I Nuovi D27 Eyeshadow Collection Haul and Swatches

I Nuovi has long been one of my favorite brands for eye products. Their range of D27 eyeshadows are high-quality, pigmented, and come in a wide variety of textures and shades. Here in Singapore, they are also more affordable than MAC shadows but definitely on par (and even better sometimes) in terms of quality.

At a recent members' mega-sale, I couldn't resist stopping by for a fantastic deal; 12 shadows and their magnetic mock-leather Propalette for SGD88. These shadows retail for US$18 a piece usually, and the 24-pan palette US$26, so that was a steep 60% discount on the 13 items. 

My 24-pan Propalettes with D27 shadows.

So since my I Nuovi collection has grown considerably, I figured it would help to do some swatches as there isn't a whole lot of information online about the brand and its products, and the web site is horribly inadequate for showing the actual shades and textures of their products.

Highlights

Highlight Swatches (L-to-R): Crystalline, Nylon, Flash and Star

• I Nuovi Crystalline is made up of white sparks rather than flat white pigment, like a MAC Lustre shadow. This gives it a translucent quality, similar to MAC Reflects Pearl. 
• I Nuovi Nylon is pretty similar to MAC's Nylon and Vanilla pigment in that it's a pale ivory-gold.
• Flash is a translucent white with pink sheen, and a total dupe for MAC's Pink Opal pigment.
• Star is a new purchase, and also a duochrome white like Flash, except that it glows a beautiful indigo-blue.

Blues and Lavenders

Swatches (L-to-R): I Nuovi Boy, Hype, Disco, River, Electric, and Yam

• Boy is a matte baby blue that I love because it has grey undertones rather than green, as most matte pastel blues do. Very pretty shade. It's also smooth to apply, as are all I Nuovi mattes I've tried.
• Hype is a deep blue similar but just a touch deeper than MAC Freshwater. The sheen is beautiful, and you can easily do a blue smoky eye with this.
• Disco is a new purchase that I'm loving because it's a matte sky blue infused with silvery sparks. Unlike a lot of such shadows, the sparks do stay obvious after application.
• River is a smoky cobalt with a low sheen. Very unique as blues go, as most brands are not able to get this shade very pigmented and smooth, due to the nature of the chromium pigments.
• Electric is a perfect violet; cobalt with a purple sheen. 
• Yam, I actually got to spike up my pink blushes when I want an uber cool-toned pink blush. But like Boy, it's a very smooth and pigmented matte lavender shadow.

Teals and Skin-tones

 Swatches (L-to-R): I Nuovi Emerald, Neon, Chrome, Cosmo, Dewdrop and Cashmere

• Emerald is not emerald green. It's actually a deep metallic aquamarine that leans towards blue.
• Neon is a bright, medium-toned blue-green for days when you're feeling colorful.
• Chrome looks silver in the flash, but it's actually a gorgeous duochrome with blue base and pale platinum-gold highlights. Combined its an indescribable color and I've yet to find a dupe for this.
• Cosmo is a soft orange-bronze that can be used to achieve a sun-kissed dewy lid effect on the eyes.
• Dewdrop is my favorite soft shade from I Nuovi. It's a satiny peach with a coral duochrome sheen and gold sparkles. I can't imagine it not being flattering on anyone. If you can just get one shade from I Nuovi, get this onebecause you sure aren't going to be able to dupe this or easily combine shades to get this exact finish.
• Cashmere is a soft, silvery pink that's a great inner-corner highlight. This is Benefit High Beam in shadow form.

Greens

Swatches (L-to-R):  Cat's Eye, Jade, Fog, Algae, Suede

• Cat's Eye is a fierce matte black shot through with deep green sparks. Absolutely gorgeous. And as mentioned before, the glitter from these shadows do show up very well, and do not fall off and disappear within 5 minutes, like some MAC shadows do.
• Jade is a lovely soft blue-toned mermaid green that is similar to MAC Steamy but a little deeper.
• Fog is a pale mint-green pearl that's a good highlight.
• Algae is a matte apple green. Pigmented, and silky to the touch.
• Suede is another interesting duo-chrome metallic, with a red-brown base and pale green highlights. The shade shifts with the light.

Browns

Swatches (L-to-R): I Nuovi Velvet, Cement, Potion, Mod, and Copper

Who can do without the staple browns?

• Velvet is yet another beautiful sparkly matte (Disco and Cat's Eye) that is so fun to wear. The dark russet brown with coppery-red sparkles is smooth and pigmented.
• Cement is a staple dark brown that I bought to line the eyes and as a contrast shade for colorful look where I do not want to use a matte black.
• Potion is a deep dark chocolate metallic.
• Mod is a medium warm-toned brown metallic 
• Copper is, well, copper!

As mentioned, this brand has fantastic shadows (I haven't even begun to talk about their Metallogy shadows!) and if you can get hold of these during a sale or via a friend, it's definitely worth investing in. I've been very impressed with their mattes especially, as it's not easy to be perfectly matte but still pigmented and silky to the touch. Unlike MAC, I haven't found different shadow textures to perform inconsistently within the range. The mattes are as pigmented as the shimmers.

The propalettes themselves are sturdy but lightweight (no flimsy plastic here), with strong magnetization. The shadow pans are inserted snugly into thick foam padding inside, which also means your eyeshadows are more protected from physical shock when you drop or knock them around as compared to MAC (not that I'm suggesting you do). Each one also fits a good number of shadows (24) so you won't need to carry around that many of them.