Putting VERY inexpensive shadows to the test: Aziza palettes

I'm not sure how many of you will remember this, but back in the day (in the 70s and 80s when Aziza was owned by Prince Matchabelli) Aziza was a very well-respected makeup brand that always had new and innovative products to offer consumers. I remember really loving some Aziza eyeshadows when I was young.

Aziza commercial from 1980

(Yep, that's Rene Russo!)

Fast forward to today, and Aziza is a brand that you basically can only find at the dollar store or random beauty supply stores. In my case, the only place I see Aziza these days is at my local 99 Cent Only store, where they always seem to have a huge variety of Aziza products including eyeshadow palettes, lip color, nail color, foundation, etc., all for--you guessed it--99 cents each.

Never one to turn my nose at a good bargain, I thought it was finally time I put one of these Aziza palettes to the test! What stopped me from trying these before? Well, I guess they just didn't really appeal to me from a visual standpoint. But I noticed that, recently, Aziza changed the look of these palettes slightly by adding different embossed patterns to the shadows, and coming out with "Limited Edition" palettes, which drew me in and made me take notice.

Also, after researching Aziza a bit on the interwebs, I discovered something interesting:

Did you know that the same company that owns Aziza also owns Jimmy Choo, Lanvin, Van Cleef and Arpels, Betsey Johnson, bebe, GAP and Nine West? Yep, it's true!

So I snatched up one LE palette and one core collection palette and decided to put them to the test:

Aziza Eyeshadow Palettes

(retail: $3.95 according to the package, $0.99 at 99 Cent Only stores)

As you can see, much like other very inexpensive eyeshadows, the first ingredient in these shadows is talc (aka talcum powder, which is the main ingredient in baby powder). BUT, they don't have as strong a baby powder scent to them as other cheapie brands such as Princessa, which smells pretty strongly of baby powder to me (click here for my Princessa palette review). I also find it interesting that the embossed pattern on the Rodeo Drive palette is the same as the Princessa palette that I own.

What drew me to the Denver palette was that pretty taupe shade (4th from the left in the pic above). So let's take a peek at some swatches:

Well, as you can see, swatched dry with no primer, these aren't too exciting. In fact, the lighter shades in both palettes are about as sheer as you can get. All of the colors are matte-bordering-on-satin in texture, with a fine, iridescent sparkle running through each of them.

So now let me show you what happened when I put the taupe shade in the Denver palette to the test:

For this eye look I used:

Revlon PhotoReady Compact Makeup in Vanilla (review to come)

Prestige Multi-Finish Wet/Dry Powder Foundation in Wheat as setting powder

Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Light

Maybelline Define-A-Brow pencil in Dark Blonde

NYX Jumbo Pencil in Cottage Cheese as eye primer (review to come)

Taupe shade in the Aziza Denver palette from lash line to crease and blended upward

Buttery yellow shade in Aziza Denver palette on brow bone

Black w/ green sparkle liner in the Physicians Formula Gel Cream Eyeliner Trio for Green Eyes on upper and lower lash line

CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion mascara in Very Black

I think that using the NYX Jumbo Pencil as a base really gave these shadows something to cling to, and it definitely intensified the colors. I also tried wearing some of these Aziza shades on top of my Jesse's Girl Eye Primer and that REALLY intensified the colors.

Without primer, I'd give these shadows maybe an hour or two before you start to see fading and/or creasing. With primer? They actually lasted most of the day before I started to notice fading, and I didn't experience any creasing at all with primer.

All in all, I think these are worth the price (not the price on the package, but what I paid for them: $0.99). I wouldn't pay more than a buck for them, but I also don't think they're run-out-of-the-house-screaming-why me-terrible. With a little help (ie: primer) they're nice, subtle shades that can work for an everyday look. I wouldn't drive all over town for them, but I'm a bit more pleased than I expected. So, take that for what it's worth!

Do you own any Aziza products? Do you have any favorites? In my research on this brand, I noticed some positive reviews for their blushes. So maybe I'll try one of those later down the road.