Review: 4u2 I-Pro Makeup Set

Picture taken from 4u2 Cosmetics Philippines FB site

Face palettes are a particular weakness of mine. There's something about the combination of eye colors, the oftentimes pink or peach blushes, and in some cases, the lip colors that may range from nude to red, that I find as cute as puppy dogs. Plus, face palettes are almost always offered at a cheaper price point versus buying each of the items individually. 

4u2 I-Pro Makeup Palette opened

 This particular offering from 4u2 consists of 4 eye shadows, 2 blushes, and 4 lip hues. It comes in a solid matte black casing whose top lid encloses a generous sized mirror. The casing is streamlined and has enough heft (you could throw this at someone who annoys you and cause serious enough damage) and snaps shut with a satisfying click.

Above is NARS' Bridal Palette. I find the casing and the arrangement of the products to be similar. Except that the lipglosses are on the left and the eye shadows are on the right of the 4u2 palette.

 I personally find the eye shadows and the blushes to be the high points in this palette. All four shadows are neutral, wearable colors and each one is laced with shimmer. There's a vanilla with light gold shimmer, a shimmery melon color, medium to deep taupe brown with gold shimmer, and a deep gray with a subtle overlay of gold. 

The shadows applied with a brush with primer underneath.

Of the 4, my clear favorites are the taupe brown and the grey. The taupe brown reminds me of MAC's Satin Taupe and Impassioned. But this one from 4u2 is the bronzer version.

 I do not have any color at the moment to compare with the gray. I find it unique and perfect for a smoky eye that's still work appropriate. 

4u2's taupe on the left compared with MAC's Satin Taupe on the right.

Now comparing with MAC Solar Bits' Impassioned.

Impassioned on the left, 4u2's taupe in the middle, and Satin Taupe on the right. Notice that hint of mauve on the outer edges of the two MAC products whereas the one from 4u2 is bronze.

Another shot of the three taupes.

The texture of the shadows is divine: buttery smooth and non-powdery. This almost feels like a powder cream hybrid and I get little to no powder residue. Color pay-off is great (I do pair this with a primer). I get home from work, putter around, and by the time I get ready for bed my eye makeup is still holding strong.   The only downside is ALL of the shadows are shimmery. Use them all at once = frost overkill. To avoid this, I need to use matte eye shadows with this palette.

 Like the shadows, both blushes are highly pigmented. The palette has a (cool) vivid pink and a (warm) peachy pink. I think it's a nice touch that both cool and warm options are offered in this palette. Unlike the shadows, both blushes are matte. I like that it gives me the option to go shine-free or add shimmer to my cheeks (using a separate shimmer product) depending on my mood. 

Again, these are highly pigmented and I do mean highly pigmented. You can't use a normal blush brush with these. If you do, people would either think you have the flu or you're angling for a job as a McDonald's mascot sans the face mask. You need a stippling brush to get a light but still color true application. The only annoying thing is the pink blush leaves a powder residue when swiped with a brush while the peach one doesn't leave any. There doesn't seem to be any differences in the formulation which is why I’m surprised. But it is there and I get this pinkish powder on the rims of the eye shadows. 

The blushes finger swiped.

This time applied with a blush brush.

 Last are the lip colors. All 4 are lip glosses; a mauve-ish nude, an orangey coral, a cool bright pink, and a clear purplish-silvery one that has multi-shimmered flecks (this applies just like a clear gloss). This is the part where I get a bit disappointed. I feel that both the eye and cheek products in the palette call for a more 'done' lip (the finish of a true lipstick) instead of the more casual finish of a gloss. This would have been perfect if at least 2 of the lip colors were lipsticks. 

The lipglosses applied. See how the silvery-ish one is really just clear gloss. :-)

Of the four, the longest lasting is the bright pink gloss. It actually stayed for three hours on me and left a stain on my lips. It’s moisturizing but less so than balm-like lipsticks such as the ones offered by Maybelline (like their Moisture Extreme lineup of lipsticks).

This is originally priced at P1, 094.00 but I got mine at a discount. I think that the price is more than fair given the quality of the shadows and blushes (I'm mum on the glosses). Each of these are full sized. Buying each item individually would probably cost more. There's also the convenience of having all these colors in one place making it convenient for daily use and for travel.

This palette is available at all Watson’s and Health and Beauty outlets that carry the 4u2 brand.

'Til my next post. Cheerio!