Swatches + Review: L'oreal Infallible 24 HR Eyeshadows

Top Left to Right: 899 Endless Pearl, 888 Iced Latte, 997 Eternal Sunshine, 890 Bronzed Taupe

Bottom Left to Right: 333 Golden Sage, 555 Perpetual Purple, 889 Midnight Blue, 891 Continuous Cocoa

A few months ago, L'oreal released the Infallible 24HR eyeshadows* in 12 different shades. More shades are available outside the US. L'oreal claims the product to be 24 hour lasting, crease resistant, fade resistant, and to have "intense, maximized color." Currently, it is one of the most raved about products in the blogging sphere, but does it live up to all its claims and hype?

Pros:

• texture feels silky
• blends easily
• good pigmentation when layered & used with a primer (except Endless Pearl)
• doesn't crease when used with a primer
• lasts 11 hours before it starts to fade (Endless Pearl, Iced Latte, Eternal Sunshine, Bronzed Taupe & Continuous Cocoa)
• Endless Pearl does not have fallouts during application
• no chunky glitters

Cons:

• Golden Sage, Perpetual Purple, & Midnight Blue look muddy (on my NC30/35 skin tone) when blended
• minor fallouts during application (except for Endless Pearl)
• application can be a little tricky, depending on what tool you use
• currently, there are no true matte shades (most have a metallic finish)
• they don't have a plastic seal wrapped around them

Top: 899 Endless Pearl, 888 Iced Latte

Bottom: 997 Eternal Sunshine, 890 Bronzed Taupe

899 Endless Pearl is a pale beige shade. When swatched on my arm, it looks like it has a satin finish with teeny tiny specks of sparkles. However, the sparkles are barely noticeable when applied on my brow bone. It doesn't have a true matte finish because under direct lighting, it has a sheen to it. MAC Blanc Type is a pale white beige with a hint of pink and has a matte finish. I find that it applies more smoother than Endless Pearl. Regardless, I still like using Endless Pearl as a highlight color. It might look a bit chalky when applied, but once I start blending it, it looks fine. As a lid color, the color payoff is not as good as the other eyeshadows. I need to layer the product in order to get decent pigmentation.

888 Iced Latte is a champagne beige shade with a metallic finish. I love wearing this all over the lids with MAC Swiss Chocolate in the crease and MAC Carbon on the outer v.

997 Eternal Sunshine is a yellow gold shade with a metallic finish. Urban Decay Blunt is lighter and warmer, while Half Baked is darker and also warmer. For those who found Half Baked to be too orange, Eternal Sunshine may be a better option to look into. On my NC30/35, I find Half Baked to be a true gold color without being too yellow or too orange. 

890 Bronzed Taupe is a medium taupey brown with silver shimmers and a metallic finish. 

Top: 333 Golden Sage, 555 Perpetual Purple

Bottom: 889 Midnight Blue, 891 Continuous Cocoa

333 Golden Sage is a metallic sage green with gold shimmers.

555 Perpetual Purple is a rich violet purple with a metallic finish.

889 Midnight Blue is a navy blue with a metallic finish.

891 Continuous Cocoa is a charcoal grey with a hint of espresso. Just like Endless Pearl, this has a satin finish with teeny tiny specks of sparkles. However, the sparkles are only noticeable under direct lighting. I prefer MAC Carbon because it has a true matte finish and it's darker, which makes it better as an outer v color for my NC30/35 skin tone. 

Packaging: Although the jars are made of plastic, I don't find them to look cheap. However, they don't have a plastic seal wrapped around them. So, it's difficult to tell if anyone has tampered them with their grimy fingers. 

When you unscrew the cap, there's a little "flattener" that's supposed to secure the product in place and prevent it from going everywhere. Do not discard this because the product will get loose the more you use it and you will then have to use the "flattener" to re-press the eyeshadow. 

Application: The L'oreal Infallible eyeshadows are essentially pressed pigments with a creamy texture to them. When I use my MAC 239 brush (full review) to pick up the product with a heavy hand, the pigments clump together. So when I apply it, the product is concentrated on one area and it doesn't apply smoothly. When I use my MAC 239 brush to pick up the product with a light hand, it does apply a little bit smoother, but I have to layer the product in order to get intense pigmentation. I also tried applying it with my fingers and they do apply more smoothly and evenly, but the pigmentation was not as intense as when I used a brush. I still prefer to use a brush because it's more sanitary, it gives me better control and I get better color payoff. As for blending, I use my Sonia Kashuk blending brush (mini review) and it's a piece of cake.

The 3 eyeshadows that I had the most issues with were Golden Sage, Perpetual Purple and Midnight Blue, especially when I applied them as a lid color. They apply with intense pigmentation, but the intensity easily blends away (even with a light hand and a fluffy brush), and it turns into a "muddy" look on my NC30/35 skin tone. I have to reapply the product to bring back the intensity, however, about 5 hours after application, it starts fading into the "muddy" look again, even when worn with a primer. Endless Pearl, Iced Latte, Eternal Sunshine, Bronzed Taupe and Continuous Cocoa give me at least 11 hours of wear before they start fading. 

As for fallouts, Endless Pearl was the only eyeshadow that didn't give me any issue. I didn't experience any fallouts with Iced Latte during the 1st 3 weeks of use; however, I do get minor fallouts now, even though I keep pressing the product with the "flattener." As for the rest of the eyeshadows, they do fall under my eye area a bit during application, but it's not a huge problem for me because I usually do my eye makeup before I apply my foundation. So, I can easily wipe away the mess.

Top Left to Right: 899 Endless Pearl, 888 Iced Latte, 997 Eternal Sunshine, 890 Bronzed Taupe

Left to Right: 333 Golden Sage, 555 Perpetual Purple, 889 Midnight Blue, 891 Continuous Cocoa

Bottom Line: I would steer away from Golden Sage, Perpetual Purple and Midnight Blue if you're an NC30/35 and if you plan on using them all over your lids because they get muddy looking when blended. However, I recommend grabbing Endless Pearl, Iced Latte, Eternal Sunshine, Bronzed Taupe and Continuous Cocoa if you're a fan of those colors and don't mind getting minor fallouts during application because the pigmentation and lasting power beats other drugstore eyeshadows by a mile when used with a primer. Hopefully, L'oreal has plans to expand their color range and will release some true matte shades in the future.

Note: Each L'oreal Infallible 24 HR eyeshadow contains 3.5g of product and is available at Ulta, Target, and drugstore.com for around $7. 

*This post contains affiliate links. None of the products mentioned are sponsored.

Which shades have you tried?