Nuance by Salma Hayek Beautiful Blends Eye Quad in Neutral 80

Earlier this month, we looked at Salma Hayek's lip quad that I got from a CVS trip when I was last down south. It was the unique pod-like packaging that drew me in, as well as the promise of natural and organic products. If the lip quad wasn't to your liking, I actually did get an eye quad (Nuance by Salma Hayek Beautiful Blends Eye Quad in Neutral 80 to be exact), too, that looks exactly the same on the outside. In fact, if you threw both of these in a makeup bag, expect to mix them up at least 80% of the time. 100% of the time if you're anything like me. Now, I skipped the photos on how these can be opened as it works exactly the same as the lip quad so I'll forgo the packaging commentary and go directly into product photos and swatches after the jump.

Disclaimer: Now, I won't pretend to know what exactly I'm talking about as I'm no makeup artist. What I do know is more out of necessity and if you're looking to see eye looks, you'll be disappointed. My skills need some leveling up before I go public with that so this will be more about my personal experience with the product, apart from the token product photos and color swatches.

Not to be confused with the lip quad.

The Fun Facts (credits)

Ingredients: Dimethicone, Magnesium Stearate, Talc, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Lipids, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tin Oxide, May Contain: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Carmine, Chromium Oxide Greens, FD&C Red 40 Al Lake, FD&C Yellow 5 Lake, Ferric Ferrocyanide.
Product Details:  Create the perfect natural look with neutral colors that shade, highlight and define. Combine the four complementary shades to highlight, contour and define for a complete look, or use separately to create multiple looks. Fine-milled pigments leave a light, velvety finish that spreads and blends easily. Rice lipids & vitamin E condition, nourish and protect lids. Paraben free. Fragrance free. Not tested on animals.

There are two choices for the quads: Neutral or Smokey. I picked the neutral shades over the smokey eye quad more out of preference than anything. I tend to do more neutral eye looks so I figured these would be easily added to the rotation.

No flash, clockwise:1) Frosted Blush, 2)Champagne Gold, 3)Toasted Almond, 4)Shimmering Bronze

With flash, clockwise: 1) Frosted Blush, 2)Champagne Gold, 3)Toasted Almond, 4)Shimmering Bronze

Of the four shades, 3 are shimmers and 1, Toasted Almond, is a satin (although it looks almost matte to me). The pans are a good size for the price of $8.49 USD. That'll come out to a little over $2 per pan, right in the price range of Wet N Wild singles that are also around the same size.

Swatches on bare skin

Swatches over primer

Frosted Blush (1) is appropriately named. It's a pink toned shimmer that makes for a great highlight shade. It blends perfectly with my skin tone and you wouldn't know it was there if not for the shimmer. Toasted Almond (2) makes a good crease shade that looks cooler in the pan. It swatches warmer on the skin with a deeper beige tone to it. Fairly versatile and can look almost matte over primer. Champagne Gold (3) is a cool leaning gold shade. In some angles, this shows a pale taupe-y tone to it. Shimmering Bronze (4) is the dramatic color that makes for a pretty smoky eye. I think the name can be a misnomer as it looks more chocolate brown with a rust shimmer over primer.

I suppose I've been spoiled by buttery soft eyeshadow that compared to these, I was more than a bit disappointed. Even the Wet N Wild eyeshadow singles I have are softer that these. The quad eyeshadow are harder and more firm, so much that fall out can be an issue even if picking up the product with a brush isn't a problem. They do still apply silky and blend wonderfully despite this. The arm swatches above can also be a bit misleading in that even when I tried to wear these without primer, the colors remained vibrant. I've got some crazy oily lids though so creasing was definitely an issue. Now, if you're as clueless as I can be, I think it's a nice touch that on the product webpage and on the box, they have a suggested look: Sweep Champagne Gold (3) onto your lid. Blend Shimmering Bronze (2) into your crease. Apply Frosted Blush (4) as a highlight to both browbone and inner corner of your eye. Blend Toasted Almond (1) into the outer corner and along lower lash line.

Size comparison: Full-sized Essie nail polish on the left and Shiseido Perfect Rouge lipstick on the right.

Pan size comparison with a Wet N Wild eyeshadow single in Nutty.

***I've included the size comparisons to give you a better idea of just how big the quad is. The dimensions are exactly the same as with the lip quad.

All in all, it's a great value for fairly large sized pans and neutral shades that you can mix and match with existing colors in your collection. The sponge tip applicator it came with is practically useless though, unlike the lip brush that came with the lip quad. It's just as well that I prefer to use my own brushes. The shades that got the most mileage with me are Frosted Blush and Toasted Almond so I guess 50% usage is better than 0%. Apart from the unique packaging and value for price, there really isn't anything much going for it that I can recommend.

Hammie didn't think it was spectacular either. With the novelty of the packaging wearing off, he thinks that there still are so much more options out there that would be better choices. For a drugstore eyeshadow, it's good. But the quality is still definitely of a drugstore caliber that it doesn't go over and beyond expectations. A somber Hammie rates Salma's eye quad in Neutral:

6 Hammie Points!

What makes an eyeshadow color appealing to you? Was this just as much of a let down as the lip quad was? Do you prefer smoky/vibrant or neutral eyeshadow?