Maybelline Color Tattoo Limited Edition Summer 2013 - Swatch and Review

I was anxious to get this review up as soon as possible since these are limited edition shades so I pretty much started to test them out as soon as I got done with the pictures. I wore Seashore Frost all day yesterday and the other two, pretty much all night...one in each eye. Pretty crazy eh? I'm usually not that extreme and like to take my time but I'm making an exception for these since I'm a bit late in the game. Do you often test more than one product of the same kind at once?

I hear some of you have trouble hunting these down. I understand that can be frustrating. I was worried that I was going to miss out on these as well but I was fortunate enough to find them at K-Mart. 

Most of you probably already know that these new shades supposedly have duochrome in them and while they look fairly noticeable through the pot, I found that quality lacking once it is applied. It's still there but it's subtle and was very difficult to photograph to say the least. 

Packaging

• Glass pot, identical to the original and permanent Color Tatoos. I think it would have been cool if they made the packaging just slightly different since they are limited edition. 
• .14 oz or 4 g

Seashore Frosts

Seashore Frosts has a greyish blue/gold duochrome shift. This shade is so complex and multi-dimensional, it's hard to picture all the nuance of colors. I see a bit of pink and green shimmers as well. The effect reminds me of colors you see in a mother of pearl shell. It's just beautiful. I highly recommend you pick this one up. It's very unique and the duochrome effect is very noticeable.

Waves of White

Waves of White color shifts from shimmery white to light teal blue and light pinkish purple. I especially love the effect when layered on top of a dark color. It really brings out the teal shimmers. On its own, it mostly shifts shimmery white/light teal. The pinkish purple is only noticeable at certain angle but I can't really see it for the life of me once I had it applied on my eyelids. It has a very opalescent look to it. I kinda like it and I kinda don't, lol.

Cool Crush

Cool Crush looks a lot shinier and metallic as compared to the other two shades. It's a light metallic grey with a subtle lavender and blue shift. The shift in color is very subtle because the finish is so shiny it actually mutes the duochrome so as a result it appears more like a flat metallic silver.

Product

• First thing I noticed is how creamy they were, much more so than the original formula. It makes application fairly easy but at the same time the color payoff leans more on the sheer side and gives you an ethereal effect.
• They can be applied with your fingers or with a brush. 
• When swatched over a black cream base, I've noticed that the duochrome effect is no longer noticeable and the predominant color just comes through. Seashore Frosts looked more like a dark shimmery brown. Waves of White looked more like a dark shimmery teal and Cool Crush was more like a dark greyish blue color. 
• They do take a bit of time to set, which allows you time to play with them a bit. They apply sheer but if you wait for it to dry and apply another layer, you can build up the color payoff a little more. The great thing is once it dries and set, it won't budge. I was really afraid that these were going to crease on me due to their emollient consistency but I wore them for 8 hours and didn't see any creasing at all even without using a primer. I'm prone to creasing with certain cream products so I'm glad this wasn't an issue here. 
• I swatched them on my hand and forgot to take them off. Took a shower and there was only very minimal fading after I was done. I left them on for the rest of the day and again they barely faded so I'm quite happy with the longevity. 

Final Thought

I was pleasantly surprised that for the wear time, they performed much better than I expected. If you don't mind the sheer, shimmery, etheral look, then I think you will like these. If you want strong color payoff then these are not for you. Even though they apply sheer, you can layer them for more intensity, however it will look very shimmery. Seashore frost was the only one that looked decent on its own. The other two, I wouldn't personally use them alone. They need other colors to add more depth and contrast and don't have much of a duochrome effect. Overall, I like certain aspect of it and I wish the duochrome was stronger in some shades. I'm not completely in love with them but I know I can make them work without trying too hard.

Rating: 8/10

What do you think? Are they a hit or miss for you? Honestly, if  you can't find these, I would say don't lose sleep over it. They're nice but not that nice, if you know what I mean.