little white truths

This eyeshadow quad came from a Maslow & Co box last year, and while it's been in my Pan that Palette challenge for the last few months, it's only been in the past week that I've used all the shades every day - I've wanted to focus on it so I could finally review it.

Long story short, it's ok but probably the best thing about it is the original magnetic palette it came in - which I'll be keeping so I can slip shadows into it when I travel - although note that the magnet inside it only works on Doucce shadows (boo) so I'll have to stick my own magnets in later on.

As for the eyeshadows themselves, I think the mattes are good but the shimmers are rubbish, and I'm not the first person to have said this so do keep that in mind.

Doucce claims/product details:

• Create endless makeup looks with Doucce Freematic Eyeshadow Pro Palette, a convenient mirrored compact that combines four shades in matte and shimmer finishes
• Exclusively developed for unparalleled colour pay-off and staying power, each weightless powder blends seamlessly and delivers smooth, creamy colour that adds subtle depth or bold definition to the eyes without smudging or creasing
• Apply dry for a natural effect or use wet for increased intensity
• Not tested on animals
• RRP $35 USD for the palette plus four shadows

I like the magnetic compact it comes in: it's a sturdy plastic that's sleek and has some weight to it, and it includes a mirror.

I'm rather annoyed though that only Doucce shadows will stick to the metal strip inside it - I suspect that's been done on purpose and it's not cool. I'll have to lay down my own magnet so I can put any shadow I want inside it for travel.

Also note that the shadows themselves don't adhere well to the base of my other custom palettes, and they're raised so they're higher than the edges of those palettes, which won't close properly over them. Double boo.

There are the shades, direct sunlight:

And indirect sunlight:

Now for swatches. 

Below I've given you finger swatches first so you can see the colours, then I've given you brush swatches so you can see the difference in pigment.

Finger swatches, direct sunlight:

Finger swatches, indirect sunlight:

Brush swatches, indirect sunlight:

Verdict

Overall this quad is ok but I don't think the shimmers are worth it. The mattes however are nice and I'm enjoying using them.

As mentioned above, I like the magnetic palette you get with these in theory, but I'm bloody annoyed that the magnet inside it only works with Doucce shadows. Also annoying is that the shadows themselves don't play well with my other custom palettes. Not cool, and Doucce loses points for that.

Doucce also loses points for the way that the eyeshadows themselves have been designed. The black casing around the pans is raised and chunky, so when I put them into a different custom palette with other eyeshadows (as I have now), they look out of place because they're so much higher than all the others so everything looks hodgepodge and crap.

As for the shadows themselves, the matte cream is probably my favourite. It's soft and smooth in texture, and it applies and blends well. It has a good amount of pigment for a cream so I often use it around my eyes to set my concealer and eye primer, because the pigment helps tone down some of the darkness around my eyes.

The matte plum is my second-favourite shade: I really love the colour and I use it a lot. It's soft and smooth in texture and it applies and blends well. I often reach for this shadow when I'm using other palettes because it's great for adding some soft definition through the crease and in the outer v, and it's cool so it helps tone down the warmth of my other palettes when they're looking too warm to suit me.

The shimmery copper is a gorgeous shade in theory and I love how it looks in the pan and also when finger-swatched, but in practice the pigment is terrible. And I speak as someone who prefers natural looks, so if you prefer stronger eye looks, this shadow won't be for you: it sheers out so much when applied that you can barely see it. It's reasonably soft and smooth in texture (if a little gritty, probably from the shimmer) and it doesn't apply well, even with a good primer. There's also a massive amount of glitter fall-out from this shade (even with a glitter glue) so it's not easy to use. The best way to apply this is with a finger, but I still get fall-out when I do this and if I build it too much, it starts to emphasise texture because I'm applying so much powder.

The shimmery/satin brown is the worst shadow of the bunch. It's quite hard in texture and it's very difficult to pick up any colour with my brush: it has the worst pigment of the four shades. While I don't mind that in theory because I don't often use dark shadows anyway so it's nice to find one that will give a softer look, this one's too soft and it's something of a waste of time. Still, at least it blends well.

Also note that two of the shadows developed hard-pan when I was doing finger swatches - the matte plum and the dark brown - so I would avoid using your fingers in these if you can.

Overall this palette is ok but I wouldn't buy it and it's expensive for what it is. Plus the pans are super annoying and it's as though Doucce has designed this entire Freematic System so it won't be compatible with either your other eyeshadows or your other custom palettes. Not ok. Yes the mattes are nice but the shimmers aren't worth the time and I'll be glad to get through them.

Overpriced.