Since there's a great deal on these new Revlon ColorStay Quads this week at Rite Aid, I thought I better hurry up and post my review (I bought this quad back in the beginning of December when I first spotted them at my local Bed Bath and Beyond). Now that I've used these shadows a number of times, I'd love to share my thoughts in case you haven't tried them yet.
Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eye Shadow Quad in Siren
(retail: around $7.50, 0.16 oz)
I was never a huge fan of the old-style ColorStay quads. I know that many of you love them, but I guess I just never found the "right" one for me; the quads I've owned over the years never really had the staying power that I associate with the ColorStay name. The ColorStay foundation and automatic eyeliners are fantastic and really live up to their long-wear claims for me, but I just never found an eyeshadow quad that could do the same. So I was REALLY hoping these new and improved quads would be a better fit for me.
The Siren quad contains a shimmery icy silver-gray, a shimmery medium steel-grayish-charcoal with silver sparkle, a shimmery taupe and a matte dark charcoal. With the exception of the taupe (which is cool but leans a tiny bit toward neutral), all of these shadows are cool-toned in nature.
For those who aren't big on shimmer, you need not worry about that with this quad. On the skin, I find the shimmery shades in Siren actually translate to a more subdued, satin finish.
For this eye look, I used shade #3 (taupe) from lashline to crease and blended upward. I used shade #2 in my outer "v" and I used shade #1 on my lower lashline. No eyeshadow primer was used before application:
Before I get into the details, I'd like to say that I don't care for the fact that the pans in this quad are of varying sizes. For instance, the light silver-gray is the largest pan, and that's probably the shade I'll use the least of all four colors. Since it's a very pale highlighting type of shade, I just don't think you need to have that much of it. I think the taupe shade is the one that most people will reach for the most, so it's too bad it's in a smaller-sized pan.
Texture and blendability: I believe that the texture of these shadows is a nice improvement over the texture of the old-style quads. They're smooth and silky and quite easy to work with. I also had no issues whatsoever with blending these shadows.
Pigmentation: These are not high-impact shadows. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the pigmentation of this quad a 7, or maybe even a 6.5. It didn't "wow" me, and I actually found that I had to build my base color (the taupe) for more intensity because the first go-around didn't yield the results I was expecting. I WILL say that the pigmentation does improve dramatically with the use of a primer though.
Staying Power: On my oily skin, this one didn't live up to its 16 hour claim. In fact, without primer, I noticed fading and creasing within 5-6 hours after application. With primer (I've been using Urban Decay Primer Potion with this quad), the colors do not fade or crease until the evening (if I put them on at 8am, they still look fresh by 6pm).
FINAL VERDICT: The new Revlon ColorStay Quad in Siren wasn't earth-shattering for me, but I found the texture and blendability to be a nice improvement over the old-style quads I've owned in the past, which had a tendency to be a little chalky. The pigmentation is average, although using a primer beforehand makes the colors and bit more vivid and also keeps them in place without much creasing or fading from morning to night. I think Siren contains a nice set of cooler shades that are work-appropriate and worth a purchase if you can get them on sale and you don't already own similar shades. My recommendation would be to use these shadows with a good primer beforehand though, especially if you have oily lids.
Do you already own any of the new ColorStay quads? If so, what shades do you own and how do you like them? Do you think they're an improvement over the old quads? To see all shades in this range, visit the Revlon website here.
I don't find Revlon shadow great, but they have nice colors.
ReplyDeleteThese seem rather underwhelming :( thankfully there are better quality products in the drugstore for less
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review..I wasn't that impressed. I much prefer the WNW 8 pan palettes, more variety and the staying power for me is awesome...love the variety as well.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering if the new colorstay quads were worth getting... Your EOTD looks very pretty despite your review...though I must say the shades aren't that "new"...but Revlon is more about being wearable than cutting edge...
ReplyDeleteI was definitely not impressed either. I just did a review on my blog about this quad in 'Precocious' and I pretty much said the same. WnW definitely packs the "wow factor" for me, moreso than Revlon.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with everyone else here. I am not impressed by this at all. The colors aren't appealing to me and it doesn't really "pop." I don't see myself going out to by these.
ReplyDeleteI do own two of the old ColorStay quads. Although the colors aren't very intense as I would like them, they are very smooth. However, I scored to two for about $1.75 on clearance at local drugstores. I would never have paid full price for them.
Thanks for sharing!
The eyeshadow texture actually seems quite chalky to me, with a lot of fallout. I would probably skip these quads.
ReplyDeleteThat is so weird/annoying that all of the shades in the quad are different sizes! That almost puts me off to them immediately.
ReplyDeleteIt is disappointing, although I wouldn't have picked this palette since the shades are fairly light in the first place. I do like the old quads and was happy to get a ton of them for under $2 during the clearance.
ReplyDeleteI agree about how these cosmetics companies are using different sizes for their palettes and most often it's the lightest (brow bone) shade is annoying and makes no sense. Why??? If they are going to do that they should have the medium shades in the larger sizes and the brow and crease shades a little smaller, but I think they should just have them all the same size!
I have oily lids and Revlon's old quads worked pretty well on me. They'd last from morning to night with UDPP. So I was really excited for this week's sale at Rite Aid and picked up 505 Decadent yesterday. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow to see how long it'll last me before it starts to crease. :)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with others on that the shades available are light and nothing really stands out, but they are definitely more wearable shades.
When I saw these they did nothing for me. When it comes to their eyeshadows Revlon needs to work a little better on capturing their consumers attention.
ReplyDeleteI got this in Brazen, since it was the only color left at my drugstore, and I only paid $1.50 for it. I was far from impressed. I think some colors are better than others. Brazen was such a let down... :(
ReplyDeleteI own 2 of these. Although, I really like the colors... not to happy about the pigmentation and staying power of these shadows. They need to make it better!
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that every drugstore shadow is compared to WnW now. While I love my WnW shadows, one area they are lacking in for me is wearable, moderate colors. Everything is very vivid. You might get one color in a trio, or two/three in an eight pan, that are everyday "normal" colors. While I love a dramatic eye, it is not something I can do every day, it's just not practical. I do feel the subdued colors brands like Revlon offer have a place in my collection, and it is very nice to have some mattes and subtle shimmers available. I have had good experiences with the colorstay performance, when used with a primer.
ReplyDelete