Swatches: LA Colors Professional Series 3 Color Eyeshadows

I will freely admit to you that every time I see a new LA Colors product pop up at my local Dollar Tree, my wallet magically opens. For just a buck, how can I resist trying something that could end up being a fantastic little gem?

I've had very good luck with LA Colors eyeshadows in the past. I love their 12-pan palettes, 6-pan palettes and their mineral eyeshadow singles. In fact, I think the only LA Colors shadows that haven't worked out for me are their singles and duos, which I think are pretty chalky and not very pigmented. But the palettes and mineral shadows work excellently for me with the help of a good primer, and I find that the colors stay vivid all day with very little creasing or fading.

That said, when I saw these new eyeshadow trios recently at Dollar Tree, I simply could not resist:

L.A. Colors Professional Series 3 Color Eyeshadows

(retail: $1 each at Dollar Tree)

First of all, I was thrilled to see some interesting shade combinations in these trios. The colors very much remind me of combinations you'd find in the NYX eyeshadow trios.

I always love when a trio contains a nice bronzey-brown coupled with a light blue. I think those two shades are lovely for a very soft, pretty eye look and the charcoal shade used in the crease can really pull it together nicely. In other words, I think this was a well-thought-out combination of colors.

Is it just me or can you hear the words "grassy knoll" and NOT think of the JFK assassination? Anyway...if you like rich greens, this one's for you. There's a lime, a kelly and an olive in this collection of greens, but the best part is that none of them are too dark or too light. Each could be worn alone for a nice wash of color. I actually prefer mid-tone greens over dark and light shades of green because I find that wearing too many shades of green at once looks garish on me. When I wear green eyeshadow, I try to stick to one shade from lashline to crease and that's it. So this is really a dream palette for me.

First of all, I had to get this trio because of the name. Lemon Grove is a town in San Diego that's claim to fame is having "The Best Climate on Earth". Don't believe me? Well there's a huge lemon in the town square of Lemon Grove that proudly proclaims this fact:

Every time I pass by the giant lemon it makes me smile. But anyway, back to the Lemon Grove trio:

You can't tell in my photos, but the lime green in this trio could pretty much be considered a neon. MAN is it bright! It's really a shocking neon green that I think would look ah-maze-ing on deeper skintones. The yellow is a bright lemon yellow and I adore the coppery-brown shade as well.

Here are some swatches (all colors were swatched on bare skin without primer):

As you can see, all three trios have great color payoff, and I found the texture of each shadow to be consistent with the texture of the shadows in the 6-pans and 12-pans. They are creamy to the point where they can be a little bit crumbly, but they're not difficult to work with by any means.

The finish on these shadows is pretty consistent throughout the range of shades. I'd say 85% of the colors here have a satin finish, while some of the shades have a touch more shimmer and complexity to them. None of these shades are matte, and none contain sparkle either.

For a buck a piece, I'm very happy with these trios so far. I can't comment on their staying power yet because I haven't fully put them to the test, but I have a feeling they'll perform as well (if not better) than the shades in my 6-pans and 12-pans because the texture seems to be the same. In fact, they might perform better since the pigmentation level seems to be higher in these trios. If you're already an LA Colors fan, I think you might love these.

Have you spotted these new trios at your Dollar Tree yet? My pal @nenabuggy on Twitter spotted some at her local Dollar Tree, so I know they're out there. By the way, @nenabuggy told me she's heard good things about these trios on other blogs, but I have yet to check out other reviews. Have you see other bloggers rave about these?