Swatches & Comparisons: Wet n Wild Limited Edition Tough Girl Collection Eyeshadow Trios

Press Sample 

In this post, I'll be swatching four of the new Tough Girl Collection eyeshadow trios, and comparing them to other Wet n Wild eyeshadows. Due to time constraints (I wanted to get these swatches up for you as soon as possible) I am not going to be reviewing the eyeshadows or the mascara. I will, however, tell you my initial impressions of each trio.

But before I get to the swatches, please take a moment to read the following:

• If you're looking for the Tough Girl Collection (the eyeshadow and/or the textured nail polishes), check the Interactive Sightings Map here to see if they've landed in your area. If you have found this collection in your area, I would sure appreciate it if you left a marker on the map so that others may be able to locate these too!

• There are more than four trios in the Tough Girl Eyeshadow Trio Collection, however the Wet n Wild Beauty Ambassadors received the four you're going to see in this blog post. We also received the trios that come with the bonus Megaprotein Mascara, however the trios at Walgreens are sold separately and do not include a Megaprotein mascara (see the Walgreens display here). 

• If you would like to see the other trios in this collection (Spoiled Army Brat and Support Our Troops), click here.

• Beginning September 1st and for the entire month of September, look for a special sign on the display at Walgreens. These trios should be on sale for $2 for the entire month of September (and I believe some other Wet n Wild products will also be $2 for the entire month of September--check your local Walgreens for more info). 

Wet n Wild Tough Girl Collection Eyeshadow Trios

(retail: around $2.99 each, 0.12 oz)

 back of packaging

back of palette

Enlisting For Beauty

Swatched over primer:

The most pigmented shade in Enlisting For Beauty is the dark brown. It's super pigmented even without primer and also has a softer consistency than the other two shades. The other two shades are not as pigmented but they're better with primer. The taupe shade (bottom of the trio) is actually the most unique taupe I've ever seen from Wet n Wild. On the skin, it turns into a khaki taupe (you really can't tell it's khaki in the pan) and if you have brown or hazel eyes,  I think this shade will look amazing on you. Also, it's not really shimmery--it's more of a satin-matte in person.

Soldiers In Charms

Swatched over primer:

Soldiers in Charms is the most pigmented trio in the collection (even without primer). The lime green (chartreuse, actually) is so bright and pigmented and effortless to apply--it's downright perfect as far as shadows go. The dusty forest green shade is quite unique for Wet n Wild--it reminds me of a less shimmery version of Inglot 414. The pigmentation isn't as great with this one as the other two shades in this trio, but it's worth the extra effort. The bottom shade in this trio is beautifully pigmented, as you can see in my pic above.

Zero Dark Flirty

Swatched over primer:

The texture of all three shades in this trio is not the best. I found all of them to be rather hard (vs. soft and creamy). They're much easier to apply over primer and I suggest using the accompanying sponge-tip applicator (as opposed to a brush). The middle shade is the most pigmented of the three, and I think it would be lovely used as a liner for a deep purple smoky eye.

I Don't Do Camouflage

Swatched over primer:

If you like blue, and you like shimmer, I think you'll enjoy this trio. As you'll see in a moment, these are all unique shades of blue when it comes to what we've seen from Wet n Wild in the past. I love that these are more in the periwinkle vein, as opposed to the teals and navy blues we usually see from WnW. So if you're a blue shadow lover, I would say this one's probably going to be a must-have for you. The first two shades have a nice, soft texture, but the bottom shadow is pretty hard--I had to dig with my applicator to get it going but I was able to pick up color eventually.

Now for some comparisons! 

Several of you asked me to compare these trios to existing eyeshadows in Wet n Wild's permanent line. So here's what I cam up with:

(no primer was used for any of the following swatches)

 I Don't Do Camouflage trio vs. Blue Had Me At Hello 8-pan

As you can see, the pale blue shimmer in the I Don't Do Camouflage trio is cooler and less shimmery than the pale blue shimmer in Blue Had Me At Hello.

(sorry for the extra "w" above--it's late and I'm too tired to go back and fix it)

And the two midnight blue shades are different as well. There's a blue sheen to I Don't Do Camouflage, whereas Blue Had Me At Hello is essentially a black with blue glitter.

Next:

Enlisting For Beauty trio vs. Comfort Zone 8-pan vs. Soldiers In Charms trio

In the above photo, I compared the taupe in Comfort Zone to the taupe in Enlisting for Beauty. Seeing these together really makes the khaki in Enlisting for Beauty apparent. And you can also see how much more shimmer is in the Comfort Zone shade.

If there were any doubt that the green in Soldiers in Charms is pretty much chartreuse, I think you get the idea now! And look how pigmented it is without any primer.

These two are pretty close, but the Comfort Zone shade has more gold to it.

Next:

 Zero Dark Flirty trio vs. Petal Pusher 8-pan

It's hard to see in my pic, but the lavender shade in Zero Dark Flirty is cooler and brighter, and it lacks the subtle gold shimmer that's in the Petal Pusher lavender.

Next:

Zero Dark Flirty trio vs. Lust 6-pan (discontinued)

Because so many of you asked to see these side-by-side, I included a Lust comparison even though Lust (and all of the 6-pans) were discontinued a while back.

The two medium-toned mattes in each palette are worlds apart.

And the two darker mattes are worlds apart as well.

I will most certainly do some eye looks in the coming weeks, if you'd like to see any of these shadows "in action." Until then, I would say that my must-haves of the four trios I've shown you today are Enlisting for Beauty (browns) and Soldiers in Charms (greens). I just think that, overall, they contain some of the most pigmented shadows of the bunch, and some of the most unique shades (for Wet n Wild) as well. But as you saw above, I couldn't find a dupe for any of the shades in this collection so, if you're a Wet n Wild fan, I'd say they're all worth considering!

If I can get the other trios in this collection, I'll certainly swatch them for you in a future post. Until then, if you have any questions, please see the bullet points at the top of this post and if I didn't answer your questions there, leave a comment and I'll do my best to respond!

PS: Please check back soon for my swatches of the textured nail colors that are also in the Tough Girl Collection.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.Blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews. For more information, click here.