Ardell has lashes perfectly locked down – it’s literally the first brand I think of for lashes and it’s got a reputation for quality and reliability. So, what I was really hoping for from Ardell and their new make up was something in the same vein – quality, glamour and consistency. It’s not really that to be honest, although for the price (£11.99 for the 15 pan palette above), perhaps it’s ok. But, I feel this low priced make up gap is filled and filled over with better products (Revolution, MUA, Maybelline, Barry M, Bleach London, Primark). Retailers often dictate to brands what they want from them and at the back of my mind I wonder if one of the big retailers (maybe Amazon) said they needed a cheap make up gap filling and Ardell stepped up.
Is it awful? No, absolutely not, and you could easily chuck this in your basket and be happy with the safe colour options and the soft, blendable (rather oily but that’s what makes them so smooth) pigments. It’s more (in my view) that there’s pretty much nil effort to this and just a smidge more creative thinking, nicer packaging could have brought this up to the level of the products Ardell is known for, great lashes. I don’t think any of the other brands are going to be worried by the competition from Ardell Pro Make Up. Also, just saying it’s ‘pro’ doesn’t make it so.
So, as you can see, the shades are rich and smooth with a predominance of shimmers – all the colours laid down a decent amount of pigment with one swipe of the sponge applicator.
It’s slightly more exciting at the bottom end but I just feel I’ve got all of these colours replicated elsewhere. Plus, I have to say that the palette looks battered (it’s soft cardboard that marks easily) and it’s been used once. It’s frustrating – this had all the makings of a great budget make up collection and it’s fallen short of the mark for want of a little bit more thinking. I kind of feel the inevitability of this is that it will end up in beauty boxes. Anyway, the palette is HERE and Beauty Bay carries a good selection of the products that also includes lipsticks, glosses, liners.
Non Aff HERE.
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