Tuesday 2 November 2010

Tokidoki Cromatico Palette in Adieu

When I was putting together my Sephora Friends & Family shopping list, I deliberated for a long time over getting the Cromatico Palette in Adieu (US$25). I wasn't that fond of the Adieu character but the purple combination looked very appealing.

The shades are named after Tokidoki characters. As mentioned earlier, there's quite a substantial amount of product in the Cromatico palettes. Basically, you get the equivalent of four MAC single eyeshadows in net weight for around half the price that four MAC eyeshadows would cost you. The included dual-ended brush is quite soft but they should have made one end much bigger for easier application.

Of the four shades, Al Dente turned out to be the most outstanding. It is a dramatic blackened purple with violet shimmer. It is very pigmented with a smooth silky texture. When used over Adieu (royal purple), you can create a lovely graduated effect for a smoky eye look. Al Dente does tend to produce some powdery fallout when used with the included brush so it's best to apply your foundation only after you've finished your eye makeup as chances are you will have to clean up some fallout on your under eye area. I didn't experience any fallout when applying Ciao Ciao and Adieu.

The only serious dud in the palette is Carina, which is a powdery glitter bomb. It applies with hardly any pigment. Instead, when applied with the MAC #213 brush, all I saw was small bits of silver glitter stuck on my browbone. Not attractive at all! I gave up, wiped it off with some tissue and used a highlighter shade from another palette instead. I also tried using the included brush to apply some of it at the inner corners and along the lower lashline but it just refused to adhere to my skin.

For this look, I applied Ciao Ciao from the inner corners to the middle of the lid and in the crease, Adieu from the middle of the lid to the outer corner and Al Dente along the upper lashline and outer corners. I used a mix of Ciao Ciao and Adieu along the lower lashline with a touch of Al Dente at the outer corner.

As I was in a rush, I didn't use a separate eyeliner and only applied Fresh Supernova mascara on my lashes.

Used over Urban Decay Primer Potion, the eyeshadows lasted very well on me over more than 10 hours of wear with just a tiny bit of fading and creasing at the inner corners.

After factoring in the Friends & Family discount and US sales tax, I paid only about S$27.50 for this palette. The fact that the US dollar is very low against the Singapore dollar certainly helped! Compared with Diamante, the other purple-themed palette in the series, I much prefer the Adieu combination.

The palette cases are just too chunky and could have been made half the size if they had just done away with the empty compartment below the eyeshadows and included the character charm separately. I will probably use the compartment to store sponge applicators.

Adieu is the "always stylish Parisian cousin to Ciao Ciao".

I usually discard the box packaging of my makeup products almost immediately but the Tokidoki packaging is just too cute to throw away.

Here's the ingredients list. The eyeshadows are paraben-free.

Hope you've found this review useful!

1 comment:

Kas said...

I like how Ciao Ciao looks on you - it reminds me a little of MAC Pigment in Pink Pearl, only that Ciao Ciao is more purple toned - but it has that lovely iridescent quality that is so attractive! totally complements the deeper eggplant :D