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L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow ($7.95 for 0.12 oz.) is a darkened violet purple with subtle red undertones and a multi-colored shimmer.  When applied dry, it’s sheer, slightly browner, less violet.  When it’s applied damp/wet, it’s much more intense with a strong violet purple coloring and opaque color payoff. MAC Young Punk is blacker and less violet. Dior Garden Roses is lighter and pinker. MAC Plush is lighter, more red-toned. Urban Decay Delinquent is a little brighter. Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister is very similar, slightly brighter.

L’Oreal says that these wear for up to 24 hours and are long-wearing and intensely pigmented. They’re a hybrid pressed and loose powder; it’s like a very, very finely-milled loose powder that’s been sat on (and in essence, that’s true, because each pot contains a plastic stopper that you can use to press the powder to further compact it). You get the blendability of a loose powder with the ease and convenient of a pressed powder.

I believe this shade is known as Purple Obsession internationally. I have it, and it was actually one of the first shades I tested (many months ago), and I set it aside because it did not work well for me–it did not want to apply evenly at all on the lid, and it was creasing and fading like you wouldn’t believe. When I recently tried Perpetual Purple (and I didn’t know they were the same), I had a similar experience. It fades surprisingly quickly, and when I wore it alone (just by itself), I did have significant creasing after a mere six hours. When I used it in the crease with other Infallible Eyeshadows, it didn’t crease.  The texture of Perpetual Purple was also on the dry side, so it wasn’t as easy to blend or apply.

For a comparison against Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense, please see this post. As a quick summary, L’Oreal’s colors can be less nuanced/have less depth, and then the wear is can be inconsistent with L’Oreal (some wearing fantastic, others creasing/fading more rapidly). The way I look at it (assuming you wear primer, because then the wear is usually fine), the more the merrier!

Edited:  The picture that showed the wear was MISSING! Now it’s there in all of its disappointing glory.

Perpetual Purple

PPermanent. $7.99.
D+
D+
7
Product
8
Pigmentation
8.5
Texture
4
Longevity
3.5
Application
69%
Total

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Perpetual Purple, Perpetual Purple, Perpetual Purple

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Perpetual Purple, Perpetual Purple, Perpetual Purple

L'Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow
L’Oreal Perpetual Purple Infallible Eyeshadow — 3 Hours / 6 Hours

48 Comments

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Mostly Sunny Avatar

Oh great, I’m not crazy! I got this one because I liked the color, and also because people kept saying these are the drugstore version of Eyes to Kill. Sorry but at least this shade really is not! Even when I wear a primer it fades like nobody’s business! I’d like to believe it’s the dud of the line, but at the moment I’m not purchasing more of these.

queen_frostine Avatar

 @Mostly Sunny It’s definitely a dud in the line.  I own 8 shades of Infallible eye shadows including Perpetual Purple, and there’s a huge difference between PP and the others I have.  I didn’t have any problems with it fading because I wore it over a primer, but the texture is kind of crap and it applies unevenly.  I don’t have that problem with my other ones.

Mostly Sunny Avatar

 @queen_frostine I do have the elusive Emerald Lame (though I highly suspect the same shade has been renamed as Golden Emerald and released in the US recently), and the texture isn’t impressive either. The shimmer is too gritty, and it also fades on me. It’s a real pity, because the color is very gorgeous!

annedreshfield Avatar

Hey Christine, are those all really perpetual purple on your lid in the close-up shots? Lol. Thanks for the review — it’s annoying that the wear isn’t more consistent, but since I use primer every day, it wouldn’t bother me. I might have to check these out! 

dustyohunter Avatar

Eh who cares about the quality – I hope you wore hot pink lipstick and crimped your hair with that AWESOME looking 80’s eye!! OMG I love it!! LOVE IT! Seriously!
 
Tell me you AT LEAST had a terrycloth headband on?

Mary Jayn Avatar

I really love these eyeshadows. I have this shade but have not tried it yet. I find that the other shades I’ve tried from this collection work amazingly though.

Liz9969 Avatar

I never thought to use these wet.  Interesting about the lasting power.  I have 2 of these.  When used with primer, the lasting power is just fine.I wonder why some shades last longer than others.  

GlowMyWay Avatar

Is it just me, or are purples frequently the poorest colors in the line? The vast majority of shades that crease or fade for me are purple or bluish, so I wonder if there’s anything in those pigments that makes them tricky.
 
Of course, many purple and blue shadows are terrific, so obviously it can be done.

Rebecca Avatar

Very weird you didn’t have a good experience with it. I wore this same color just the other day from 10am into the night and I had no creasing issues and the color payoff was excellent for me. Easily one of my new favorites. Maybe you got a bad batch or something?

krisabelle Avatar

Christine, I think you do the absolute most gorgeous eye looks in the world!  Your looks are always so beautiful and inspire me to try something more daring than my usual MAC brown liner with UD Virgin.  Thanks for the inspiration!  =o)

wwendalynne Avatar

Why does it always have to be purple that bites..  It’s one of my favourite colours and I have more purple eyeshadows let me down than any other colour.  I see this is no different. 🙁

Turboweevel Avatar

 @xamyx  @wwendalynne It’s because of the colors you can use to make purple. Manganese violet and ultramarine violet are very dull looking pigments in their pure form and the color isn’t improved by adding the other ingredients needed to get an eyeshadow. Red iron oxide and ultramarine blue are fairly dark colors to begin with so you won’t get anywhere by mixing those either and as for D&C dyes, Blue #1 is eye safe but most red dyes aren’t, and because they’re dyes they’re very transparent to begin with so you’ll need to add an opacifier like titanium dioxide and then you get a pastel. Purples are just extremely hard to formulate for eyeshadows. It’s easier for lippies because of dyes like Red #33 which has a nice, grape color to begin with (although it can only be used up to 3% of your total formula by weight), not to mention the other beautiful bright dyes that are lipsafe.

xamyx Avatar

@Turboweevel I knew there was *some* reason behind it, though I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it just gets so frustrating when I know it’s *possible* to get it right. Like I said earlier, I layer this one with MUFE 92, which is a perfect matte purple. I just really love the shimmer of this, but at least by layering, I get a shade close to the pot. Sometimes it’s worth the extra effort for a *perfect* color.

Kafka Avatar

 @Turboweevel  That is fascinating. I really appreciated the explanation from a technical perspective because I’ve often wondered about purples as well; like some others here, they are amongst my favorite colours but haven’t always had luck with them. Thank you so much for explaining!
 

Alyson Avatar

That’s so crazy it faded! Whenever I wear my bronze one, it lasts me ALL DAY LONG with no primer. It’s crazy and I LOVE it! Sad this one fades so quickly 🙁

Espe1963 Avatar

I have some of these and most work good, have decent staying power except a blue one I got some months ago. I had exactly the same results you had..creasing and disappearing color after 4+ hours

lovelyandroid Avatar

I swear to you, this stays on me until I remove it. I can fall asleep with it on and it looks exactly the same in the morning. But, I have dry skin.

Gabby Avatar

Just goes to show how much each person’s personal body body chemistry really does affect the way a product works for them. Sad this didn’t work out for you 🙁 I was so happy that it worked great for me since this is one of my fav shades in the line – this all over the lid plus bottomless java in my crease and UD Junkie lining my bottom lashes is my fav eye look lately when I’m bar-hopping with friends 🙂 The best part is that on me it lasts from 5/6 pm until 6/7 am the next day 🙂

Bonnie Seifert Avatar

I love this color, and it lasts all day on me when I wear it… I feel bad that it didn’t work out for you, but I’m glad it does for me at least. 😛

Dawn Thielemann Avatar

Omg I cannot get over the dramatic difference in wear between us. It really does show not everything works for everyone! Thanks for so many reviews.

Rae // theNotice Avatar

Oh my gosh! That looks really, really disappointing — and from such a lovely shade of violet 🙁 It’s sad to see such a sub-par shadow in a range that’s typically (a lot) more impressive, but I guess that just goes to show how much fluctuation you can have within a product line, eh?

AbbeyWard Avatar

I know it’s not very hygienic, but I find these apply best with my finger.  The pigments spread more evenly, they blend better, and they last longer that way (for me at least).

stacey Avatar

I use my fingers for this type of loose shadows too.  I dont think it is un-hygenic.  I use my fingers to apply foundation.  I use my fingers to apply face and eye cream.  Certainly, I wash my hands prior to the applications.  I only do this with my stuff onto my face…not at the stores.

CShell Avatar

I really love perpetual purple, that being said I do wear it on top of mabelline’s color tattoo in painted purple so that is probably why I have not experienced any problems with it’s performance.

Quinctia Avatar

Huh, I’m pretty sure this was the first color I bought, and I wouldn’t have so many now if it performed sub-par for me.  I apply all of these with a finger over primer, though.  But I don’t have any reason to not use a primer, either.
 
The last powder shadow I tried wearing without a primer was an Armani Eyes to Kill, and it wore like crap, so…no point to me leaving the primer out ever!

queen_frostine Avatar

I own Perpetual Purple and agree it’s one of the weaker links in the Infallible eye range.  The texture isn’t nearly as good as the 7 other shades I own, which is unfortunate as it’s a gorgeous shade of purple!

Nikelle Avatar

This color wears like iron  on me but I do use a primer! No fading, creasing or foul play happening here! Body chemistry really does play a part me thinks!

Julie Avatar

I have had no problems with Perpetual Purple. I own about 7 of these Infallibles. I’m really curious about your grading system — it looks like based on the individual scores for each category, if you use an academic grading system (90-100: A; 80-89: B; 70-79: C, etc.), this product should get a B- or C. Why the D+?

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