L'Oreal Color Infallible Taupe Royal and Brown Temptation (Matte Finish)

L'Oreal has released another batch of new Color Infallible shades this autumn. While the US received a shiny gold and silver pair (#507 Primped & Precious and #607 Blinged & Brilliant) as part of the Diamond Collection, Europe received a trio of matte shades: #41 Taupe Royal, #42 Green Baroque and #43 Brown Temptation. I discovered Taupe Royal and Brown Temptation at my local Manor department store as part of a Smoky Eyes collection display that included a mascara and eyeliner. Made in Italy, the Infallibles were retailing at CHF15.90 each.


At first glance, these looked horribly dull and flat. The earlier matte Color Infallibles were an odd bunch of shades with poor textures so I never invested in them. However, upon swatching Taupe Royal in the store, I was surprised to spy some microsparkles under the store lights.

These are not pure mattes as they take on a glistening quality under a bright light, as shown in the pic below.



These swatches were done on bare skin without any primer, using my fingertip. Each was layered twice. The color payoff is sheer on the first layer but it can be built up quite easily to a more intense finish. These do not have the molten velvety quality and intense payoff of Bronze Goddess and Emerald Lamé, but they are workable.


The two photos above were taken under a spot light while the photo below was taken near a window with natural daylight, hence the soft matte finish is more apparent in the photo below. Both shades look easily suitable for day wear.

I didn't see Green Baroque (below) but perhaps it'll turn up in the stores in France. Hopefully the Diamond Collection Infallibles will show up on drugstore.com soon!