No7 Stay Perfect Trio Eyeshadow

RRP: £9.75

 # of shades available: 12

--What does the promo say?--

"No7 Stay Perfect Trio Eyeshadow conains a selection of high impact colours that blend effortlessly and last for hours."

--Packaging--

Fairly standard ovular black plastic with a little window to look through. No mirror, but a brush is included (even if the curve of it sometimes makes it more difficult, not easier, to manipulate the shadow). All in all, nothing to write home about.

--Application--

The Boots website recommends applying the lightest colour all over the eyelid, up to the brow bone, followed by the medium shade just up to the crease of the eyelid. The darkest colour can be used to follow the line of the eyelashes before blending in. Basically, it's not rocket science.

--Appearance--

The shade I was kindly sent by No7 is only identified as 'matte', but looking at the website's current selections, it is closest to Good Earth, with a creamy base colour, a pale brown middling colour, and a slate grey liner shade. It's quite a nice combination on the eye, but not as versatile as other trios I've tried (Revlon, I'm looking at you), and as you will see below, it's quite an effort to get anything to show up at all.

--Texture/consistency--

Strangely, this trio of shadows is nowhere near as easy to manipulate as the new mono shadows that No7 also sent me from their autumn collection. As quite a few reviewers on the Boots website point out (you have to scroll through quite a few pages to get to the lower-rated reviews: cunning tactic there!), you have to scrub at the eyeshadow for ages with the brush in order to pick up any and when you do apply it the paler colours in particular are very faint. Applying eyeshadow just shouldn't take this much effort and persistence. However, the darkest colour in the trio is better.

--Longevity--

Can't complain - but when the shadow barely shows up on the eye to begin with...

--Value for money--

No7 seem to be trying in their makeup to compete with other similar brands, such as Revlon, and while in the past I was often pleased with their products (the Sheer Temptation lipstick/gloss hybrid is a godsend!), in more recent times I have been less pleased with the overinflated prices which do not deliver on the quality so often. My advice? If you must buy a No7 eyeshadow, perhaps go for one of their mono shadows (of which my more positive review will soon follow), but if it's multiple colours you want, the up-and-coming Prestige and Front Cover both offer far better value, as does the more mainstream L'Oréal.

perfect partner

No7 Intense Volume Mascara, £11