L'Oreal HIP Metallic Duo Electrified 510: Swatches and EOTD

A long time ago, in THIS POST, I did a comparison of L'Oreal's HIP Electrified Duo vs Bobbi Brown's Heather Mauve. A reader posted a comment asking me to do swatches of both shades of the duo, because my comparison post focused on only one of the shades in the duo. I agreed, but then life got in the way, and I had no idea where my HIP Duo went to.

A few days ago, I found it, so I decided I'd better make good on my promise - I mean, better late than never, right? Right? *Awkward pause* Umm, well, I'm sorry it took awhile, but I hope this still helps!

Anyway, since I'm not in the US I don't really follow the HIP line (it seems to be a US-only thing, darnit!), so I'm not sure what exactly is the deal with these, but it seems like the Electrified HIP duo was launched awhile back, possibly as a Limited Edition duo, and has recently been re-released in the USA.

The first thing you'll see when you look at the packaging is that it has TAUPE. Beauteous, shimmery, neutral TAUPE:



Now is that gorgeous or what?! But just wait til you see the swatches:



These went on beautifully, especially the taupe. The texture was divine, even after almost a year of ownership by yours truly. The darker purple shade needed a bit more work, but it still had good application. One year on, I'm impressed - the eyeshadow hadn't hardened or developed a crusty layer on top or anything like that. Pigmentation was also stellar, as you can see.

Colour-wise, I really LOVE this colour combination. I think the colours are actually wearable - some of the older HIP duos I remember had the weirdest colour combinations that I would personally never wear. And I love the shades, especially that awesome TAUPE! I've raved about that shade before in THIS POST, but it's so awesome I think I'll just do it again. Mmm. Yes that taupe shade. It's so gorgeous and complex, yet so universally flattering. It has a lovely brown base that shows hints of tan, and silver (due to the frosty metallic finish of this shade), and it has the ability to look slightly different in different lights. In some lights it's more brown, in others it's more silver, and it's the perfect neutral taupe - I think this is probably the most wearable for all skintones that I've seen, and you know I have a lot of taupes :P I love how it's brown base makes it not too cool-toned for warm girls, yet the silvery frost makes it flattering for cooler-toned ladies too. I think it leans slightly to the cool side, and it does have a hint of purple, but not so much that it will look bruise-y on warmer ladies. The purple shade is a cool-leaning deep purple that pairs well with the taupe. It looks like it has bits of shimmer in the pan, but when applied it looks mostly matte. I think the matte-ness of the shade is a good complement to the frostiness of the taupe shade, and awesome for contouring with.

So I decided to take out this baby once more and put it to good use. Here's an EOTD I did with it:



For this EOTD, I used L'Oreal HIP Electrified for the lid colour (shimmery taupe), and the contour colour (deep purple), and Lorac Persuasion (shimmery neutral beige) as a base. Then I applied Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Eyeliner in Rockstar (dark purple) 2/3 of the way on my lower lashline (I do this because I have tiny eyes, and lining them all the way makes them look smaller). Mascara is Covergirl Lashblast. Yes I'm wearing mascara! I just have short, tiny and sparse lashes, so they still look pathetic anyway :(

Here's a shot of the EOTD, eyes closed this time:



Lasting power of the shadows was good. They lasted the entire day without any primer. But then again, I don't really have a problem with shadows creasing or fading, so I generally never use primer. Still, the fact that they lasted one entire sweaty summer's day says something!

I'm so glad this duo is being re-released. When it was first released a year ago, I remember there was so much hype about it, and people were raving about it, but after awhile the hype died down, and people forgot how awesome it was. I'm glad I rediscovered this little beauty! If you still have yours, you should definitely take it out and give it a whirl, and if you don't, get it already!