Napoleon Perdis Prismatic Eyeshadow Quads

Several months ago, I swatched four of Napoleon Perdis Prismatic Eyeshadow Quads ($35.00 for 0.47 oz.). I always meant to post a look using one of them, but I never got around to it. Usually, when I test out products, I put a whole smattering of various products on my face and do partial looks but nothing one would really want to be seen wearing… (One eye has one set of eyeshadows while the other might be testing mascara and liner… and don’t even get me started on mismatching cheeks, LOL!) So even though I may not have an actual full look to show you, I did put these through the rigors I normally put eyeshadows through.

I actually thought these were a lot more affordable than they were; I had classified them as drugstore–but to the contrary! The packaging feels a little cheap to me–it’s clear acrylic with visible, gold hinges. Each palette also includes two sponge-tipped applicators that look as cheap as they feel. For $35, the packaging really leaves a lot to be desired. The eyeshadows are textured with a “wave” shape (see the photos–it’s visible!).

• AIR features a rather spring-y palette of muted sunshine gold, baby pink with silver sheen, frosted lilac with silver shimmer, and silvered brown. I found this one a little on the sheerer side, which is partially owed to the colors themselves as they’re on the lighter end of the spectrum. All four had very frosty finishes to me, though.
• EARTH includes a dark navy blue with a satin-shimmer finish, subtly yellow-tinged green with muted gold shimmer, sheer seafoam green with soft gold sheen, and lightened peachy orange with peach sheen and shimmer. The blue shade swatched beautifully, but the other three shades were a little on the sheerer side, with the seafoam green shade being notably lacking in pigmentation.
• FIRE has a darkened orange-copper with a shimmered sheen, medium-dark beige with champagne shimmer, medium-dark violet purple with a blacker base, and a high-sheen pinkish white. I found this quad to be the most pigmented; all four shades went on really smoothly and vibrantly.
• WATER contains a sheer, shimmery white, cool-toned gray-cast brown with silver shimmer, glowing periwinkle blue with teal sheen, and light, frosted pink with subtle blue undertones. The periwinkle shade is so pretty, and I don’t have anything quite like it, but the white and pink shades were rather sheer.

Even though at first glance, these palettes seemed really pretty, I wasn’t fond of their textures nor color payoff.  They’re incredibly soft, but they veer on powdery, which makes them difficult to work with.  You really have to pack on the color, and inevitably, you’ll need to clean up the noticeable fall out that lands on your under eye area.   A few shades were nicely pigmented but many fell short–a little sheer, which may also be a result of the powdery formula.

For $35, I wouldn’t put it towards these palettes.  You just can’t make the justification of affordability for the reduction in quality here, because this is under the Napoleon Perdis label (rather than NP Set, which is sold at Target), which is “high-end.”  There is a decent amount of eyeshadow in each palette, so it’s a shame that the formula doesn’t have that wow factor.

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• Product: 20/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 3/5

RECOMMENDATION: I don’t recommend these unless you find them on sale.  Each palette has one or two interesting shades in it, but the quality is just so-so with rather soft, rather powdery textures and less pigmentation than I’d expect for a high-end brand.

AVAILABILITY: ULTA

Napoleon Perdis Air Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Air Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Air Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Air Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Air Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Earth Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Earth Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Earth Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Earth Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Fire Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Fire Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Fire Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Fire Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Fire Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Water Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Water Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Water Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Water Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

Napoleon Perdis Water Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad

NP Set Mauritius Lipgloss

The Spring Season: NP Set Mauritius Lipgloss

NP Set Mauritius Lipgloss ($15.00) is a stunning, fiery-orange shimmered peachy-orange gloss. This is truly stunning! It looks gorgeous when swatched, but on lips, the shimmer and shine of the gloss really becomes apparent. I would love this gloss even more if it was just a smidgen more pigmented/vibrant, but the way it shimmers is divine! It’s a fairly creamy gloss so it’s a little on the thicker side (fine with me) and wears a solid three hours on me.

Is this the right gloss for you? Would you wear it?

The Spring Season is a series of posts featuring my favorite soft beige, coral, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for the first blossom of spring — that runs through March 2010.

See photos and swatches…

Napoleon Perdis Havana Lipstick

The Spring Season: NP Set Havana Lipstick

NP Set Havana Lipstick ($15.00) is a soft, creamy medium pink with a subtle pink shimmer. This is an easy-to-wear shade for just about any skin tone, because it’s not too yellow or blue-based–very much neutral. It has a very soft feel when applied to lips and not at all drying. I got about three hours of wear with this shade in particular. There’s a bit of a glossy sheen to it, but I still like to layer a lipgloss on top for extra pop.

Is this the right pink lipstick for you? Would you wear it?

The Spring Season is a series of posts featuring my favorite soft beige, coral, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for the first blossom of spring — that runs through March 2010.

See photos and swatches…

NP Set by Napoleon Perdis is a line designed for and carried by Target. I’ve used a few Napoleon Perdis products in the past (China Doll foundation being one of them–which was fab, though pricey), and I haven’t been disappointed. I was interested to see how NP Set would meet my expectations. This post is only about the lipsticks (not the primer pictured above). The lipsticks in Rio and Boston Cream Ginger ($15.00) were the ones that I ended up giving a try.

Rio is described as a brick red, but it’s too subdued to be a real brick red. I’d say it is a pinked brick red if anything. It’s a nice color, though, nonetheless; it’s perfect for fall and winter. It’s not pastel or pink or springy in the least bit, but it’s also not overly vampy or dark. It should work with most skin tones. The lipstick formula itself is matte in finish, but it is not at all drying–very moisturizing for a matte. In the lip swatch, you’ll notice despite being advertised as a matte, there is still some noticeable sheen.

Boston Cream Ginger is an incredibly creamy coral-melon color. It’s definitely one of those colors I’m drawn to, because corals are my favorites! The creaminess factor is a huge plus, because a lipstick should be moisturizing and hydrating. It should never dry your lips out! Since I can’t reapply balm throughout the day when I have lipstick on, I only bother wearing lipsticks that keep my lips soft and pouty. This one also has a lot of glossiness in its finish, which makes it incredibly wearable without adding any gloss whatsoever–something I rarely feel comfortable doing!

I’m very impressed by these lipsticks, and I wouldn’t mind checking out the other shades the next time I’m at Target (but I avoid going at all costs–I always end up with a cart filled with 99% of things I didn’t intend to buy!).

Check out skin and lip swatches…

Rio

Boston Cream Ginger

I just tried several Napoleon Perdis products, and my first impression is definitely a favorable one. I loved the packaging; all of the boxes had little tabs to make it super easy to open them (hey, those of us who wear nail polish compulsively love things that are gentle on the tips!). All of the product packaging is ultra sleek and classy looking, and I always appreciate a line that puts creativity in their styling.

Madame Curl Curl mascara: I have crazy lashes, because they go multiple directions and have various lengths. I find this mascara to be great as far as giving me decent length, good curl, and minimal clumping. It’s not my holy grail, because I want incredibly dramatic lashes, which means length, thickness, volume, curl, everything! I’m still looking for my dream mascara. I like that this line offers multiple mascaras with different purposes, because this allows consumers to pick and choose what they need in mascara. Do-it-all mascaras do not always work the way they should, anyway!

Eyeshadow in Crystal Cafe: Talk about one pigmented shadow! It’s predominantly in the pink family, but I have to say that there is a touch of red in it, so it’s a bold, dark pink. This is one of those colors that scares beauty blogger Karen, and I imagine quite a few of my readers! Pink is a color that often turns eyes into looking tired or as if you’ve been crying for a few hours (trust me, my first pink look had my mom asking, “What’s wrong?!). When paired with say golds and oranges, you’ll find you can achieve the sunset eye, while still using pink, and it’s not nearly so terrifying anymore!

Blush Patrol: I remember when Napoleon Perdis debuted their line on Sephora there was an immediate buzz about this product, because it resembles Petticoat mineralize skinfinish by MAC Cosmetics, which is [nowadays] an extremely coveted hard-to-find item. I find that the Blush Patrol (one color, only) looks just gorgeous in its compact, all dome-shaped, with pink, raspberry, and shimmer swirls. The effect in application? Subtle raspberry-pink shimmer that works well to highlight cheekbones. It is well-suited for summer and lazy makeup days because a few taps of this on your cheeks and you have a slight pinkish glow on your cheeks. It’s not highly colored, so I would personally use it on top of a deeper blush for a more dramatic look.

Gloss Patrol in Dallas: The gloss tube actually felt kind of heavy, not overly so by any means, but heftier than I’m used to. This particular shade is a very sheer iridescent pink gloss, and it would look lovely over deep lipsticks to give them a healthy coat of shine and shimmer.

Chandelier Shine in Empress (pink) & Voodoo (purple): Napoleon Perdis recently launched Chandelier Shine, which is a concept that involves matching lipgloss and nail polish. What do I think of this idea? Fantastic! I love matching makeup to clothes, and while I don’t have the time to change my polish color everyday, it’s nice to know that there’s a company who recognizes our inner desires to be matchy-matchy. I look at this as a great way to match on a particular occasion. The first one I tried was a deep purple-red, nearly black, color. The second one is a deep magenta pink, which is so up my alley. I found both polishes to have an amazing consistency, and they applied like a dream. I didn’t even have to apply two coats (though I did because I always do, and that’s just that), even with the ultra dark polish. I love the matching magenta pink gloss, because it makes a great on-the-go gloss for a quick ten-minute face as it tints the lips a subtle pink with glossy sheen. The purple gloss is actually reminiscent of Atmospheric by MAC; it’s very wearable, not so bold, just a slight shimmery purple.

Check out more Napoleon Perdis products at www.napoleonperdis.com or www.sephora.com!