Swatches: L'Oreal Limited Edition Project Runway Electric Fantasie Eyeshadow Quads in The Mystic's Gaze and The Muse's Gaze

As promised, today I'd like to show you the two eyeshadow palettes that I purchased at Rite Aid from the L'Oreal Limited Edition Project Runway Electric Fantasie Collection. This collection might already be at your local drugstore but if you haven't spotted the displays yet, keep looking because I'm hearing they're just starting to pop up in certain locations.

Of the four eyeshadow quads in this collection, these two stood out to me as containing the most original, interesting colors:

L'Oreal Limited Edition Project Runway Electric Fantasie Eyeshadow Quads in

The Muse's Gaze and The Mystic's Gaze

(retail: $8.95 each at Rite Aid, 0.16 oz) 

Keep reading for swatches and dupe comparisons... 

Let's start with The Muse's Gaze:

This quad contains the following shades:

• Shimmery light aqua blue

• Metallic gold

• Shimmery light copper with a slight pink flash

• Matte black with blue-green glitter

Based on the photos above, I thought that the black shade was actually a blackened dark green, but as you'll see, it's not (all of the following shadows were swatched on bare skin and then over primer):

As you can see, three of the colors in this palette have good pigmentation even without primer. However, the black matte shade is horrible without primer--very dry and patchy. Again, I was disappointed with the color in the pan vs. the color on my skin, since it looked like it was going to be a blackened green when, in fact, it's just black with blue-green glitter. The gold shade is by far the best in the palette as it is the most buttery and smooth during application with the best color payoff.

Some comparisons:

 

In the pan, the aqua shade really reminded me of Urban Decay Minx (but without the chunky silver glitter that's in Minx).

In the pan, the copper shade sort of reminded me of NARS California.

But as you can see, neither of the shades look anything like the UD or NARS shades when swatched:

 No dupes here,  but hopefully this puts the colors in this quad in perspective seeing them side by side with other popular shades.

 

The gold shade in this quad reminded me of NARS Silent Night. I'm always looking for a good substitute for Silent Night because that shadow got to the most crumbly, fallout-heavy eyeshadow that I own, as you can see in the following photo:

 

On the skin, Silent Night has a lot of glitter (there's no glitter in the L'Oreal shade) and it's also more of a true yellow gold. The L'Oreal shade is not as yellow, and it also has a metallic finish:

 Next up, The Mystic's Gaze:

This quad contains the following shades:

• Shimmery medium lavender with a slight pink flash

• Shimmery teal-green with a slight gold flash

• Matte royal blue

• Blackened navy blue with royal blue shimmer

All shadows swatched over bare skin and then over primer:

As you can see, the two shimmers in this quad are very nice, even without primer. The teal shade has the best color payoff of the four colors in this palette. The worst shade in this quad, by far, is the royal blue matte. This has got to be one of the worse shadows I've come across in quite some time. I had to struggle to get it to show up on  bare skin, going over the color multiple times with three different applicators (sponge tip, brush and I even tried a Q-tip). Over primer, the royal blue matte wasn't much better. Patchy, inconsistent and just awful to work with.  The navy blue shade was a complete surprise. On bare skin it looks like a plain black matte, but over primer? Wow! Stunning.

Some comparisons:

The teal shade reminded me of Urban Decay Shattered, but on the skin it's not a dupe at all:

As you can see, the L'Oreal color doesn't have the metallic finish of Shattered. I would say that the L'Oreal shade has a more "mermaid-y" feel to it with a lovely transparent quality.

Now for a comparison that's near and dear to my heart. MAC Contrast was the very first MAC eyeshadow I ever bought in the mid 90s and it's still a favorite of mine. I love it for lining my eyes (as you can see by the liner brush marks in the pan below). It's a stunning blackened navy blue, so I was excited to compare it to the blackened navy blue in the L'Oreal quad:

 

Not a dupe, but close. The shimmer in Contrast is more of a violet blue, whereas the shimmer in the L'Oreal shadow is more of of a royal blue:

But they're both definitely blackened blues:

Summary for The Muse's Gaze:

Beautiful aqua, copper and gold shimmers in this quad (actually, the gold shadow is more of a metallic) with a nice, workable consistency. The black matte with blue-green glitter is quite dry and patchy. The gold shadow has the best consistency and color payoff of the four shades in this quad. I think this quad is worth a purchase if you're attracted to the aqua, gold and copper shades. If you were going to buy this quad solely for the matte black shade, you will no doubt be disappointed as the color is nowhere near as interesting as it appears in the pan (plus the texture is sub-par).

Summary for The Mystic's Gaze:

Beautiful lavender and teal shimmers in this quad with a good, workable consistency. The royal blue matte is one of the worst shadows I've come across in a long time--extremely hard consistency with zero-to-little color payoff and horrible, patchy application. The blackened navy shadow is in the same family as MAC Contrast but not a 100% dupe, although it would be a nice substitute if you don't own Contrast but are looking for the same feel. If you are attracted to the lavender, teal and blackened navy blue shades in this quad, then I'd say it's worth a purchase (the teal shade has the best consistency and color payoff of the four colors). If you were considering buying this palette for the royal blue matte color, I would tell you to run in the opposite direction and not waste your money on this one.

Do you own any of the L'Oreal Project Runway Fall 2012 quads? I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you missed my review of the purple lipgloss in this collection, you can check that out here. And please check back soon because I'll be reviewing one of the lipsticks in this collection in the next few days.