Product I Regret Buying, Vol 1: Revlon Colorstay Quad in Decadent

Now, I don't usually end up with a multitude of products I strongly dislike, since I tend to do quite a bit of research before I purchase a makeup item; I really am not an impulse shopper for the most part when it comes to cosmetics. However, this Revlon Quad was purchased on a whim, and I have to say, I basically hate it. I was lured in by a few endorsements of this new product in the beauty community, and by the display at Walmart, accompanied by a price tag in the vicinity of $5 dollars. These new quads really do come in a great variety of colors, and there is probably something for everyone's taste in the color selection, as the shades range from neutrals to brights. The packaging is inoffensive, and actually pretty sleek as far as drugstore packaging goes. It is simple, black, and easy to store.

The product itself is where I really find fault. The Decadent quad comes with a glittery creme/pink shade, a tannish gold, a peachy pink, and a warm brown. I was really drawn in by the assortment of desert shades, which screamed summer to me. However, when I reached my car and eagerly swatched the shades, I was pretty much aghast at the poor pigmentation and chalky texture. You can see from the swatches pictured here that the shades hardly show up! The highlight shade on the top left corner actually grosses me out to swatch; it has one of the chalkiest textures I can recall swatching in recent memory. When I do, though, it basically looks like white powder with chunky glitter, and it fares no better when applied on the eye, even as a highlight shade. The shade underneath is actually a good dupe for MAC's Naked Lunch in terms of color, but the finish is so powdery, and the pigmentation, while better than the first shade I discussed, is still fairly lackluster. It is wearable though, which is more than I can say for the first shade. The gold shade reminds me of a less nice version of Stila Oasis; it, unlike the Stila shadow, has the same powdery texture and poor color payoff as the other shades in this Revlon quad. It barely shows up when I swatch it, and I can assure you I do not have a golden tan skin tone. The brown shade is a little better in that it actually shows up, but that might just be because it is the darkest shade in the palette. As to the claim by Revlon that this is a "Colorstay" product that wears 16 hours, I didn't find that these wore any differently than other eyeshadow. I still need a primer to get them to last on me.

This is all four shades heavily swatched, and they hardly show up on my pale skin!

If you couldn't tell from the disparaging comments above, I more or less hate this quad. I don't know if the other shade variations are any better in terms of quality, but I can say with certainty that I won't be finding out, as I will not be wasting any more money on these. I think that drugstore makeup has really stepped up it's game in the past few years, and lately seems to be churning out some innovative products, and legitmate dupes for high end items, which is what really makes this eyeshadow pretty much unacceptable to me. Since you can get amazing eyeshadows for even less money from Wet N Wild, and also some great options with L'oreal, Milani, and even some Maybelline shades, I don't know why Revlon expects to be able to compete with this offering. Sorry to sound so negative, but I really don't like wasting money, even if it is only $5 dollars, and that is what this quad is in my opinion, a waste of money.