Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24 Hour Cream Gel Shadow (Part 1)

These spiffy little cream/gel shadows retail for approximately $5-$9 CDN a pop. They are sold wherever Maybelline cosmetics are available for purchase. The Color Tattoo eyeshadows are available in 10 funtabulous shades: Tenacious Teal, Fierce and Tangy, Too Cool, Audacious Asphalt, Painted Purple, Bad to the Bronze, Pomegranate Punk, Tough as Taupe, Bold Gold, and Edgy Emerald.
Of the 10, I have 2 in Tough as Taupe and Bad to the Bronze.
*Note: Since moving, I haven't been able to photograph pictures of Bad to the Bronze, as we've run out of AA batteries. I will post a second part to this review detailing my experience with Bad to the Bronze as soon as I can find me some batteries for my camera...*


As far as color selection goes, there's not a whole lot to chose from - in fact, only one of the shades is matte. I'd love to see Maybelline expand this line and bring out some more matte shades - like a nude, a white, and a black.


According to Maybelline.com, these shadows have 24-hour intensity with a tattoo-esque tenacity. Their 'ink technology' yields an intense, long-lasting cream eyeshadow. Maybelline claims that the cream formula will glide on without creasing, as well as prolonging the vividness of the color. They are ophthalmologist tested and safe for both contact-lens wearers and those with sensitive eyes. 

These come packaged in glass pots with twist-on black caps. The base is made of a transparent, heavy glass through which you can see the color of the product. The name of the product is located on the lid, which can prove to be problematic if you're using more than one of these babies at a time - you could potentially get the lids with the names and their colors mixed up. I don't think it would be a super huge deal, but that's just me...


There is a considerable amount of product in these little pots, so I'm sure that one will last you forever.


For the record, I've never tried the MAC Paint Pots, which the Maybelline Color Tattoo shadows have been compared to.

Of the 10, Tough as Taupe is the only matte shade. It's a purple-y, gray-ish taupe shade. 

With flash.

No flash - natural sunlight.

I usually apply these shadows with my fingers, though I've used synthetic brushes too. I feel that if you were packing on the color in a very specific area - the brush method would be more appropriate for application; however, for general purposes and application - your finger works just fine. Additionally, the warmth from your fingers will help create a smoother application, and will improve the blendability of the product.


For work, I tend to sweep the color across my eyelid with my ring finger, and then I use my pinky or middle fingers to blend out the color in my crease. I pop on a little eyeliner and mascara and run out the door for work. It's a fun, easy, and gorgeous look to obtain in a short amount of time.

No flash - natural sunlight.

With flash.

I find these cream shadows incredibly easy to work with. They're smooth and pigmented, so one swipe gives you great color payoff which easily blends into a wash of color, or an on-the-go smokey-esque eye.


These cream shadows don't dry too quickly, which gives you a generous window of opportunity for blending and evening out the application. I find that they dry in just the 'right' amount of time. 


As for longevity, I find that these babies last 'all day' on me. I have tried these with and without an eyeshadow primer underneath. Personally, I found that these last an entire workday (about 8 hours) without creasing, though fading is somewhat noticeable without using a powder shadow to set the cream. I let my best friend try these when she was visiting, and she really enjoyed them too, though she felt that with her extremely oily eyelids, they did not stand the test of time quite like they do on my skin. She noticed slight creasing and fading as the day wore on, but nothing too terrible looking. After trying them for a couple of days, she determined that she'd have to use an eyeshadow primer BEFORE using the Color Tattoo shadows, just to help with creasing and fading.


As far as color selection goes, there aren't a lot of options for 'work appropriate' use. I feel that Bad to the Bronze and Tough as Taupe are about as good as you're going to get on that front. A lot of the colors are shimmery, which is sort of a bummer. 


Overall, I'd say these are a fantastic product and well worth your money. Perhaps if you're the owner of some seriously oily eyelids, you'll want to invest in an eyeshadow primer to prep your eyes before applying these cream shadows, but on the whole I'd say they have a very respectable longevity - especially for work wear. If for nothing else, you could use these as colored bases for your eye looks. On the whole, I'm thinking that if you buy one and decide you hate it - you're not out that much money in the first place. In my opinion, they've definitely lived up to all the hype they've been getting.


4 out of 5 stars.
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What's your favorite cream/gel shadow!?