I'm busting out my Yaby eyeshadow collection for you today, by request of Liloo (@tsunimee). If you've ever thought about buying Yaby, you'll know that the colour swatches aren't that reliable, there are no 'skin swatches' to be found on sellers websites, no colour descriptions...it's all pretty hit and miss.
[[ Dragonfruit pp056, es631, es563, es580, So Vein es296, es473 ]]
Dragonfruit pp056 is one of the 'pearl paint' textures - which are pretty awful. Apply them dry and you get glittery chunks, fallout and uneven colour. Apply them wet and you get streaky, gloopy uneven colour - you can't win either way! Es631, a Barney the dinosaur pinky purple, is matte, chalky and poorly pigmented therefore you need to pack it on with a shovel to get any colour to actually show up - the same can be said for es563. The zingy lime green (es580) and dark navy (es473), are average in pigmentation for a matte eyeshadows and works best over a base of similar colours. So Vein es296 is possibly my favourite ever bright eyeshadow and most certainly the best of the Yaby 'shadows I own - smooth, densely pigmented and an undeniably gorgeous colour.
Abyss es154 is the most saturated, matte black eyeshadow I've come across yet. It doesn't look it in the photo since I'm naughty and didn't clean off the silver shade properly before swatching, but it's true! You only need to gently tap your brush across the surface for a mega impressive colour pay-off. Silver Dust es109 is a sheer, sparkly silver. Blank es155 (yes, 'Blank', not 'Blanc') is a bright, matte white. Seashell es192 is a subtle, shimmery shell colour (duh) perfect for a subtle but glowing highlight. Lemonade pp029 is another of the less that desirable pearl paints, but the colour is lovely - a yellowy white, similar to MAC 'Nylon' but not an exact dupe.
[[ Cocoa Powder es231, Smoked Maple es330, Bark es048, es172, Glazed Rose es346 ]]
You should see my pan for Cocoa Powder es231 - it's almost empty! It's a great colour for eyebrows if you have dark hair. Bark es048 is a slightly grey toned, cool brown which would also work well for eyebrows, should you have quite pale hair. Smoked Maple es330 is a neutral, light brown which would be perfect for subtle contouring on most pale - medium skintones. Es172 is a pretty run-of-the-mill pinky brown, whereas Glazed Rose es346 is a shimmery brown with a stronger pink tone and coppery highlights. Pigmentation of each of these is poor to average, but since they're so neutral and most likely made as sculpting shades, it barely matters.
All in all, I wouldn't call Yaby the best brand for eyeshadows but if you're looking for basic neutrals they're worth a try. I guess you could just say that they're too inconsistent for me - just look at how highly pigmented 'So Vein' is compared to the other brights! I had to pack on most of these eyeshadows to get them to show up at all, which is disappointing for a brand aimed specifically at make-up artists.
Yaby eyeshadows can be bought from themakeupartistboutique at £1.99 per 15.5mm pan.
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