Review: Ellana Minerals Eyeshadow Quads

Posted by: Pat on: April 21, 2014

• In: Reviews | Swatches
• 17 Comments

One (well, two) of my recent favorites with regards to eyeshadows is my pair of eyeshadow quads from Ellana Minerals (here’s the haul post). I got two of the three available quads, both of them are of course neutrals. Today I will review these two quads as well as show you the arm swatches.

Let us start with the Eyebrow/Eyeshadow Quad, with the shades Beloved, Intense, Wish, and Hush. Here is the quad and the respective shade names.

I’ve been using the shade Intense a lot as my go-to eyebrow powder as that is the only one that matches my hair. It is a very dirty dark brown shade. The other three I’ve used in various looks as eyeshadow. Wish, in particular, is a very pigmented coppery shade and is great as crease color for neutral looks. I use Beloved, a dusty light brown, as an overall lid wash, and goes well with many colors even outside this quad. Hush, a beige, is the least used because it practically disappears on my skin.

Here are the arm swatches (click the image for a bigger version). The bottom row is swatched over Artdeco Eyeshadow Base. The primer really unlocks the full potential of these eyeshadows!

The second quad I bought is called the Mesmer-eyes Eyeshadow Quad, and has the shades Inspiration, Brilliance, Charisma, and Sensational.

Now here is where it gets a little gnarly. The shade names you see above are assigned by me based purely on the shade descriptors on the Ellana website, so you’ll have to take this with a grain of salt. It doesn’t help that the back of the quad has a misprint (Wish is listed instead of Inspiration). Brilliance (Ellana: “soft bronze”) is a pretty nice, almost metallic brown that can passably be bronze. Sensational (Ellana: “iridescent gold”) is actually a peach-leaning beige whose potential really emerges with a primer. Charisma (Ellana: “soft copper pink”) is a light metallic pink that turns into a deeper pink with a primer. Inspiration (Ellana: “soft beige”) is essentially a very light beige which strangely turns pretty white with a primer.

Here are the arm swatches (click the image for a bigger version). Check out how it practically is a different palette with the use of a primer (again, Artdeco Eyeshadow Base). It is a lot more apparent here compared to the first quad.

Here is a look I’ve made using the two quads. Intense is definitely used for the brows. I used either Sensational or Beloved for the lid wash, and Wish for the crease.

Pros: affordable; most shades are very pigmented, and go well together; portable; comes with mirror; multitasking; beautiful illustrations on the case

Cons: some shades require a primer; cardboard case

Neutral: requires separate brush/es

Both of these quads are Php350 each, and are available through the Ellana website or at The Ramp in Trinoma and Glorietta 3, Cinderella at SM Megamall, or their showroom at La Fuerza Plaza 2. Ellana is locally-made and cruelty-free.

 

Tags: Ellana Minerals, eyebrow, eyeshadow