Maybelline Color Tattoo Review
I’ve tried Maybelline Color Tattoos in the past and haven’t been very impressed with them. I even returned the first one I tried because I was so disappointed. But after some time (and when they were on sale) I kept thinking about them. These are a much loved product in the beauty community and I started thinking that maybe I was missing something or I didn’t give it a good enough try in the beginning. So I picked up two more during my birthday haul in January and have been putting them to the test.
Normally I’m not a big fan of these types of products to begin with because I’d rather use a more intense primer for my oily eyes. But I received a Be A Bombshell Cosmetics eye base very similar to these in an ipsy bag and had been using it more than I thought I would. With the Maybelline Color Tattoos getting so much love and being compared to the Mac Paint Pots (which I’ve been wanting to try) I figured I should give them a shot.
The two shades I got were Barely Branded (from their Metals collection) and Creamy Beige (from their Leathers collection). Creamy Beige is actually the same color that I had originally returned, but didn’t realize that until I got it home and was playing with swatches. Barely Branded is a beautiful shimmery champagne gold and Creamy Beige is a matte medium taupe.
I get more use out of Barely Branded because it’s an easy shade to layer so many different colors on top of and honestly, I very rarely ever use Creamy Beige. The packaging of the products is great and they feel very high quality. The price is fine at $5.49 (at Target) for .14 oz of product. My main issue that I’ve come across with these is that they are a somewhat dry formula to begin with and continue to dry up even more once they’re opened. I’ve had my eye base from Be A Bombshell much longer than I’ve had these and it’s still as creamy as it was the day I opened it. With the Color Tattoos having a more dry formula, it makes them patchy and more difficult to blend.
The main way that I like to use these products are when I’m doing a very simple look that I won’t have on for a long time. I do notice that they increase the wear of my eyeshadows, but I don’t think I would be able to completely wear them on their own just because my eyelids are so oily. Especially not for 24 hours like the packaging claims that they last.
For the eyelook on the left side in the picture above, I used Barely Branded along with Makeup Geek’s Unexpected very lightly blended in the crease and outer corner. I’ve also done this same thing, but added Makeup Geek’s Shimma Shimma on top of Barely Branded for extra sparkle and that looks beautiful also. The eyelook on the right is a little darker with Creamy Beige on the lid and Makeup Geek’s High Tea in the crease and outer corner.
Although I do like the ways that I’ve found to use these Color Tattoos, I can’t say that I completely recommend them or that I’ll be purchasing any more. When thinking about the consistency of these compared to the Be A Bombshell base that I have, I really don’t like how dry these are and how difficult they can be to work with. I also wish they had a color that was similar to Barely Branded but in a matte finish. That’s what I was originally hoping Creamy Beige would be. I really like the color of Barely Branded but feel like I’m limited as far as what I can layer it with since it’s a shimmer. Even though I’m not very pleased with these, I can still see why other people like them. If you have normal or dry eyelids, I think they’d be fine as long as you can look past the consistency. Let me know your thoughts in the comments if you’ve had better luck with these or experienced the same issues as me. Hope you have a wonderful day! :)
~Christina~
