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Friday, December 31, 2010

Review: New L'Oreal The One Sweep Eyeshadow

The time is here, my friends! When I first saw this product over a month ago I knew I had to try it, so when I spotted it at my CVS recently, I purchased the trio with the lovely taupe-ish shade. I've been testing it out for several days now and I'm ready to give you my verdict!

When I first showed you pics of this display, so many of you cried "Gimmick!". Even though I kind of knew deep down inside that this probably wouldn't work, I'm a sucker for gimmicks so I had to try it for myself.

So...does it work? Keep reading to find out!

L'Oreal The One Sweep Eyeshadow in Natural for Brown Eyes
(retail: $8.99)

In the above collage, I put the applicator next to a bottle of L'oreal polish just for perspective so that you can get an idea of the size of this applicator (it's large!). I like the packaging of this shadow, and I appreciate that it comes with a mirror.


After studying the directions for a minute or two, I was ready to give it a try. I documented my first encounter so here we go:

The directions say to start with your right eye, so that's exactly what I did. Unfortunately, after my first swipe, I realized that because of the angle at which I held the applicator to the shadow, I only covered the tip of the applicator with product and 90% of the applicator had no shadow on it. Scared to go back and swipe again (for fear of blending the colors already on the applicator) I decided to just go for it and swipe this baby across my lid.

As you can see, the results were less than stellar. OK, on to the LEFT EYE:


When you do your left eye, you simply flip the applicator, turn it upside down and swipe up, instead of down, on the shadows. I learned from my mistake on my first eye and this time I held the applicator so that shadow would be deposited all over the sponge (see second photo above). I thought this was do the trick but, I was wrong. Very wrong. I actually think it looked better on my right eye! What do you think?

After using this shadow over five times now, I've come to the conclusion that it simply does not work for me. Aaaah! I can hear your "I told you so" as I type this!

In my opinion, this has to be one of the worst gimmicks I've ever seen come out of a drugstore. What adds insult to injury is that the shadows are just so lightly pigmented that no matter what I do, I cannot really see them on my eyes when I use the accompanying applicator.

And speaking of the applicator, my main source of frustration lies in getting that thing 100% clean after every use. If you don't clean it off, then the three shades are going to blend together more and more every time you use it, until there will be no distinction between the shades at all (thus defeating the entire purpose of the product).

Never one to give up, I decided to throw the applicator out the window put the applicator aside and just use my regular brushes to apply these shadows. AND use a primer beforehand. I mean, they're still eyeshadows, so I really wanted to see if I could make them work somehow:


No, no, and no! It's hard to tell in these pics, but these shadows are so frosty and the colors so "blah" that it really gives my eyes a dated look. I don't like these shadows at all, and not just because of the dated finish and colors. I don't like them because even with Urban Decay Primer Potion, the pigmentation was nothing to write home about. Weak pigmentation and a frosty finish? that's a combo I will most certainly be returning to my friendly CVS cashier.

Final Verdict: No matter what I tried, I could not make The One Sweep work for me. It did not live up to its promise of "one sweep eye color" and the sponge applicator is impractical due to the fact that you must clean it completely before each use. On their own, I found the shadows to be too frosty and the colors uninspired. Also, using your favorite shadow brush is difficult because the color strips are narrow (especially the darkest shade). It's virtually impossible to avoid picking up the middle color onto your brush when you're trying to use the darkest shade. I say run, don't walk, right past these when you see them. Not worth the trouble or the price. I have a funny feeling that we'll be seeing these this time next year at the CVS beauty clearance sale.

PS: If you're looking for a new "no-brainer" shadow trio that comes with corresponding lid, crease and highlight colors, I strongly recommend these over The One Sweep.
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23 comments

  1. HA! I was this close to picking one of these up in a fit of impulse buying, but stopped myself. Glad I did. Glad I saw your review too because you KNOW I was thinking of getting the taupe shade!!! you saved me money....kinda the antithesis of what I do for you! HAPPY NEW YEAR! XOXOX - Elvira

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  2. I thought this would be an entertaining post after the review from BeautyJudy on this product a few days ago. And I was right, in a schadenfreude sort of way. I hope you return the shadow for a refund. It makes you wonder if L'Oreal tested this product at all.

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  3. Thanks for this review! I was curious about it but I suspected maybe this could happen when I saw the brush. The colors are nice though...

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  4. So disappointing. I figured they wouldn't work with the weirdo applicator, but it's really a shame that the shadows won't even work with brushes and primer! L'oreal fail. Thanks for the review!

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  5. I'm actually disappointed in L'Oreal for putting out a product like this. I can't imagine any of the company's makeup artists were eager about this

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  6. Grr, what a bummer. Thank God for a great return policy! LOL

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  7. I was also curious when I saw these in stores, except when I took a closer look at the HUGE applicator.

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  8. LOL @ your description..."frosty & uninspired". Everything I'm NOT looking for in an e/s.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  9. Thanks for the review! I was definitely not going to buy this shadow, and this confirms why! I can't believe L'Oreal actually released this product to market!

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  10. Great post, the pictures really tell the story. I couldn't imagine that this would work...and I guess now we know ;) Happy New Year!

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  11. Wow, good to know how these really worked.

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  12. ahh wouldn't it be wonderful if it actually worked.

    But sadly it worked exactly like I thought it would.

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  13. Great review...file it under win some lose sum!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

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  14. I've never seen these before & I can't believe how lazy people are getting! A wash of brown on the lid & crease is good enough for a girl on the go, but I guess its just another marketing strategy. I don't see how anyone could feel glam using that shadow. Nothing but shimmer! I sent you an email to your nouveaucheap gmail account.

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  15. Wow, what a piece of junk. Thanks for the review, I'm such a sucker for a gimmick but I'll be sure to avoid this one!

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  16. G, it's no wonder you are a successful beauty blogger, you have a natural curiosity that just forces you to try everything! I knew you would try these out for us, I also could guess that the outcome for the applicator wouldn't be good, but I am shocked that anyone at L'Oreal would think it's a good idea to send frosty barely pigmented eyeshadows into stores. I really expected your review to say something like, "Yeah, the applicator is silly, but the eyeshadows are nice enough to use with your own brushes." I was actually hoping for rave reviews on the product itself, because face it, even WnW Color Icon palettes have that sad little brush that no one in their right mind would use, but we're fine with using our own brushes since the shadows are such high quality. We're used to applicators being crap! lol It's like L'Oreal hasn't noticed that they are overpriced drugstore and their competition is smooth highly pigmented MAC shades at only a couple of dollars more. What the heck were they thinking???

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  17. Thank God you did a review on this. I am such a sucker for gimmicks. If the packaging looks cool I want it. At least the colors are pretty!

    Hope you have a great new year!

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  18. Thanks for the honest and detailed review. This is exactly the kind of thing I would buy and be disappointed about.

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  19. G i almost bought one of these and im so glad i didnt. They were enticing sitting on an endcap far away from the makeup in a yucky corner at Walmart. I guess it was the makeup gods way of shunning an unworthy product =]

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  20. I have the one sweep eyeshadow and I love it! I want all the colors! I completely filled my applicator with the color(yours didnt seem to have a lot on it, at least, compared to mine), and when I sweep it on, sure, they aren't blended, but then I just blend it myself with my finger. Made it so much easier for me to get ready. Sorry you weren't loving it, I've never had a problem once with this product.

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  21. I have this one in a the shade that's playful for Brown eyes. I find that it works well for me. I just press a little harder to pick up more powder. I've also tried the "Playful for Green eyes" one but I found that even when I pressed harder on the eyeshadow in it's case it didn't show up very well on my skin.

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  22. glad to see a review on this. I can't tell you how many times I have almost bought this!

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  23. I this on Project Runway and the guy was using an actual brush with each color.

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