I have an old soft traincase/makeup bag that when I was doing my great big clear-out of makeup (before really getting into the mineral makeup thing), I stored the best that I had. Not surprisingly, this is not a huge amount of stuff – I seem to be great at getting poorly pigmented drugstore makeup. Ahem. But inside that bag is some little gems, and I finally got around to swatching three of them today.

A quick explanation to non-Canadians: Ardene is a store something like Claire’s, only with signficantly less licensed stuff. It’s basically for the younger set, but I do tend to find great earrings, hats, scarves, socks, and oh, yes, makeup there, and everything tends to be priced in sets: 3 for $10, 5 for $10, 2 for $6, etc.

About… four years ago, I think, I came across these eyeshadows. They were in the 2 for $6, which most makeup is priced at there, so it’s not like it’s any great expense. Surprise! They’re actually really good quality. I’ve been meaning to see if they have more now, but I haven’t been into the store lately. I tend to forget I own them, but they are really nice.

Berry Blast is a medium reddish pink. I got this back when my red eyeshadow obsession began, and I was hoping that it was a truer red than it looked in the pan (after all, think of how hard it is to get a red shade at the drugstore), but oh well. It’s quite a nice pink. It’s somewhat similar to Meow’s Secret Santa, but Secret Santa is more coral.

Go Green is a medium green with the slightest gold sheen to it, not too unlike (again) Meow’s Grinch, but I think Grinch is brighter somehow? Still very pretty.

Snow White is a very pigmented silvery white. I actually have no other shades quite like it.

Top half is on bare skin, bottom half is over Urban Decay Primer Potion (not that it really needs it too much).

Seriously, these are wonderful little shadows, and I absolutely need to use them more. If you have an Ardene close to you, see if these sorts of eyeshadows are still available, they’re well worth the purchase.