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Thursday 10 January 2013

Review: Maybelline Master Smoky Shadow Pencil in Smoky Violet

Is it smoky or smokey? I never know so I change it all the time. Luckily I know this one is smoky since it's printed on the side. Crisis averted.
I've seen a few reviews for this product and they've been overwhelmingly negative. I do smoky eyes so rarely because I don't feel confident with dark shadows so this really appealed to me. A two-step, one product smoky eye? Where do I sign?! So regardless of the negative reviews I was drawn to the Maybelline counter to give this baby a swatch.


There was a few colours to choose from, all very imaginatively named smoky "insert colour." In my dreams this would have been a dark jungle green but the violet seemed like the next best thing. Bright enough to be considered colourful and the shade would ideally enhance the green tones in my eyes. The product itself is a chunky crayon encased in wood with a sponge "smudger" on the opposite end. It does come with lids on both ends but I'll explain why mine doesn't at the end of the post. Nothing innovative packaging wise, but nice and neat. I also liked that the colour of the pencil was an indicator of the product shade. I much prefer products presented like that because when you have a lot of makeup you can spend several minutes just trying to find the products you're after. Buzzkill. Here's a swatch on my hand:


So far so good right? The "instructions" on the pencil simply say, draw a thick line, blend out. Absolutely idiot proof. It wasn't really all as simply as that, you have to layer it up quite a lot and blend out gradually to get a look with real impact.


I did really love this look though. It's a little muddy on the lid but it would make a great addition to some dark purple shadows and absolutely does work fine on it's own. It's quite "safe" as far as smoky eyes go as a single product, but I'm really looking forward to having a play and seeing what I can achieve! It was fairly soft but it did drag a little on the skin. Not terrible but perhaps enough to irritate very sensitive eyes. The pigmentation is fantastic and I love the colour! It's not obvious from the photos but my eyes looked very green in reality. The smudger wasn't half as bad as I imagined it would be from other reviews, I felt it did the job quite well to be honest. These retail for £5.99 each at Boots or Superdrug. There's also a mascara in the "Smoky" range but I really don't feel it could do anything more than what any other volumising mascara could, so it was a miss for me. I did quite like this product and might pick up the brown shade too.

Final verdict: It's not a must-have product, but it's a nice addition to my liners and I'll probably reach for it a few times in the coming evenings.

What do you think to this product? Have you tried any pieces from the Smoky collection?

Lauren

P.S. The story behind the missing lid:  I was about to pay for my full  price Smoky Violet when the assistant whipped one out with a missing lid and offered it to me for £1 since they couldn't sell it for full price. Needless to say I didn't dither for long. £5 is a big saving, and I store my pencils upright anyway so it's not as if the sponge is going to gather dirt in the bottom of my makeup bag. Hell yeah savings!

22 comments:

  1. Oh, that colour is gorgeous! I think i'd be too scared to be that bold with colour, but it looks gorgeous on you :)

    Laura x
    http://pale-girl-reviews.blogspot.com

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    1. awh if you love it, you can rock it ;) you might surprise yourself if you try it :) Thank you! x

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  2. I agree I think it will look really good built up with some eye shadow.
    It is a very pretty colour though and such a great bargain for £1. I would have definitely took that offer also.
    Also I know exactly what you mean with Smokey and Smoky haha. But seens as google chrome has just highlighted Smokey as incorrect and Smoky as correct I'm going with Smoky in the future I think :)

    nailthelook.blogspot.com

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    1. Absolutely, it seems nice and versatile so I'm looking forward to playing with it! They're both correct, if you google them you get the same definition but chrome seems to think smoky is right? haha never mind :) x

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  3. Replies
    1. So glad you like it! I was nervous after seeing so many negative reviews but I don't regret it one bit :) x

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  4. That colour really suits your eyes, it brings out your eye colour and you got it for £1 bargain!

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    1. thank you so much! I know how lucky is that? Maybe I should start hiding lids in Superdrug haha x

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  5. Wow, that's great that you were able to get this for just a pound!! And the color looks gorgeous on your skin so that's just a double bonus :) I had to laugh though because I've never even thought of how to spell smoky!! I suppose I thought it was 'smokey' but it looks like spell check doesn't care either way so we're safe haha...

    Cassie
    thriftthick.blogspot.com

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    1. I know! Bargain of the year. Thank you :) silly isn't it? I still don't feel comfortable with there being two correct spellings, just pick one! Haha x

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  6. This looks really great on you, the colour really makes your eyes pop :) xx

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    1. Awh thank you :) I was hoping it would! Didn't disappoint me x

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  7. oh pretty! what a gorgeous colour :)

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    1. I think so too! It's nice to get out of my comfort zone and try shades like this. Always surprises me how easy to wear they are :) x

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  8. Love the colour! I love a good smokey eye such a bargain at getting it for £1 too!

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    1. It's so pretty :) me too, I'm not amazing with dark shadows though, find them a bit daunting! Tell me about it, I was so pleased! x

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  9. Gosh I love the color but I dont like eye products that drag and tug.

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    1. It did drag a little but it wasn't so uncomfortable that I wouldn't use it in the future, the colour and quality was enough to keep me coming back :) x

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  10. I haven't tried this but looks interesting. The colour really looks lovely on you! x

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    1. Definitely recommend if you can find it on offer, £5.99 was a bit much for a single pencil. Thank you! x

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