Review: New CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Eyeshadow Trio in Smoke Alarm

I purchased one of the newly-revamped CoverGirl Eye Enhancers a while back, and now that I've worn it dozens of times, I'd love to share my thoughts with you. To my knowledge, these have not yet made their way to the permanent wall display at most drugstores, so look for a counter display like this for the time being. These should eventually be in the permanent wall display wherever Eye Enhancers are sold, as these are new core collection products, not limited edition.

 CoverGirl Eye Enhancers in Smoke Alarm

(retail: around $5.50, 0.14 oz)

If you're already a fan of CoverGirl's Eye Enhancers, the first thing you'll notice is that the packaging has received a makeover. The color of the packaging has changed from transparent navy blue to opaque dark gray. 

Here's a picture of one of my old Eye Enhancers trios:

Aside from the color change, I think the new packaging just looks sleeker and a bit more modern:

In this trio, you get a charcoal gray, a light silver-gray and a taupe.

Looking at the colors in the pan, they appear to be satins-bordering-on-mattes. However, as you'll see in a minute, they come off a bit more shimmery once on the eye.

For these swatches, I first applied each shade on bare skin, then I swatched the same shade over NYX HD Shadow Base:

The darkest shade in this trio is a cool, smoky charcoal gray. It has a satin finish and even though it looks dramatically darker over primer, I find that it's actually quite nice on its own when used without primer on the eye:

The next shade in this trio is a light silvery gray with blue undertones. I was HOPING, based on what this color looks like in the pan, that it would be more of a matte shade in the same vein as Bobbi Brown Woodrose, but nope. It's actually got a lot of blue in it, and once swatched on the skin, it's borderline frosty:

The third shade in this trio, which is probably the most wearable shade, is a cool taupe. Again, it's a lot more shimmery than what it appears to be in the pan:

 Here's an eye look I did using all three shades. I used the taupe shade from lid to crease, the light silver shade on my brow bone, inside corners of my eyes and also under my lower lash line. Finally, I used the dark charcoal gray shade in my outer "V" and gave all three shades a good blending. I applied this trio WITHOUT primer:

Cooler shades like these make my face look very pink. I can't really pull off this much coolness all at once, and I don't often wear that much highlighting in the inside corners of my eyes (I don't know what came over me--I guess I really wanted to work that color to its fullest potential!).

Do you notice how much more shimmery these shadows are on the eye, compared to how they look in the pan? Aside from that though, I think these colors are well-pigmented even without primer, and I love the soft look I was able to create (even though the colors themselves aren't ideal for my skintone).

To give you a better idea of just how cool-toned this trio is, here are some swatches (taken over NYX HD Shadow Base) of the two darker shades in Smoke Alarm compared to MAC Copperplate:

I've never considered Copperplate to be an exceptionally warm shade, but next to the two shades in Smoke Alarm, it really stands out, huh?

Texture, finish and blendability: I think these shadows are a good improvement over some of the older Eye Enhancers I've tried in the past. They go on smoothly, blend more easily and they seem more finely milled and not as powdery or chalky as some of my older CG shadows. Beware though, that the finish in the pan may not be what you get when you apply these shadows to your eyes. All three of these shadows look like satins or mattes in the pan, but if you look at my eye look above, you'll see that they're more shimmery when on the eye.

Pigmentation and staying power: I think the pigmentation of these shadows is a great improvement over the older CG shadows I own. I actually prefer to wear this trio WITHOUT primer, but then again I love a softer look for daytime. WITH primer, they're super-pigmented, but even without, I can get a full eight hours of wear from this trio before I start to see fading/creasing. The other day when I was testing this trio with NYX HD Shadow Base, I put on my makeup at around 7am, took a nap at 3pm and when I woke up at 4pm, my eyes looked untouched. I'm telling you, these babies stay put!

FINAL VERDICT: Are the newly-revamped CG Eye Enhancers absolute perfection? No. But comparing the new Smoke Alarm trio to the older Eye Enhancers I own, I think that CG has improved the pigmentation, consistency and staying power. However, all three shades in Smoke Alarm look like mattes or satins in the pan, but they are actually pretty shimmery when on the eye. Also, the colors in this trio don't look exceptionally cool-toned in the pan, but again, it's a whole different story once you apply these to the skin. So just be aware of that when making a purchase--you might not get what you think you're getting with these. As for Smoke Alarm, if you can't wear cool-toned taupes, grays or blues, then I think you'd be better off picking another trio or quad. But if you CAN pull off cool-toned taupes, grays and blues, then I think you might enjoy this trio quite a bit.

Do you own any of the new CoverGirl Eye Enhancers? How do you think they compare to the older version?