O Beauty Lab: We Tried It…So You Don't Have To

Avon's In a Wink Instant Eyeshadow Sheets

The only time I wear eyeshadow is…come to think of it, never. "And why not?" I can hear you saying. Or, conversely, "Me neither." (Or, from that cranky reader in the back, "Who cares?") The point is, though I can appreciate the sultry look of a smoky eye, I haven't had the urge or the skill or a good enough reason to wear one. But recently, in the spirit of trying-something-different-because-what-the-heck, I took home a couple of Avon's new In a Wink Instant Eyeshadow Sheets ($10 for 14). They're a little like those instant, wash-off tattoos I used to love as kid: You place one of the sheets over your eyelid, rub to transfer the shadow, and then blend. The sheets come in eight different sets of colors, and each sheet holds three coordinated shades: lid color, contour color, and a highlighter. Thinking it might be safest to start slow, I chose the neutral (brown, copper, beige) and the pink (light pink, gray, mauve).

What with my lack of experience in the eyeshadow department and the fact that the sheets are all one size (about a medium, and my eyes are a small), I was pretty sure my experiment was going to be something less than successful. Because I was in for the night, with no desire to get out there and scare people, I tried the neutral shadow on one eye and the pink on the other. I definitely had some cleaning up to do, as I managed to get the color under my eyes and on the bridge of my nose—rather as if I'd bumped into a swinging bucket of eyeshadow than delicately pressed it on—but after a few minutes of assiduous work with the Q-tips, I actually thought I looked pretty good. If Avon asked for my opinion (they haven't), I'd say, make the sheets a tiny bit smaller so there's less chance of overage, and maybe I'd try them for real.

— Val Monroe