Rimmel Magnif’Eyes Palette: Review & Swatches

Today, I’m posting something a little different; a review on Rimmel’s Magnif’Eyes contouring palette in Grunge Glamour.

As a Mummy who loves make-up, I was super excited to receive this product to test and review.

When the item arrived, my first thought was that it seemed a lot smaller than it looked in the photo but maybe I was just used to the size of other popular palettes. On the plus side, it’s compact enough to pop in your handbag!

You can buy the palette in 3 colours: Keep Calm and Wear Gold, London Nudes Calling and Grunge Glamour, which is the one I chose to receive.

The palette is presented in a black, shiny plastic case with a large gold Magnif’Eyes logo. On the back, it has a handy little guide telling you which shade is best used where e.g. upper brow, eyelid, etc. It also shows you how to apply for the shape of your eye. It also comes with an integrated mirror which is perfect for using on the go. As well as this, a duo applicator is included but I used my own brushes as I am just not a fan of sponge applicators.

For those not familiar with this product, Rimmel describes it as having the following:

– A mix of high-shimmer and matte shades, perfect for sculpting, shading and defining
– Rich, intense, long-lasting colour
– Crease-proof. Smear-proof. Wears all day.

This is what I found…

The Shades

There is a good mixture of nude and brown hues and some darker colours, perfect for going out (especially Christmas parties!). At first glance, the colours appear varied enough to create a day to night look. It also seemed to have a good variation of matte and shimmer colours.

On the back of the case, Rimmel say that shades 1 and 2 are to be used as all over lid and brow shades; shades 3, 4 and 5 are medium shades to add depth; and the remaining colours are to contour and define.

Swatching

Natural light

Artificial light

Photo 1 shows the colours in natural light and photo 2 is in artificial light.

When I swatched the eye shadows, I found that the nude colours were a lot more sheer and took some layering to create a stronger colour. The white, as you can see, was barely visible and this was after layering several times.

I was a little disappointed by the level of shimmer as the shades appeared to have much more glitter to them in the palette compared to when they were applied to skin.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised with the red. When I initially saw the red, I was quite adamant that it was a colour I would not and could not wear. On swatching the colour, it had much more of a brown hue than I was expecting and I actually really liked the colour!

Wearing It

The first look I tried was a daytime look. When I use eyeshadow, I tend to use very natural colours and create a ‘barely there’ look. I appreciate this isn’t for everyone!

Personally, I felt that the lighter shades applied well to the eyes. The formula was quite smooth and did not create creases. As I am not really a wearer of white eyeshadow, I combined shades 1 and 2 together for an all over shade. I then used  shade 3 over the lid and shade 4 to define.

I wore the look for half a day and the eyeshadow was durable and lasted the full time!

The second look I tried was a nighttime look and I have to say that I wasn’t as impressed.

For this look, I used shade 2 for the base and brow colour. Then I used shade 5 for the eye lid and shade 6 and 8 to define and contour.

I have two bug bearers with the darker colours. The first was how much time it took to blend. Despite using the same brushes I normally use, I felt like I was going over the same areas to try and create a less-patchy, more-consistent look.

My second bug bear was how much eyeshadow fallout came from shades 6 and 8. All around my eyes were patches of red and black which needed cleaning up (second photo). After a bit of primer and reapplication of concealer, I was able to get it looking better (first photo) but it was such a rigamorole to get to that point.

On the plus side, the colour was well pigmented and did not need a lot to show the colour up. The colour went on crease-free and stayed put all night.

My Overall Thoughts of Magnif’Eyes

Despite some of the pitfalls for the product, I think for £7.99 it is still a worthy buy. It is not a palette I would use exclusively but I would definitely mix and match with other palettes, especially shades 3, 5 and 6.

As I was so impressed with the lighter shades, I will be looking into trying their other palettes too!

Other Magnif’eyes palettes:

*This product was received free for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

*Post may contain affiliate links.