Not as Good as Gold: Review of L'Oréal Colour Riche Lipstick in Gold Addiction

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Yep. That's the title I came up with for this post. Anyway, do you ever buy something with a specific and entirely unrealistic image of it in your mind, and then feel massively disappointed when it doesn't live up to that image, even though you know it's your fault for inventing it in the first place? What happened here is that, at the beginning of the metallic lipstick trend a couple of years ago, L'Oréal released their Gold Obsessions lipstick range in the U.K. Some photo I saw convinced me that the plain gold lipstick in that collection was the one. That unlike every other gold lipstick I had ever seen, it was shiny and metallic, rather than sparkly, and opaque, rather than patchy.

So when I saw that that collection had finally popped up on the Ulta website this fall, although with the name changed from Obsession to Addiction, I decided that I needed Gold Addiction, the pure gold option. I didn't do much additional research other than to confirm that this was the same collection. I ordered it.

Then it arrived and it was sheer. And sparkly. And slippery. And patchy. Sure enough, I can't find whatever photo it was that once upon a time made me think this lipstick was going to be special. Did I dream it?

I think maybe you can see in the photo above that the fine glitter has already started to migrate off of my lips, even though I only applied the lipstick two minutes before taking the photo.

Gold seems to be a difficult color to get high pigmentation from when it comes to lipstick. When Bite Beauty teased their zodiac lipstick for Leo this year, I saw the gold bullet and was intrigued. But then swatches demonstrated that it, too, was sheer. I may be the least Leo-y Leo ever, but even I think a sheer gold lipstick is a yawn. I have certainly seen other metallics that are more opaque, even from a bullet and not a liquid formula (though they do have a tendency to be slippery). I don't know if it's the yellow--it's hard to find a yellow eyeshadow or even nail polish that isn't patchy. But then it's not hard to find an opaque gold eyeshadow or nail polish! So the possible technical limitations in play here are eluding me.

Here's a comparison with the sheer gold from Bite's 2016 holiday duos (reviewed here). Gold Addiction is very similar, just a bit sparklier and warmer. The warmer yellow gold of the L'Oréal lipstick is harder for me to wear--I can't generally wear warm yellows on my face without looking a bit sick.

Maybe Pat McGrath's new gold lipstick will be the gold holy grail, but I don't think I'm going to gamble (much more!) on it. Probably I should just finally open up the PMG Labs package I won in the Makeup Museum giveaway and play with the gold pigment. That is if I really want to have opaque gold lips, which, let's face it, is hardly an everyday look for me. This might just be a dream I should let go.

If you're looking for a sheer, shimmery gold lipstick, Gold Addiction is . . . one of the ones that exists. But it's nothing very special. Do you do the whole extra glitter and metallics for the holidays? I like the idea in theory, but in practice I'm not going to be attending the kinds of events where I'll dress up like that.

Maybe I don't own all the eyeshadows yet: Swatches of L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy with comparisons

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L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy

I bought this eyeshadow after a particularly brutal job interview, when I was wandering around CVS and got sucked in by one of their "spend $15 on L'Oreal and get $5". I like the formula of the Infallible shadows, but $8-9 always feels like a bit of a splurge for a single shade (though most of them are cheaper on Amazon at the moment). For comparison, they come out to almost $67 per ounce (or $2.30 per gram), while Urban Decay Naked palette shadows are $87 an ounce - and that's on the more reasonable side for a higher end palette (most are $100+ per ounce).

The formula of the Infallible eyeshadows is really nice, much better than the vast majority of drugstore eyeshadows in my experience, so having calculated it that way, I feel better about my purchase. In general, with the exception of a handful of gems, including Wet N Wild permanent shadows and Maybelline Color Tattoos (and MUA palettes if you are in the UK) good eyeshadow seems to be one of the most difficult types of makeup to find at the drugstore. So the Infallibles are worth checking out if you haven't already done so. I've included swatches of the three I have below.

I picked out the shade Gilded Envy in part because it reminded me of an e.l.f. eyeshadow I had years ago that I loved and lost. But I also picked it out thinking that surely by now, in my vast hoard, I had already replaced that with something comparable. I knew I shouldn't buy it, but I was letting my mood do the shopping.

When I got it home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that in fact I didn't already have anything like it. SHOCKING. It's a fairly unusual shade, obviously. Gilded Envy isn't easy to describe. Antique gold it the first phrase that comes to mind. I think the closest reference from the natural world is pyrite, which features the same grey-gold and glitter that this eyeshadow has. At some angles, as you can see in the many photos below, it reflects a bit of green. At other times, it looks mostly silver. This one is a shapeshifter. Depending on the lighting, you can get anything from old gold to khaki to forest green to steel gray. It's pretty spectacular. The differences you see in each photo below aren't inaccuracies from poor color adjusting - they reflect this stuff's true shiftiness.

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy

Here are swatches, the first without primer and the second with the mediocre Nars primer I reviewed here. The primer does make a difference for swatching, but when I used Gilded Envy on my eyelids with the Nars primer, it was a patchy mess, so I took replacement photos after opening my new tube of Wet N Wild primer. (That's also the main reason this post took so long to finish. I took the original photos on the way out of the house earlier this week and then had to redo them today.)

Swatches of L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy (without primer and over primer)

Here it is on my eyelid (below). The best way to apply it to get a smooth, even layer is with your fingertip. You can use a brush if you must, but it will make more of a mess under your eyes. Blending the edges with a brush works fine. This is definitely a powder eyeshadow, not a cream, but it's very fine and not completely pressed in the pan, so it comes with that little extra lid to keep it from exploding, which you can see in the first photo in this post. I'm not sure how absolutely necessary that extra piece is. I've never seen any signs of my Infallible shadows disintegrating. Traveling with them might be different, but I haven't done that. On my eyes, in these photos, the gold comes through a little more than in the swatches.

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy

Despite all the glitter that shows up in the swatches, it's not too crazy once you put it on your eyes. To me, it seems perfectly acceptable for daytime/work wear. I've noticed almost no glitter fallout throughout the day, either.

Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, I don't have any dupes to show you. Dupes are good for blogging, but bad for my wallet. I picked out three eyeshadows for comparison, simply as a point of reference, since I thought these might be familiar to some people: Urban Decay Mushroom, Urban Decay , and Maybelline Color Tattoo Bad to the Bronze.

Comparison swatches of L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Gilded Envy, Urban Decay Mushroom, Urban Decay Mildew, and Maybelline Color Tattoo Bad to the Bronze (no primer)

I also wanted to show you comparisons with the two other Infallible shadows I have: Eternal Sunshine and Sultry Smoke. These shadows come in a range of finishes, as you can see. Gilded Envy is glittery and shifty, as I've said - at some angles the glitter is hidden and at others it's very sparkly. Eternal Sunshine is straight up metallic. Sultry Smoke is completely matte (I've written about this one before, because it doesn't perform quite as well on my eyes as you would expect from the swatch).

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows in Eternal Sunshine, Gilded Envy and Sultry Smoke

The swatches are slightly blurry, but that helps bring out the level of sparkle.

Swatches of L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows in Eternal Sunshine, Gilded Envy and Sultry Smoke

As it turns out, I didn't fail too hard. I'm happy that buying my feelings actually worked out for once. Gilded Envy is unusual, versatile, and really pretty. I'm already getting a lot of use out of it. Still, it was a close call, and self-medicating with makeup shopping is not a good habit to get into - especially since there are undoubtedly many other terrible job interviews in my future. It's nice to know that there's still new shit out there for me to discover, nevertheless.

ETA: If you're having trouble finding this particular shade, Ally helpfully pointed out in the comments below that Gilded Envy is part of the Butterfly Collection, not one of the core Infallible eyeshadow shades (though I found it in the regular display at CVS).

Any other Infallible shadows you'd recommend (or suggest avoiding)?