I tried it ... L'Oreal Paris Review

I am a BzzAgent, which means I take surveys, give my opinions, and get to participate in product reviews for some fabulous companies. I was selected to participate in a campaign for L'Oreal Paris. I was sent two of their newest products for review, the One Sweep Eye Shadow and Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara, both formulated for brown eyes.

To be honest, I was pretty skeptical of the One Sweep Eyeshadow. Three layers of color that go on all at once and look fabulous in one quick step. Hmm ... really? Let's try it out. First of all, I thought the applicator sponge was going to be too big for my eye area. I held it up to my eye without any shadow on it to see what the coverage area was going to be. It looked alright, so I pressed the applicator firmly onto the 3 layers of shadow (which are really pretty tones of purple and pink), then lined it up on top of my eye lid and pressed firmly again. Being the applicator was bigger, it didn't leave any room for 'sweeping', so I kinda stamped on the shadow. I repeated the same process with my other eye.To my surprise, it actually worked!! Three layers of color, applied evenly, and looking like I spent more that the 30 seconds I did to apply it! Sweet!! And another bonus ... the color lasted all day! Not too shabby!!Next up, I used the Double Extend Mascara ... there are two ends to this tube. One end is the mascara (black, in my case) and the other end is the illuminating top coat which, for brown eyes, is a copper-bronze color. I already am a fan of L'Oreal's mascara formulas - they are rich and can be layered. This one is no different and went on great for a first application. I always prefer mascara after a few weeks of opening it ... it tends to get a little thicker the more you use it. After applying the mascara, the directions said to immediately apply the illuminator without dry time between the two. So I did. And didn't notice anything right away. Throughout the day though, I would see little glimmers if the light hit my eyes right. Sometimes that was annoying ... almost like seeing little tracers out of the corner of your eye, and it wasn't very noticeable in my opinion. Maybe I needed to add a little more, but I like my lashes to look rich and dark and full. Adding a lighter color on top of them made me shy away a bit. Overall, I loved the shadow ... the application was quick and easy, with very little touch up needed. The pigments were pretty and it lasted all day. The illuminating mascara concept is not my favorite, but again, I love the general formula of L'Oreal's mascaras. So, while I wouldn't recommend this particular mascara based on my own personal desired look, it is still a great quality brand. The shadows retail for around $9.95 each and come in a few other palettes. The mascara retails for around $10.95.