Basically, Watsons has just started carrying this whole line of makeup from Elite Models, and yes, according to the quarterly Watsons magazine, this IS the famous Elite Models modelling company that you probably already heard of.
My first reaction when I saw the booth was that of pleasant surprise and girlish excitement. But that soon turned into a lot of disbelief and disappointment. I tested most of the products, from the top shelf to bottom, and I found that they generally don't feel as good as L'oreal, Maybelline, and the likes.
The prices are however, not forgiving. This eyeshadow palette costs me $19.90.
I took the plunge and bought this particular 14 Copper Lame eyeshadow palette because it reminds me so much of the Chanel Limited Edition 51 Montaigne. Wouldn't it be nice if this were a dupe for something that costs $102, and is now out of production? =)
Elite Paris Haute Couture Silky and Long-lasting Eyeshadows in 14 Copper Lame
Available: Watsons Ngee Ann City, $19.90.
Volume: 6.4 g.
Star Properties: Claim to give you a designer look.
Some description on the back of the package below:
Packaging
The compact is a made of not-too-good plastic. There is no mirror inside. There is a clear window though, through which you can see the colours of the palette, which is typical of drugstore makeup.
There is a Q-tip, and a mini brush.
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| Elite Models 14 Copper Lame eyeshadow palette. Nicest picture of this that I took! |
14 Copper Lame is a not too copper palette, it leans more brown, and taupe. The last colour looks like green, but it actually swatches black.
Below is the comparison of Elite Models Copper Lame (right) with Chanel 51 Montaigne (left). On hindsight, they actually don't look similar at all!
The Q-tips and brushes that come with each brand is also very different. Needless to say, the Chanel one is more sturdy, bigger, and the brush is softer.
Swatches of Elite Models 14 Copper Lame and Chanel 51 Montaigne
The colours on top are from Chanel, and the colours below are all from Elite Models.
For the lightest colour, the Chanel one is a soft white, and Elite Models one is a patch of sparse gold specks. It is nerve-wrecking trying to get that sparse gold specks to work on the eyes. While testing, I always have to dig and scrap at the eyeshadow. The easiest way to pick it up is by finger, because none of my brushes work. It is also high in fallout. And believe me, at this point, I feel like screaming at the eyeshadow.
For the second lightest colour, Chanel one is a pale, pale gold, while Elite Models one is a very olive copper with gold specks. This Elite Model colour is much easier to work with, because it gets picked up by my brush, has much less fall out, and shows up on my eyelids.
I have already reviewed Chanel 51 Montaigne before, and needless to say, they are a dream to work with.
Here, we have the next two colours of both Chanel (top) and Elite Models (bottom) swatched.
The next colour in Elite Models is a brown, and the last one is a pale black.
Both of them are very weak in application. They are not pigmented, and I needed to go back and forth with my finger or my brush countless times to get the intensity you see in the photos of my eye, later.
These two colours are not similar to Chanel 51 Montaigne at all. So poof, there goes my hope of this being a dupe. But I still had one last hope, that is, on-eye-application. This is because sometimes the swatch don't look alike, but after blending, the effect may turn out to be the same.
Half-time Summary
In all, the Elite Models palette has colours that are very chunky, and fall short of expectations. It is not about drugstore and high-end, but about whether this company has put in enough effort, research, and investment into a makeup line. There are tonnes of drugstore makeup that are fabulous, including Wet 'n' Wild, Essence, e.l.f, Sleek, but Elite Models first attempt certainly doesn't look like one of them.
They remind me more of Daiso $2 makeup. And trust me, despite the $2 price tag, I have found Daiso makeup that are actually, seriously good (just that I haven't blog about them).
On The Eye
Now for the real test!
I applied Elite Models on my right eye, below.
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| Elite Models |
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| Elite Models, with eyes closed. |
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| Chanel 51 Montaigne |
And this is two eyes together. Again, the Elite Models eyeshadow is on your left (my right), and the Chanel eyeshadow is on your right (my left). Not that bad right?
The difference is much clearer when I close my eyes.
The Elite Models eyeshadow (your left) is much stronger than the Chanel one (your right). Which one do you prefer?
Both were done purely by fingers because I realised that the Elite Models eyeshadows refused to co-operate with brushes, and I ended up needing to use my fingers on Chanel too because I wanted to be fair.
On Chanel
I am not sure what you think by now, but very personally, I do prefer the look from Chanel over the look from Elite Models because I find that my left eye looks brighter and so more lifted, softer and gentler, more sophisticated because the pigments are less chunky, and last but not least, no fallouts.
On Elite Models
The look is not half bad. I would definitely wear that look out. But I think the range for wear is very limited because personally, I would only wear that look for a night party.
So in the next few days, I tried to de-intensify that look using brushes. Fingers seem to pick up more colour.
(The next few photos are of my attempt to apply the Elite Models 14 Copper Lame using brushes only. No fingers. It was a nightmare.)
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| Gold glitter. It took an insanely long time to get this much on using a M.A.C 239. |
Cleaning up before putting foundation is not my cup of tea. It just doesn't works when you only have half an hour to prepare, because life is that hectic.
This with the second colour on my outer-V. The second colour is my most favourite in the palette because it gets picked up easily, and is pigmented enough to show, also less fallouts.
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| Second colour on my outer-V using M.A.C 217. |
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| Third colour over the second colour to intensity outer-V, using Sonia Kashuk Small Crease Brush. |
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| Last colour along upper lash line, using Bdellium Tools Pencil Brush. |
This is also the final look.
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| Same look on my left eye. Somehow the picture taken is better, due to lighting, maybe? |
However, I must caution that this process was painstakingly long. Fingers are your best option if you get this palette.
Long-lasting
I had this on some 12 hours that day without eye primer, and nothing budged. It does live up to its claim that it is long-lasting.
I do have foundation on my eyelids that I set with MUFE HD Microfinish Powder. I have heard before that this is an unorthodox method to make eyeshadows last. It is my habit to put foundation and loose powder on my eyelids, so this is very normal for me. But if this is not your habit, then you may want to still use eye primer just to be sure it does not fade over time.
Overall, the Elite Models Haute Couture Silky and Long-lasting Eyeshadows in 14 Copper Lame,
- can make a pretty good neutral look if you work patiently with it,
- is long-lasting.
But it is,
- not pigmented at all,
- difficult to work with (needs scrapping, waste time),
- quite expensive for the lack of quality,
- a waste of time because of huge fallouts,
- the lightest colour can look way over top, too golden, not suitable for brow highlight,
- chunky, looks less sophisticated and gentle,
- not smooth,
- not well-packaged, and
- dull/dusty tone.
I cheated in the second look by using Mary-Loumanizer as my brow highlight, and my inner corner highlight. The lightest colour in the palette just isn't white enough, isn't bright enough, or smooth and subtle enough.
Rating: 1/5.
I took a big plunge when I decided to buy this, and I regret it. It is not something I would gift or even sell to someone. I would only pay $2 for it, at best. I only quite enjoy the overall look, but that look is something I can replicate easily with other palettes.
PS: Gut feeling tells me other bloggers may advertise this... ... soon?
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