Tuesday 25 March 2014

L'oreal Color Riche Eye Color Pencils

Delicate Beige, Enigmatic Brown, Smoky Taupe
A couple of days ago I picked up these L'oreal Eye Crayons from Myer in a recent ever so slightly large drugstore haul. I had no idea what they were and hadn't seen anybody from US or UK mention them before so of course I jumped at it and picked out the three neutral shades. These retail for $16.95 and I couldn't help but have high hopes for these new crayons. I will show you these pencils in action and my final thoughts on this new release.







First up on the chopping board is Delicate Beige. Never have I thought to myself "I have too many Highlighting champagne beige shades in my collection". Never. And it's this shade of colour that I always buy first from any collection. Swatched, it is a gorgeously pigmented and opaque pink champagne colour. I actually "ooooo"-ed out loud when I drew on my hand with it. Put the tester back and dropped a crayon into my basket. Cha-Ching.

For this look I applied two layers of the crayon. Once for blending and once over again for a stronger intense colour (so that it actually shows up on camera).





Next up, Enigmatic Brown. My favorite of the three and probably the only one that I will be interested in keeping/re-using. (Please continue reading to find out why I probably won't be buying or using these eye crayons again). This colour reminds me of MAC's Paintpot Constructivist and I thought it would be a great base for a smoky eye or even just on it own. 

This colour is a little light in intensity as by this time (it was the last one I applied), little Evie had woken up from her nap and I was applying these and blending with one hand whilst carrying her in the other.





And last but not least Smoky Taupe. Kudos on being one of the most taupe-y taupes I have come across in a while. I find that most taupes always get lost between brown or grey. This however is a wonderful balance between the two with an added hint of purple. I really love this shade but I just don't think something so cool-toned can suit my warm-toned complexion. I really wish I was fairer so I could pull off cool-toned neutrals more. ai-yai-yai.

My excitement pretty much ended the minute these fat pencils made contact with my eye lids. When swatching on the back of my hand, the texture was pigmented and smooth. This however, does not translate onto the eyelids. Our eyelids are thinner and more loose than the skin on our hands so when I swept the pencil over my eyes, it was pulling the skin and quite difficult to get the colour to transfer onto the lids. Once a substantial amount of the colour has been applied onto the eyelids, it was a b***h to blend. It had pretty much set the minute it touched the skin. Blending took about 5 times the amount of time it took to draw it on and I actually got tears in my eyes from the blending motions of the brush against my eyeballs (through the eyelids of course). Once I blended out all the harsh lines from where I applied it, much of the product is gone (in the brush I suspect) and so I drew a little more near the lash line just for a bit more colour. 

I have to admit, once all the hard work is done, it looks pretty good. But for me, an average powder eyeshadow, a NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil and MAC's Paintpots can all achieve this result if not better and without doing any harm to my aging eyelids.

If you are looking for a cream based eyeshadow/crayon or if you want something to apply quickly while on the go, definitely look at NYX and MAC Paintpots as those two are so easy to work with. Seriously you don't even need a mirror when you apply those. 

So final verdict. These products would be good for lining your bottom lash line if you were doing a eye look of similar colour. But on the top of the lids, I recommend you give these a miss. Eyelids are very important for your appearance once you reach your late 30s and these are not your friends in the anti-aging department especially from trying to blend it out.

Until next time, xx

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17 comments:

  1. i have one of these crayons - how to do you sharpen it or wind it up?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Constance, You have to sharpen these pencils. If you find that a lot of product is coming off when you use a sharpener, a trick that I learnt to effectively sharpen these soft shadow pencils without losing a lot of product is to pop the pencil in the freezer for a few hours before sharpening it. That way, the soft centre doesn't break off when you try to sharpen it.

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    2. How do you sharpen it? Its plastic

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    3. How do you sharpen it? Its plastic

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  3. Good luck finding a sharpener big enough to sharpen these pencils. L'oreal should sell one to go with it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! These pencils are the standard size for jumbo eye pencils/lip crayons etc. I'm currently using one from Natio (if you are from Australia) which has two sized holes, one for your usual eye/lip liners and one bigger hole for jumbo pencils. Nars also sells a sharpener like this to accommodate their famous velvet lip pencils. Hope this helps :)

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    2. Impossible to wind it up, big waste of money.

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    3. I just bought a large hole pencil sharpener at the chemist to try to sharpen my crayon, but the Hollis too small. I'm frustrated. I like the crayon but it's a pain about the sharpening.

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  5. Smoky taupe is a great lipliner - goes on like silk!

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  6. I use smoky taupe as a lip liner - it lasts for ages!

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  7. Can't wind the pencil up. The small tip of colour on the end is all you get. Rip Off!!!

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  8. I also have a L'oreal jumbo eye pencil, have bought two different sharpeners both with two holes, one small and one large. Still unable to sharpen these pencils any suggestions???? I even wrote to the company and was told to go to a stationers!!!!!!!

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  9. I was looking for an answer to this & only found you all with the same problem! So I complained to my can do hubby, gave him both of my 2 hole sharpeners & my safety blade, all of which I'd had not luck with. After much rearing of all my attempts, he somehow adjusted the big hole on one of the sharpeners by unscrewing the blade. He then gently cut off the plastic surrounding the top of the crayon. And sharpened it for me, yippee! A whole new crayon. Must tell him I have another two to do, lol!

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  10. I bought a Mac double hole sharpener
    Many people dont know that the big hole has a removable cap thus 3-size sharpener. I SHARPENED mine works amazing

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