Accessorize Makeup - Icon Eye Shadows

I remember first hearing about this line about a year ago, and having mixed expectations...  

The line is exclusive to Superdrug at the moment, and I happened to see it whilst perusing the makeup aisle (for that is where I can usually be found when in that store...). The line itself is really attractive looking and surprisingly large - the nail varnishes come in a wide range of pretty colours, and my eye was also caught by a few of the baked products - many of which remind me if MAC MSF's and mineralised eye shadows. There were also a couple of items that reminded me of the bronzers released by the Body Shop in the summer, which still have a firm place in my makeup bag (see review HERE).

Obviously I had to pick up a few things... all in the name of research...

I've heard good things about the eye shadows in this range, so it seemed a good place to start... especially given that they were priced reasonably - from memory they were £4 each.

Packaging wise, they are pretty nice, the containers seem pretty robust and the shadows are large too - you get 2.5g compared to 1.5mg in a MAC shadow... I picked up three shades, Truffle, Rich Earth and Chocolate Fondant.



Left - Chocolate Fondant, Middle - Truffle, Right - Rich Earth 

I was alerted to the possibility of a dupe for MAC club on twitter, and immediately snapped up Rich Earth to see whether the rumours were true...

 In the pan these two shadows look pretty similar - if anything the Accessorize version looks a little more shimmery and less dense, however this might be because my MAC club shadow is pretty well used...

On swatching it was immediately apparent that the Accessorize shadow was much softer in texture than the MAC shadow... this is both a good thing (better pay-off) as well as a bad thing (shadow is more prone to crumbling and fall down when applied...). 

Left - Rich Earth, Right - Club

As you can see, the pigmentation and payoff of the Accessorize version is outstanding for £4! Both shadows have the brown-green duochrome effect - the Accessorise version is just more intense. In the picture above both shadows were swatched onto bare skin, with no primer - the MAC shade took a little more swatching to get show up on camera though.

Here are swatches of all three shades I picked up...

Left - Chocolate Fondant; Middle - Truffle; Right - Rich Earth.

All three shades are as rich in pigmentation as Rich Earth is, and they are all similar in texture. You can see in the swatch above that they are a little bit crumbly though, so take care to avoid fall down!

I initially thought that Truffle was similar to another MAC shadow - Satin Taupe, however on swatching it was apparent that they were quite different...

Left - Truffle; Right Satin Taupe.


Both shades are lovely - and would work well together for a look actually, however Satin Taupe is more of a brown based shade, whilst Truffle is more in the "mink" shade family. I have a feeling that I have a shu uemura shadow very similar to this shade though!



The high levels of pigmentation in the shadows mean that they are easy to apply with a blending brush for a quick easy daytime look - I applied Rich Earth using a MAC 217 today;

I used this without a primer, and the shadow lasted well with little creasing through the day - I suspect a primer would resolve any creasing, as well as intensifying the colour. I noticed when applying that the colours blended well.

(Other products used above - Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Stash; MUFE Smoky Lash mascara, Shu Uemura HF6 brow pencil in Seal Brown, and an INGLOT shadow to highlight)

So my verdict - well worth trying for £4, a total bargain - I suspect that there are probably more MAC dupes to be found in this range as well... would definitely purchase more of these shadows.

Have you tried anything from the Accessorize makeup line? I have picked up a couple of polishes to try, and so I'd be interested in your thoughts, as well as any thoughts on the mineralized products in the range...