The Great HiP 510 Debate of 2010

[UPDATE: IF YOU'RE PLANNING TO GET THIS AT YOUR LOCAL CVS, DON'T FORGET TO PRINT OUT THIS COUPON FOR $1 OFF ANY L'OREAL PRODUCT!]

If you have no idea what the title of this post is in reference to, then it just means you might not follow me, or the lovely GlowyJoeyBunny (of Pink Sith fame, and now author of her own blog) on Twitter. You see, for the past few days, actually ever since I posted these pics of a new HiP eyeshadow duo display I recently spotted at CVS, Joey and I have been debating, via Twitter, about whether or not one of the duos in this display is actually the same duo that apparently caused quite a stir on MakeupAlley last year.

The duo in question, Electrified 510, was apparently so beautiful that it reached covet-worthy proportions. People were quite upset when it became impossible to find (I'm not sure if it was LE when originally released or what the deal was--I wasn't even aware of the frenzy in the first place, but that's only because I'm not as into HiP as so many others out there).

One side of this duo was a gorgeous, richly-pigmented, shimmery taupe, while the other side, well, that's one of the things that spurred this recent debate. You see, Joey told me, via Twitter, that she posted about this duo on Pink Sith last summer (click here to see her review). And when I looked at her pictures, it didn't really look like the duo I saw at my local CVS (which happens to go by the exact same name, Electrified 510). In her photos, I thought the darker side of this duo looked more like a dark reddish bronze, while the duo I saw at CVS looked like a deep purplely-plum. So the question became, did L'Oreal re-release the original 510, or did they release an altogether different duo with the same name as the one from last year?

For some, this might seem silly to debate. But for drugstore-eyeshadow-loving me, and taupe-eyeshadow-loving Joey, it was serious. We needed to get to the bottom of it, and I'm ashamed to admit we both lost a little sleep pondering just what the heck was up with 510. Her pictures didn't match the pictures I took of the display, plain and simple.

But then others got pulled into this debate. The lovely JA99fitt hopped in on Twitter and told us SHE found the display in her area, and she bought 510 (naturally) and loved it so much she visited three other CVS locations just to buy back-ups. We asked her if she could tweet us a pic of her duo, so we could compare the shades to our pictures (more on that later).

But then it all became too much. I figured, "I need to just get my booty down to CVS and buy the @$%& thing and settle this once and for all." So yesterday, I did just that. I bought it, and I couldn't even wait to get home before tweeting a picture of it to Joey, for verifcation purposes, of course.

I tweeted her two pics of my 510 duo while still in the parking lot of CVS. Yep. And guess what? Joey confirmed what we were hoping for all along: the newly released Electrified 510 IS THE COVET-WORTHY 510 OF LAST YEAR! It's BAAAAAACK, folks!!!

But of course it couldn't end there. JA99fitt then tweeted us a picture of her 510, and, *gasp*, it didn't look a thing like MY 510! I started to panic for a bit, until JA99fitt so graciously confirmed for me that she had taken her photo in artificial light, which slightly altered the shades. But she confirmed, with 100% certainty, that the 510 currently in my possession, matches the 510 currently in her possession.

So that, my friends, means this case is official closed. The Great HiP 510 Debate of 2010 has come to an end. And what did we accomplish? Well, now we can share with all of you the great news. Electrified 510 is back, and if you missed it the first time, it can be yours (and right now it's even on sale at CVS for $6). Yay!

And if you've made it through this post, I'm sure you're all a little anxious to see some pics, so here you go:

As you can see, the colors of this duo look really different depending on whether the lid is closed or open. But let me tell you a little bit about 510 in case you haven't seen it in person. OH MY GOODNESS. The taupe on the left is so shimmery it can look like a foil without even applying it wet. It is INTENSELY pigmented and, dare I say, maybe one of the most pigmented shadows I've ever seen at the drugstore. In some lights it looks like a silvery taupe, while in other lighting it looks more golden. I don't really care what you call it though, because to me, it's just a whole lotta gorgeous.

And the darker plum shade? WOW. Just, wow. In full sunlight, this shadow is loaded with baby-fine multi-colored microglitter that gives it the most lovely glow. Really, you need to see this shade in person to fully appreciate it.

So what else can I tell you? If you aren't convinced that you need 510 by now, I don't think you'll ever be convinced. if you're a taupe lover, you've just gotta have it. And by the way, the wonderful Rural Glamour just gave me the heads-up that CVS is printing out Extra Bucks on receipts today so, well, yeah. It's kind of a no-brainer.

Big, huge thanks go out again to Joey and JA99fitt for their help in ending this debate. Love you gals!