Flash review: Rimmel London Colour Mousse Eyeshadows in Mermaid, Galaxy, Splash

What an odd product this is. Maybe that's why it's been discontinued :/ I'm posting this anyway, because I know people will still be buying them, if only from evilBay and Amazon and blogsales!

Rimmel London Colour Mousse 8hr Eyeshadows, L-R: Mermaid, Galaxy, Splash

These are three of the Rimmel London Colour [sic] Mousse 8hr Eyeshadows. I have 014 Mermaid, 013 Galaxy and 004 Splash, purchased for me by my boy about half a year ago, when they were still being stocked in UK stores. I had wanted a few because of Lisa Eldridge's glowing recommendation. Has Lisa actually led me astray?! D:

The texture is very wet and bouncy yet firm, and you really need to apply it thickly in order to get even coverage. Otherwise, you get patchiness (see Mermaid swatch below) and if you try to go over it with more  product, it will wreck what's already there. So you have to wait for your first layer to dry and then apply more on top ... which is time-consuming and frustrating, so just trust me and apply a thick layer!

Swatched over otherwise bare skin, L-R: Mermaid, Galaxy, Splash; direct sunlight, no flash

Mermaid (left) is a beautiful tropical-sea turquoise with no shimmer, Galaxy (center) is a cool-toned blackened purple, and Splash (left) is a gorgeous Tiffany blue with gold duochrome.

Swatched over otherwise bare skin, L-R: Splash, Tidal Rave; direct sunlight, no flash 

I was briefly concerned that I had made a mistake in buying the Benefit Creaseless Cream shadow/ liner in Tidal Rave since, at least on paper, they seem like the same color - but Tidal Rave is more denim blue with gold sheen, and a completely different texture.

Now see that swatch above? The Rimmel shadows dry to this weird, very tight-feeling, almost scaly finish. If applied over the entire eyelid it sort of feels like it's pulling your lids whenever you, y'know, move your eyes or blink ... so it's not very fun to wear. I'd recommend using these as eyeliner instead. I do however have a FOTD coming up where I used Mermaid as an eyeshadow base, just to test it out in that way. (I didn't like it very much!)

I can't believe I STILL haven't finished posting swatches and reviews from my UK haul in August T__T Maybe in 2012 .............