Review and swatches: Maybelline Summer 2013 Limited Edition Color Tattoos

Purchased by Me

Before I begin this review, please take a moment to read the following:

First: I only have six of the eight Summer 2013 Limited Edition Color Tattoos. I haven't spotted/purchased the other two, 10 Precious Pearl and and 15 Blue Paradise, which you can view right here.

Second: I have heard from several of you that the Summer 2013 items (Color Tattoos, bronzers, Color Show polishes, Color Whispers and ColorSensational High Shine lipglosses) are now showing up at the following retailers: Bed, Bath & Beyond, Ulta, Walgreens and Rite Aid. I haven't heard from anyone who has spotted these at CVS or Target yet but if you have, please let us know!

Third: The display for the Maybelline Summer 2013 collection at Walgreens is huge! It's a large, end-cap display that contains all of the products (including ALL EIGHT Color Tattoos) and also some Garnier products. I will post pics of the display either today or tomorrow, if you want to see what it looks like.

Thanks for reading that, and now on to the review!

 Maybelline Summer 2013 Limited Edition Color Tattoos

20 Waves of White, 25 Shady Shores, 30 Icy Mint, 35 Cool Crush, 45 Lavish Lavender, 40 Seashore Frosts

And in the same order as the pic above:

Swatches over bare skin (no primer), using just my finger:

And here's a blurry photo to show you which shades have the most sparkle:

No primer was used in any of the following photos, and I applied one thin layer of each shadow using just my finger:

Waves of White: WOW. The teal duochrome effect really comes alive when this shadow is on the eye. It also has a touch of a pink flash to it, at certain angles. This shadow was much more pigmented than I thought it would be.

Shady Shores: This one is very yellow on my skin, but it has a lovely lime green shift to it. In certain lights, it looks almost completely lime green with just a hint of yellow in the background.

Icy Mint: This is a dusty mint green that's quite sheer and not very pigmented. There's no real duochrome effect to this one.

Cool Crush: In the pot, this looks like an icy, silvery blue with lavender undertones. But on the eye, it's a whole different story. It almost looks like an icy, purpley-taupe on my skin, and there is a subtle blue shift to it as well.

Lavish Lavender: On my skin, this is not lavender, but more of a frosty, warm plum. It's not super pigmented and it goes on a bit streaky/spotty. There's no duochrome effect to this one.

Seashore Frosts: Where do I even begin? If you can only afford to purchase one of these LE shadows, make it this one. Seashore Frosts is the most beautiful duochrome shadow I've seen in a long time (especially when it comes to creme shadows!). It's predominantly gold and blue-gray and the color shift is very strong (you do NOT have to strain to see it). The pigmentation is outstanding, it goes on like butter and there's no need to build for opacity. It's pure perfection.

In fact, I love Seashore Frosts so much, I have to give you another shot of it:

I'm not done yet! My longtime blogging buddy Halifax of Sparkled Beauty asked me if I could swatch these shadows over black, so here you go, Halifax:

For these swatches, I first applied a thin layer of Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day shadow primer, then I did six swatches of matte black powder eyeshadow (I used a matte black from an old Wet n Wild palette). Then, using a shadow brush, I lightly applied a thin layer of each Color Tattoo on top of the matte black powder shadow. STUNNING, right?

On their own (left) and over a matte black powder eyeshadow (right:):

My favorite over black is definitely Waves of White. Here is that combo on my eye:

Eyeshadow primer + matte black powder eyeshadow + Waves of White

This combo also wears like iron. The only problem I had was a tiny bit of creasing after a few hours, but I just lightly blended my crease out with my finger and it was back to fabulousness all day and into the night.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Worn on their own, all six of these shadows (again, I don't own the other two LE shadows in this collection--yet) give off a beautiful, ethereal type of vibe. With the exception of Seashore Frosts, these are sheer shadows and that's not a bad thing here. They give the eyes a beautiful, and interesting, wash of color and I think they're perfect for hot summer days (or nights) when you don't want to wear anything too heavy. Like most of the Color Tattoos I own, the wear-time on these even without primer is outstanding. They really do wear like iron for me after they set, but the two shades that I don't really recommend are Icy Mint and Lavish Lavender. For me, those shades lack the pigmentation, depth and smooth texture of the other four I'm reviewing here today. And like I said before, if you can only buy one of these shadows, make it Seashore Frosts. This is the most beautiful shadow I think I've come in contact with at the drugstore in probably the past two years, and it has fantastic pigmentation as well as a smooth, easy-to-work-with texture whether you're using your fingers or a brush. My other must-have, if you can buy two, would be Waves of White. You really have to see this one in person to really appreciate it, and hello! Scroll up and look it at over the black matte eyeshadow again. Need I say more?

Do you own any of the Maybelline Summer 2013 Color Tattoos? If so, which shades are your favorites? I'd love to hear from you!

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.