Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows Review: As Eyeshadow Base, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner! (PLUS Plenty Of Eye Makeup Tips!)

Why it took me ages to finally try to the Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows is beyond me. How could they be so awesome, yet stayed in my Doll To Doll Cosmetics inventory without me feeling the exploding urge to try them out despite ALL THE RAVING on the internet about them?

Seriously, when these babies came into the market, everyone from beauty professionals to girls with the slightest interest in makeup were talking about how these cream eyeshadows work like magic. Like they stayed on for hours, were creamy, blended gorgeously, extremely pigmented…….

Let me tell you. ALL THOSE ARE TRUE.

Staying true to my nature of being attracted to bright colors, I chose 4 of the brightest out of the 10 shades avaible – Tenacious Teal, Pomegranate Punk, Fierce & Tangy, and Edgy Emerald. And I love them all.

It’s like I have 4 kids and my love isn’t divided into quarters, rather, my ability to love is multipled four folds. HAHAHA! This analogy is weird. But you get what I mean, yea? 😀

Plenty Of Product In A Hard Glass Container

I love that you can quickly see the shade without having to open each of the pots, much like how my Z Palettes allow me to see at one glance all the eyeshadows I’ve depotted into them. On the cap though, it’s quite a challenge to find among all the white words against the black background the shade name (see first picture).

There is so much product in each pot I could use it for three lifetimes. 4g of product is too much, in my opinion.

My Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner contains 3g, Inglot Eyeliner Gel 5.5g, Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner 3g, Kate Gel Eyeliner 2.5g, and I have never hit near bottom for any of these.

The glass container (acrylic, maybe?) makes the whole thing heavy and I probably wouldn’t bring it for travel, and also because I can’t depot it without worrying that it might dry out faster than if it were left in its original glass environment.

Creamy, Blendable, Pigmented

What they say is true. It’s hard not to fall in love with these Maybelline Color Tattoos for their texture and pigmentation. Getting to the level of intensity you desire is a piece of cake too. Sometimes I’ll go with just one layer for a simple touch of color, sometimes I’ll build up to four, five layers to get a really concentrated coat.

Here are pictures, swatches and descriptions:

Fierce & Tangy – Burnt tangerine orange with golden shimmer

Pomegranate Punk – Cranberry shade with a shimmery finish

Tenacious Teal – Aqua blue with silver shimmer

Edgy Emerald – Greenish-blue

Edgy Emerald is my super favorite color of the lot! So versatile and packs on really well on the lid. I’ve grown to LOVE green a lot in the past year – green eyeshadow, green clothes, green shoes, green bags… anything green seemingly pops out to me!

I reckon it was the Loreal Color Infallible Eyeshadow in Emerald Lame that kick started this whole green frenzy.

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: With cream eyeshadows, use a synthetic brush to achieve faster and better results. Natural bristles aren’t out of the question, but if you do own an eyeshadow brush with synthetic bristles, you get the job done more quickly and better distribution. When I used my MAC 239, it didn’t pick up as much product as a random synthetic brush. Alternatively, use your fingers.

Use As Eyeshadow Primer, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner

Many people have compared these to MAC Paintpots but I don’t own any of them to make a comparison. I think the Paint Pots are over-priced and many have said the Maybelline Color Tattoos perform better. So YAY for me for never having bought Paintpots! =D (MAC Paint Pots contain 5g of product and cost three times more, FYI.)

These Maybelline Color Tattoos, due to their cream-gel-based nature, double up as colored eye primers. While nude-colored or transparent eyeshadow primers help eye makeup stay on longer and enhance the vibrancy of eyeshadows, colored eye primers function to further intensify or alter subsequent colors applied.

So if you use Edgy Emerald as a base, and then layer on with a green eyeshadow like Sugarpill Midori, you get a very intense green that will last until you remove it. You get different eventual shades with different eyeshadows applied.

At first I didn’t know what brush to use to apply them with as an eyeliner. I experimented with the Makeup Geek Chisel Shader but it wasn’t as easy to maneuver with on the lower lash line.

Then I tried with the Sigma E30 and it was DA-BOMB! (And then I kicked myself for not having tried it from the start.)

Because the Sigma E30 Pencil Brush has a pointed tip, it makes for precise and quick application of a cream product to the lower lash line. Super love!!! I'll let you know where to get it at the bottom of this post! 😀

Does Not Transfer!

What sets these Maybelline Color Tattoos apart from the rest is that they don’t transfer to the upper fold. If you have oily lids and no crease, you’ll understand how disastrous it is when your eye makeup transfers to the the space above the fold and leaves a mark. Read this post if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Once you get them on, and let them stay on for a few seconds, they won’t budge. Ever. So you’ve got the ‘long-wearing’ part ticked on your list.

Fierce & Tangy as base 2/3 into lids, the red and green are other eyeshadows.

Pomegrante Punk all over lid. The dark color at outer corner was Mac Satin Taupe, I think.

I posted this picture on my Instagram (@bunbunmakeuptips). Favorite mascara of the moment - Lioele Volume & Curling Mascara! I'll put the link below! ^_^*

I’ll leave you with another...

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: Don’t swipe your eyeshadow brush left to right like a windscreen wiper. Pat on your eyeshadow, like this => *pat pat pat*

It was a reeeeeeaaaaally windy day! This was one of the few shots where I didn't have hair plastered across my face looking like a guitar-banging rockstar. RAWKERRRRRR!!! Lol.