Mary Quant Eye Opener Eyeshadows Scientific Discussion and Palette Haul! Swatches! Pic Heavy!

Mary Quant’s Eye Opener Eyeshadows come in an impressive selection – 120 colours to be exact, always with 12 seasonal limited edition colours.

The eyeshadows cover a smörgåsbord of shades and textures.

Below is a chart of all the colours. From left to right (treat each one as a vertical column) they cover the following colour groups:

Red, Orange, Yellow, Yellow Green, Green, Blue, Violet, Purple, Flesh Pink, Flesh Yellow, Neutral and Lightness. MARY QUANT OFFICIAL WEB SITE 1

The textures can be matte, pearl, metallic, twinkle.

Another view of the chart:

You can see that from the top to bottom, the colours go from light to dark too.

Take a good look at these charts. For months I agonised, plotted and planned which 12 shades I would take home with me. I wanted a mix of shades (nudes, brown, blues, purples) and textures too.

There’s also 16 metallic shades which are TO DIE FOR. They are creamy, completely lush.

MARY QUANT metallic eyeshadows

One of the nicest shades in the metallic in my opinion is M-07 a brown-silvery-taupe. I didn’t buy that though because I wanted an completely TRUE silver so bought M-15, M10, M12. M-08 is a leaf green and is also beautiful but I wish they had a rich emerald metallic green instead.

They also have 8 Twinkle shades:

The twinkles sound more impressive then they are.

They are COMPLETELY lacking in pigment, they are all about the shimmer. So if you see a colour there, that’s because the glitter is that colour, not because you will end up with any of that colour on your eyes. Note – the Autumn 2011 shades, the gold and purple are also ‘twinkles’ and lack pigment too.

I didn’t like these in person, but later ordered T-03 which is the prettiest one (gorgeous mixture of green-blue glitter) because I found 2 of the shades I bought too similar. I’m a bit weird like that – I couldn’t use the palette whilst there were 2 shades in it that are too similar. Sad I know.

RIGHT!

So I knew I wanted 12 shades so bought the WIDE (W) palette at £12.50:

This is the largest size and can house 12 eyeshadows. The lip mix products are the same size as the eyeshadows, the powders are the same as 4 eyeshadows and the blushers are twice the size of an eyeshadow, so do the math!

The palette is a beautiful thick black lacquer. It’s really well made, I love the design BUT being black and glossy, I got marks on it quite quickly:

I love the side detail.

Inside is a large mirror the same length as the lid which is great.

Mr C made an observation about the way the eyeshadows fit in the palette, that they don’t ‘teselate’ properly. I know what he means…they WILL fit in but there’s the odd gap at the side, and they don’t look 100% even.

The eyeshadows come in plastic and some dated cardboard design:

The glue is on the back of the product to stick down. To be honest, this packaging for me is better than Shu – it feels like such a waste to take Shu Uemura make up out of the pan and stick it in a new palette.

I will go through and photograph all the eyeshadows separately soon.

Here they are in my palette – I grouped them in this way but I have moved them around now. I found A-22 and M-10 too similar so removed A-22 and put T-03 in.

I also put the blues and purples to the right hand side of the palette, putting the sparkly shades and mid toned colours in the middle.

The eyeshadows with flowers on them are limited editions.

A Spring limited edition begins with ‘S’. An autumn limited edition begins with ‘A’. A-22 and A-25 are from Autumn 2010 – I managed to bag them before they disappeared! Basically, last years LE disappears as soon as the new one arrives (so essentially, the LE is there for 1 year). Once it’s gone, its gone they won’t let you buy it.

First set of 4 is my daily neutrals:

Next set – the metallic as you can see, is really lovely:

So annoyed about the next set and how similar m-10 (turquoise) and a-22 (sea blue-green) are. There’s just a smidgen more green in a-22. I didn’t know this because I bought a-22 by mail order first since it was going to be removed from the shelves.

I took out a-22 for now because a-29 is a deep navy so I think the 2 compliment each other slightly better, plus I am a sucker for a metallic turquoise.

I know, what a science!!!

I wanted to create a palette that would cover my favourite colour groups and I could take away with me on holiday (as if I ever get the chance!) and I think I did ok. I did end up choosing lots of LE shades in the end since they are, well, LE.

What 12 shades would you have picked!? Do you like my choices?!

(I paid £7 per eyeshadow)

Comments

kuri says:

September 15, 2011 at 8:08 am

lovely selection! i may have to try out one of the metallics some time.
I like their LE system – a year of availability is reasonable – I don’t mind if they retire the product after a year.
Jen says:

September 16, 2011 at 9:56 pm

omg you did so well to be able to choose your shades…I would have been there forever and a day, picking shades and changing my mind! Wouldn’t it be cool to have a palette with all those colours in the first chart, it reminds me of those coastal scents palettes lol
The case is very pretty, it reminds me a bit of Anna Sui And I really like the shades you’ve put in, especially m-15. It would annoy me how the shadows don’t fit together flush (slight ocd lol)
judy says:

May 18, 2012 at 1:55 am

does anyone know where i can locate the yellow vinyl mary quant makeup case i saw once long ago on ebay>>?? it had a black daist logo..snapped closed..had makeup inside..thanks..judy..