eyeshadows were powdery and rather poorly pigmented, and the ‘primer’ was anything but effective. I’ll admit, I am still slightly interested to try other shade offerings, if nothing more than to see if they perform just as poorly – but I am hard pressed to say that I will be purchasing this product any time soon.

FTC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT: This item was sent free for review by NYC via the Influenster program. All opinions are my own. You can’t buy my love, baby.