Maybelline Eye Shadow Review

The Roots of Maybelline

Everyone has heard Maybelline’s famous tag line, “maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline,” and it is that exact idea of stumping people with natural beauty that launched Maybelline in 1915 when T.L. Williams came up with a unique way to darken his sister Maybel’s lashes.

Maybelline started its success with eye makeup, selling cake mascara in 1917, the first modern eye cosmetic women were able to wear everyday. Originally only sold by mail, women’s popular demand for the product caused it to appear in drug stores, and the rest is history!

Today Maybelline sells a wide variety of products for every section of the face, however their eye cosmetics continue to reign supreme.

Eye Makeup Products Available

The diverse family of eye makeup products includes:

Shadow

• Cool Effect Cooling Shadow/Liner
• Dream Mousse Shadow
• Expert Wear Eye Shadow Singles, Duos & Trios
• Expert Wear Eye Shadow Quads & 8 Pan
• Shadow Stylist

Liner and Brow

• Define-a-Line Eye Liner
• Expert Eyes Brow & Eye Liner
• Expert Eyes Defining Liner
• Expert Eyes Soft Lining Pencil
• Expert Eyes Twin Brow & Eye Pencil
• Line Stylist
• Lineworks Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
• Ultra-Brow Brush-On Color
• Ultra Liner Waterproof
• Unstoppable Eye Liner

Mascara

• Define-a-Lash Lengthening Mascara
• Full’N Soft Mascara products
• Great Lash Mascara products
• Intense XXL Volume & Length Microfiber Mascara
• Lash Discovery Mini-Brush
• Lash Stylist products
• Sky High Curves

With all these products to choose from, (and there are more, I just didn’t want to bullet myself to death), I had a hard time choosing which of my favorites to critique. However, following the age-old beauty advice that green eyes benefit from browns and lavenders, I selected Expert Wear Eye Shadow Trio in the shade Crown Jewels for my review.

My Maybelline Eye Shadow Review

There are a few qualities I look for in a good eyeshadow – longevity, durability, and packaging. I have sensitive eyes with contact lenses that cling onto every little flake and irritant, so an eye shadow that knows what it’s doing is important to me.

Durability

Applying the shadow with the provided applicator was a piece of cake. There was no challenge with this powder shadow, and it was over and done within 3 minutes. I love the varying shades of brown and purple in this trio, and I was pleased to see Maybelline eye shadow really focuses on color combinations that bring out the beauty in specific eye colors.

As for the durability of the shadow, I got my wish and was flake-free. The eye shadow, however, definitely formed that atrocious line in the center of my lid that every woman dreads developing by lunchtime. The shadow creased and clumped, so while I was grateful my eyes were safe, my makeup look definitely was not.

Longevity

Despite the ugly lid crease that formed, the shadow definitely did stay true throughout the day in terms of color. My eyelids were purple when I left for work, and they remained purple when I came home in the evening. Even though the shadow stayed put, it was not obnoxious to remove, and adding a touch up was a piece of cake.

The eye shadow did not morph into a different combination of color throughout the day, and the shades given in the trio complemented my skin tones perfectly. I could not have been happier with the color’s staying power. If only it weren’t for that ugly crease issue….

Packaging

Maybelline Expertwear Eye Shadow Trio comes in a plastic case small enough to throw in your purse. My purse, however, goes a lot of places! Any beauty products I take with me through my crazy day have to be rough and tumble enough to handle being tossed in and out of the car and taken with me to work, church, dance practice, magazine interviews and at least 3-4 plane trips per year.

Maybelline, my faithful companion, repeatedly fails this test. Their plastic lid wears out easily and allows the applicator and shadow dust to pollute the inside of my purse on a regular basis. The lid has also proved itself very capable of breaking off completely, opening the door wide for an even bigger mess.

When it comes to packaging, I think any plastic eye shadow container is a bad idea. For whatever reason, however, Maybelline’s tend to be that much worse.

Despite the packaging issue, I love my eye shadow trio. Flattering colors and staying power are more important to me than a little shadow dust at the bottom of a purse I never spend much money on anyhow. For around $8-10 you can get your hands on your own Maybelline Expertwear Eye Shadow Trio, and I definitely suggest you do so!