After my disappointment with the Color Play Creme Eyeshadows, I was glad to see that the other eye product I chose to get from Flower Beauty was much more user-friendly and generally well-executed.
The Shadow Play Quads are currently offered in four ranges - though the Wal-Mart I went to only had two of them in stock. (Seriously, the display was pillaged. The only items that they had in any kind of reasonable quantity were the lipsticks.) I opted to try the cool-toned neutral quad, called Smoke and Mirrors.
![Flower Beauty Shadow Play Eyeshadow Quad - Smoke and Mirrors]()
![Flower Beauty Shadow Play Eyeshadow Quad - Smoke and Mirrors]()
![Flower Beauty Shadow Play Eyeshadow Quad - Smoke and Mirrors]()
The cream shade is by far the most problematic - sheer, powdery, thinner textured, it makes for an ok base or subtle browbone highlight, but otherwise it's altogether unimpressive. The other shades are much better.
![Flower Beauty Shadow Play Eyeshadow Quad - Smoke and Mirrors]()
The Shadow Play Quads are currently offered in four ranges - though the Wal-Mart I went to only had two of them in stock. (Seriously, the display was pillaged. The only items that they had in any kind of reasonable quantity were the lipsticks.) I opted to try the cool-toned neutral quad, called Smoke and Mirrors.
The cream shade is by far the most problematic - sheer, powdery, thinner textured, it makes for an ok base or subtle browbone highlight, but otherwise it's altogether unimpressive. The other shades are much better.
The dove-wing light brown in the top left beautifully pigmented, with a dense, soft, buttery texture that is unusual for mattes, let alone drugstore mattes. it is an EXCELLENT blending or crease shade, depending on the intensity you wear it at. The greyed plum in the top right has an equally lovely texture, though slightly less pigmented. The gold-flecked medium brown at the bottom right is on par with the dove brown, though it loses all those pretty flecks once you start working it. Which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your preference.
I found this palette to be very easy to work with, as most of the shades had great payoff and blended very easily without sheering out too quickly. It's the perfect goof-proof palette for a neutral, work-appropriate eye, though you might be better off using a different eyeshadow to sub in for the cream if you want something that will adhere and show up more readily. Over a primer, all the shades wore 8 hours with next to no fading, and no creasing. The one thing to keep in mind is that the texture is quite soft, so these will kick up debris if you use a stiffer brush or a heavier hand. They actually remind me a lot of the Inglot mattes in terms of the texture.
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| Clockwise in palette, starting with the cream shade at the bottom left. |
Availability: Only at Wal-Mart, and in select US locations for the moment. Price is 9.98$ USD.
Pros: Dense, creamy texture that is very blend able, and good to great pigmentation for three of the shades. Comparable to higher-end matte shadows. Great neutral palette for all but the cream shade.
Cons: Powder fallout requires care in application. The cream shade is disappointing in both texture and payoff.
(I purchased this item at Wal-Mart.)