Make Up Monday: Dainty Doll Eyeshadows Review

I'm no Girls Aloud fan, but ever since Nicola Roberts launched her own make up range for pale skinned folk a few years ago, I've been eager to try some of it out. However, due to the luxury price tags, I never got around to trying any of it.

So, when I heard Dainty Doll make up was available on discounted beauty site Fragrance Direct from just 99p, it didn't take me long to cease the opportunity to snap up a few products for myself.

Today I'm going to review the five eyeshadows I purchased, and show you a couple of make up looks I created using them.

I purchased three eyeshadows from Fragrance Direct.

And later picked up a further two colours via Amazon.

So, before I reveal all, I'm sure you'd like to know what the deal is with Dainty Doll:

"Dainty Doll is developed especially to enhance the beauty of fairer skin tones. Created using the finest quality, skin loving formulas to help cover, perfect, and care for your skin, The Dainty Doll range makes it much easier for those with pale skin tones to achieve the ideal shade every time."

 -Daintydoll.com

As a girl with extremely fair skin, this brand has always appealed to me as finding make up to flatter my skin tone can be tricky. I expected the range to focus on foundations, powders and concealers for the porcelain skinned; what I didn't know was that they also sell the most amazing vibrant eye shadows...

L-R: Copacabana, Jungle, Purple Hills, Lollipops and Roses, Kingston Town

Colour! Oh so much wonderful colour! If there's one thing I love almost as much as dresses it's colourful eye make up. It's such a big part of my style and something I feel sets me apart from a lot of people.

When I opened the three I initially ordered with Fragrance Direct, I honestly could not have been happier. I may have squealed a little bit in excitement at all that colour. I originally purchased Copacabana, Lollipops and Roses, and Kingston Town, and was so impressed with them I then went on to source Jungle and Purple Hills through Amazon. 

 The eyeshadows are displayed in round, slim-line matte black pots, with a mirror inside, and the brand simply printed in gold lettering on the outside. I think the packaging looks sleek and expensive. The outer packaging also has a professional appearance in matte black, with a long-legged fair-skinned red head, and the Dainty Doll logo on the cardboard.

I've given all of these eyeshadows numerous days of wear, and each time the make up lasted for at least eight hours without fading! The shadows are all so highly pigmented, and they remained bold throughout the day without the use of a primer. I'm so impressed with each of them! It's not often that I come across eye make up so hard-wearing. They're also incredibly soft in texture, and very little is required to create an even, vibrant cover because they're so pigmented.

My thoughts on each shadow and how I've been wearing each, starting with my least favourite.

#5 Copacabana: Probably my least favourite of the five, and the hardest colour to wear (I'm still tentative with wearing most blues as I worry I'll look like I've wandered out of the eighties), but it's still a great bold eyeshadow. It's a deep sky blue and looks great with Jungle. I've been using it as an eyeliner, rather than all over the lid to make it easier to wear.

#4 Purple Hills: The name of this eyeshadow has me thinking of the censored version of the Eminem and D12 song with the same title. But unlike the song, there's no reason for me to censor these words. Purple Hills is a gorgeous, deep violet purple, which looks fantastic when worn on it's own or with pink, yellow, green, and blue. The possibilities are endless!

#3 Kingston Town: This eyeshadow screams summer. It's a lovely sunny yellow, and it's so versatile. It works well with all of the other colours I purchased, but especially pink and purple. When blended with the pink it makes a lovely shimmering coral. I love this eye shadow!

#1 Jungle: This is my favourite of the five, tied with Lollipops and Roses. Jungle is a vibrant highly pigmented jade green, and I love the way it brings out the brown of my eyes. Green eye make up is my favourite to wear, and I wasn't disappointed with this one.

#1 Lollipops and Roses: This hot pink eyeshadow is not for the faint hearted or colour shy, but it looks amazing on pale skin, and sure makes a statement! It's much easier to wear than you'd think, though, and it makes a pretty, tropical look. I can't stop wearing it. I've mostly been pairing it with the yellow and purple.

Now for the swatches...

These are the swatches in natural light without a flash. I've not enhanced or altered the photo in any way, apart from white-washing the rest of the photo out.

And a few photos of me wearing these eye shadows...

In these two photos I am wearing Kingston Town and Lollipops and Roses blended together, with a purple Lush eye liner lining the top and bottom lids.

Here I am wearing Kingston Town, and Lollipops and Roses again, but this time with Purple hills as an eyeliner.

And this was a simple look with Jungle all over the lids, and Purple Hills very faintly lining both the top and bottom lids.

So, all in all, I'm completely in love with all of these eyeshadows, and I'm truly pleased and impressed with them. They're perfect for pale skin like my own, but I also think they'd look fantastic on darker skin tones, too. If you love bold eye make up, then I recommend that you check these out and give them a try! You won't regret it!

The RRP for these eye shadows is £11.50, which is a little pricey for one eyeshadow (although I'd happily pay it), but I spent less than £3 on each one, and about £12 in total which was an absolute bargain!  You can find them on Fragrance Direct and Amazon from just £1.99 at the moment!

Have you tried any Dainty Doll eyeshadows yet?

What is your favourite colour combination to wear on your eyes?