Makeup Maven Top Secret Color Box!

A super cool box arrived today, containing Avon's new color line preview!

Inside were a few of their new products along with some pamphlets explaining the upcoming changes... I'll get to those in just a minute.  These products have been not only repackaged into sleeker, more stylish cases but also reformulated to have better pigmentation!

First up:
New True Color Eye Shadow Quad in Purple Pop

At first glance, there is nothing new about the eyeshadow quads.  On the left is one in the old style and the new one is on the right.  No difference!  But open them up, and ...

...there you go!  So the obvious difference is the pan shape and arrangement.  The applicator, mirror and latch seem to be the same.  Here are swatches (bare skin, no primer):

 

Lovely, right?  They felt almost hard and creamy in the pan, not at all powdery.  Application is smooth and they're almost true to the way they look in the pan.  I especially appreciated the way the lavender shade (#3) did not lose its tone, as sometimes colors like that can turn slightly brown on the skin.  All shades have some shimmer, from pink to blue to iridescent in color.  Can't wait to do an eye look with these!

Ultra Color Rich Lipstick in Rich Ruby

On the left is the old style packaging.  The new lipstick cases feature a clear window in the top of the lid so now we can see right down at the lipstick itself -- no more squinting at color names or opening 3 or 4 tubes to find the right color!  They are also now squared off and much sleeker.  I haven't swatched this one.

Ultra Glazewear Lip Gloss in Palm Beach Pink

 Top gloss is the old style; bottom one is the new.  Like the lipstick, the new packaging is squared off but is overall the same size.  My favorite thing about this new gloss package is the way the lid "locks" into place when you screw it shut.  No more over-tightening or off-kilter lids!  This shade is very pigmented for a gloss and contains a good amount of sparkle.  It has the same soft vanilla scent that the old Glazewear glosses had, but slightly muted which is just fine for my sensitive nose.

Mega Effects Mascara in Black

This is Avon's pride and joy right now, being that they've invested a lot of time and research into it.  The short story from my perspective: This style of "wand" is very intuitive and the 'paintbrush' motion used to apply is familiar, making the concept a no-brainer.  It's very small and can get to those tiny corner lashes so often missed by other wands.  The color is very black and it leaves my lashes feeling neither gummy nor crunchy.  However, I find that the formula is a little too wet and the applicator applies too much product at once...there's no way to "scrape" the applicator off like I would on a normal tube of mascara!  I am going to give it a chance to dry out and try it again.

One of the pamphlets included with this box looked like this:

 

Do you see what I see?!  Avon is bringing back the SuperShock gel eye liners!!  Nevermind the fact that the lettering on the actual picture of the pencil is in mirror-image (Avon, again?  Stop it!)  I have a few of these pencils from back when they discontinued them and they are AWESOME:

SuperShock Gel Eye Liner Pencils in Steel and Khaki Shimmer

These pencils glide on smoothly and have a staying power like just about nothing else.  I only have two shades, but when the new ones are re-released I will have to get all of them.  I hope that Avon hasn't changed a thing about this great product!

That's all for now.  Questions or comments?  Post below!

Note: I received this box as a prize for winning the District placement of Avon's Makeup Maven contest in 2012.  All opinions are my own.