L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow ($7.95 for 0.12 oz.) is a berry-tinted pink with a soft, frosted finish. When applied dry, it has a slightly more subdued, redder appearance–it’s not quite opaque. When applied damp, it takes on a pinker hue and the frosted finish is more pronounced, and the color itself is opaque. At a glance, you’d think it was similar to MAC Cranberry, but it’s not at all–Cranberry is much, much darker, more of a burgundy (so it has more brown in it than pink). MAC Moon Rose is pinker. Milani Pink Twice is pinker as well.

If you’re familiar with Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense, these are very similar. I found the biggest difference between the two was in the texture of the formula and the overall appearance of the colors–L’Oreal Infallibles are more one-dimensional, less nuanced, whereas you’ll see an interplay of colors with the Eyes to Kill Intense. L’Oreal owns both brands, so I imagine there was some trickle-down effect in the technology once Giorgio Armani rolled it out.  It’s not really a negative that these are more what-you-see-is-what-you-get in color.  The Eyes to Kill Intense shades can look really stunning in the pot and look a little less complex when swatched.

The texture of Glistening Garnet is soft, smooth, and finely-milled.  It’s a compacted loose powder–you could break it up if you really wanted to, but it arrives already pretty solid, and there’s a little topper inside that you can use to press and compact the powder should it loosen over time.  It can be used wet or dry, though the payoff was significantly better when used wet–but other shades in the line-up were better dry than this one, so it seemed like it fell a little short as far as pigmentation went for dry use.

I originally tested a few shades of the formula that the lovely ladies at Beaut.ie sent me from Ireland, because these weren’t available in the states at the time (and L’Oreal told me they weren’t going to be released here). A few months later, L’Oreal did end up releasing them state-side. I had some trouble with the original shades I tried, so I can’t say that all of the shades perform consistently or as well as this shade did.

Glistening Garnet, however, did perform well, and I didn’t have any trouble using it. Even after 16 hours (without primer!), I didn’t have any creasing, though there was some slight, but noticeable, fading along the outer corner. The only thing I have to note is that I needed to use it wet to make an impact; if you use it over a primer, you might be able to skip that step, but I still preferred applying with a damp brush. I used a small eyeshadow brush (like the MAC 239) to apply it to the lid.

L’Oreal does state that these are supposed to wear for up to 24-hours, which is the same claim Giorgio Armani made. I’m not really comfortable wearing makeup that long personally, so it will take me some time before I work up the courage to test it for that long! The longest I’ve tested these has been 16 hours.

L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Glistening Garnet Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Liquid Diamond, Glistening Garnet, Perpetual Purple

L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Liquid Diamond, Glistening Garnet, Perpetual Purple