Review | Hard Candy Fierce Effects

The other day when I went to Walmart I came across these brand new Fierce Effects eyeshadows from Hard Candy. These look a lot like the L'Oréal Infallible Eyeshadows which I adore, but the main difference is the price. While the L'Oréal option is affordable, Hard Candy beats it by offering 2 eyeshadows for only $5. With a deal like that I couldn't help but pick a duo up for me to test out and ultimately compare it to the L'Oréal Infallible Eyeshadows. Are the more affordable option better than my original love? You'll have to keep reading to find out.

The Hard Candy Fierce Effects come in 5 different duos but out of all of them the Slow & Steady duo was my favorite. You get a rich chocolate brown eyeshadow and a very shimmery champagne shade in this duo. Both of the eyeshadows are shimmery but the brown shade has a bit of glitter and the champagne is a bit on the metallic side.

The Fierce Effects eyeshadows are powder eyeshadows which are tightly compacted and are meant to act almost like a cream. Hard Candy describes that each shade has a second pigment for a multi-dimensional pearl blend which is very noticeable in the darker shade. In the brown eyeshadow you can clearly see flecks of silver which just contribute to the finish of the eyeshadow. These eyeshadows are also supposed to be long wearing and easy to blend out.

The first time I wore these eyeshadows I wasn't particularly impressed with the brown shade. I found that it started fading within a few hours, and by the end of the day the color looked very light. Fortunately I can tell you that that shade performed a lot better the second time I wore it. I think a good tacky eye primer is crucial to get the eyeshadows to perform to their full intensity. The most surprising shade was the light champagne shade which stayed all day on my lid with both my $1 primer and also my more expensive Smashbox primer.

I do have to say that both the eyeshadows blend out incredibly easy. All I used was a blending brush to apply and blend out the brown and I got a really lovely multidimensional look. It almost looked like I had two different eyeshadows on my eyes because as I kept blending the brown eyeshadow started acting as a nice semi-matte transitional shade. The light shade not only makes a gorgeous and dramatic inner corner highlight, but it would add so much dimension to any eye look if you add a little to the middle of your lids.

Now for the comparison, do these eyeshadows measure up to the L'Oréal Infallible? I would say that they're close but not an exact dupe. Although the packaging is nearly identical, and the eye shadows themselves are quite different. I find that the L'Oréal Infallible are creamier, more pigmented, more long wearing (with and without a primer), and very tightly packed. I also noticed that when I dip my finger into the the L'Oréal Infallible I get no fall out whatsoever which is not the case for the Fierce Effects. The Hard Candy Fierce Effects are not as tightly packed so you do have to be careful because there will be fall out.

Another difference is the shade range, L'Oréal offers 24 different colors while Hard Candy offers only 10 in total (5 duos). Personally I found it a little unnecessary to have two duos with pink eyeshadows because let's face it, they're not the most wearable shades. I would have liked to see more neutrals, purples, and lighter shades that can be used as a highlight. The only other duo that I'm interested in trying is the Soft & Sultry which has a moss green eyeshadow and a gold one.

As I previously mentioned the prices for the two products are not drastically different but it's definitely something that caught my attention. The L'Oréal Infallible eyeshadows retail for $7/8 while the Hard Candy Fierce Effects duo retails for $5, making it such a great steal. Who wouldn't pick up two eyeshadows for the price of 1?

Despite their differences I still think that Hard Candy offers a great product, I just don't think the Fierce Effects are exact dupes of the L'Oréal Infallible eyeshadows. Since I've been really enjoying the Hard Candy Fierce Effects I've decided to give away 2 Slow & Steady duos to 2 lucky blog readers.

The giveaway is open internationally until October 20th at 12:00AM (PST). The 2 winners will be announced on Facebook and Twitter on October 21st. I will also be contacting the winners directly through their email so make sure you're using the correct email. To enter you must be following me on Bloglovin' (or GFC) and answer the question of the day in the comments. If you don't have Bloglovin just follow the blog through GFC and leave your username (don't forget to add "GFC" at the end). You can also earn more entries if you really want to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway The Hard Candy Fierce Effects retails for $5 and is available at Walmart.

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