I haven't been a die-hard fan of this brand, and am fairly new to it. I stumbled upon the cute little Eye Candy singles at Marshall's one day over the summer, along with some gloss. Yes, I had heard of Hard Candy before - I owned a few palettes purchased at Five Below (which I expected nothing from, they were simply cute and I'm not a fan of palettes to begin with.) But that wasn't what led me to purchase the adorable little compacts. Nope. Flashback to middle school, the rebellious girl I sat next to on the bus, otherwise known as my friend Cat, always (and I mean ALWAYS) had these in her backpack. Jealous isn't even a good enough word to describe what I felt when she pulled out the then-expensive eye shadows. Anyway, I couldn't believe my eyes when they were sitting right in front of me in the last place I would expect to find good makeup. I decided I needed one of each package color, found the shades I liked best, and put the others back. (Ok, so I admit - I got two with the blue colored packaging. I couldn't make up my mind, both colors were awesome.) The gloss was alright, nothing too intense, but I loved the shadows! The shimmery white color I got was such a perfect highlighter for when I wanted something extreme. They weren't too glittery or gritty - they were just right.
So, as you can see, this is what lead me to getting terribly excited when I heard they would be arriving at Walmart. Great, I thought, they're gonna be low priced and good quality!
Well.. I guess they're low priced. I know I wouldn't pay the six bucks again for some of the items I purchased. The quality isn't bad, but with that said it's not consistent in all of the products. I give them an A+ for packaging though, because my god, these are cute.
Anyway, let's check them out!
Eye Candy Creme Eyeshadow: $5
Of course I flocked to these old-time favorites first. I even opened them last as I tested every product I purchased. I have to admit - I'm extremely disappointed. I purchased Pixie (which is pink glitter.) and Queenie (purple glitter.) And that's pretty much all they are - glitter. Glitter in a clear paste passed off as creme. I feel as though I spent six dollars on body glitter. They came with mini eye liner pencils as well. Once again, not impressed. I feel like I've seen these before somewhere, maybe in that play make-up kit I got when I was seven. At least they actually have a color base, though, unlike the 'creme eyeshadow'. The pink liner shows more glitter than the purple, but they're rough to put on. (Maybe it's just me.. maybe I'm just pampered by my UD 24/7 eyeliner.) Will I buy again? No. (As badly as I want to try out the green one, I'll pass.) The tiny mirror on the back of the compact kind of helps though.
Painted Lady Lipstick: $6
If you now hate me for what I said above, maybe this will make it better. (Unless you felt the same way I did about the Eye Candy, to which I say RIGHT ON!) I picked up not one, not two, not even three of these lipsticks, but FOUR! Word to the wise: If you decide to make a trip to Walmart to try this collection, bring your willpower. I repeat, bring. your. willpower. The packaging of the lipstick is ADORABLE and anyone who is addicted to cute make-up like I am will not be able to control themselves. It's a white tube with a clear cap and a cute pink ribbon trailing off the end (which makes it so much easier to find in your bag!) Don't get me started on the design on the actual tube. There are SO MANY to choose from and it was hard to even limit myself to four. (The biggest disappointment was when I liked a design but not the color inside - which was ok at times, because some designs have two colors available.) The colors/designs I chose were On The Prowl (a pinkish red with dice, flames and nautical stars on the packaging), Kitten (the actual red in the bunch, with an old school cherries and sparrows), Flirt (a frosty light pink with a pink/black design of roses, stars and shoes on the tube), and finally, my favorite, Fire Alarm (a nude pink color, with a purple/black/yellow suit of arms on the outside.) Fire Alarm is my favorite because I love a nude-lip look. I love this color so much that it will probably be a staple in my lipstick collection. (Unfortunately, when I got in the car the other day my significant other pointed out the fact that I looked like a zombie. I'm not sure whether or not to take this as a compliment, because he is a huge fan of anything 'zombie'.) Overall, there's minimum glitter in these (a huge relief after the eye candy incident) but as great as the color payout is, it didn't last long. Maybe some sort of lip primer would help.
Intensif-eye Shadow Stick: $6
Let me start off by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with these so far. This was one of the first products I grabbed, mainly because I saw the lime-green packaging on Pop and was captivated. You know, when you're so overwhelmed and excited that your brain just shuts down and you do stupid things like purchase three really crap eye shadow sticks? Yeah. That was me.
The design is cute. The tube is the color of the product inside (ha, so you think!) with a raised tattoo-inspired black design of vines and sparrows. I got two of the 'radiant' version and one of the 'metallic'. I really have an issue with the way these are applied - they're a twist-up stick, kind of like a skinny lipstick. They are also slanted in the way a skinny tube of lipstick is. One swipe and you get the color consistency you would get with -gasp!- a skinny tube of lipstick or gloss. If you really keep applying, the color eventually gets to the shade the tube is. Ok, well, almost the shade the tube is. It's very glossy for eyeshadow though. The colors I purchased were Pop (that bright lime-green), Moody (a gorgeous baby blue color), and Ecstasy (metallic 'bronze', although it seems more like orange.) Ecstasy had the best color pay out, and was the least glossy of the three. Pop and Moody seriously brought back horrible memories of the mood-changing lipstick my mother (stupidly) let me purchase as a child.
Anyway, if anyone's purchased any other shades and they've worked, uh, a bit better.. let me know.
Kal-eye-descope Baked Shadow Duo: $6
I'll admit, I hated this at first. I quickly swiped the product and saw little color payout, then tossed it aside. A day later I saw it staring back at me, in all it's purple-y goodness and knew I wasn't ready to give up on it. I opened it up again and swatched both colors.. and WOW. This was intensely pigmented. What the hell was I looking at before? It's got shimmer, but no glitter, and it's intense. Exactly what I want in an eyeshadow. I got the duo in Daydream, a shimmering combination of lavender and silver. I didn't think I could love this shadow any more than I did, but after trying it on wet, I was wrong. Gorgeous color payout and excellent colors. I will definitely be purchasing more of these.
Split Personality Eyeshadow Duo: $7
Hard Candy promises fifty uses per side. That is enough for a lifetime, seeing as it is so damn hard to get it out of the cap it's 'pressed' into. Surprisingly, I have zero complaint about the product. After jamming the small end of the scissors into the cap to get to the shadow, the color payout was great. It went on smooth and almost like a creme. Oh no, my issue is with the packaging. Scissors are not a normal part of my make-up routine. I cannot pull them out of my bag, on the go, and rummage around this little cap of pressed down eyeshadow with them until I have enough to cover my lids. I can't even blame Hard Candy here. The idea was awesome - the shadow wasn't potted so it couldn't fall and break, it was pigmented and of good quality, a stick takes up less room than a potted shadow, ect. But unfortunately, the final product was not so awesome. I also just realized I picked it up in purple and silver, similar to my baked duo. For seven dollars, this is the product that is least worth it. Go pick up a lipstick or eyeshadow duo and save the extra dollar.
Even though some of the products didn't pay up, this is a cute line, and you'll find some diamonds among the dirt. Also, I applaud Hard Candy on their label stating "We love our animal friends. We don't test our products on them." A great reason to stick with their line.
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