40 Days and 40 Nights of Beauty Cult Classics
Day 6, L'Oreal Showstopping Taupes by Patti (Cavewoman)

Let me tell you about a little drugstore item, so nondescript and ordinary that it wouldn't even have you looking twice. Among all the makeup launch displays at the local drugstores, products come and go so quickly, and then next week there's a new display with more new things. Items get lost in the shuffle, overlooked, ignored, and end up in sale baskets at the end of some lonesome counter or rack. Most of these drugstore launch displays have just a few of each item, and then they are gone, until the next new thing appears.

But back to my item. Who would think that a little lucite container, holding four neutral-color eyeshadows by L'Oreal, would cause such fever! Such clamoring and hoarding! Such searching and hunting! And isn't that what a cult beauty product is all about? "Let me see if my drugstore has any left and I'll pick them up for you!" "Is anyone finding the L'Oreal quad in their area, could I beg someone to buy them for me?" "I went to ten stores in my area and NO ONE has them!" These are posts that I've seen over and over on the makeup board at MakeUpAlley ever since L'Oreal launched their Golden Globes collection in December. The quad in question, the object of so much desire and praise, is the Showstopping Taupes. These palettes of four square shimmery shadows have taken on cult status faster than any other drugstore item I've ever heard of. People are buying for others, hoarding unheard-of quantities, offering to do "custom purchases" and consoling those who haven't been able to obtain the elusive quads.
I've even read of a person who claims to have ninteen of them for herself! Nineteen quads!

I saw this quad shortly after the launch of the Golden Globes collection, on a rack at the grocery store where my Mom and I do our weekly shopping. I was impressed with the four colors, all cool-based neutrals, and thought to myself that I would actually be able to use and wear all four of the shades. For me this rarely happens. I see pretty pre-made quads and palettes at all the makeup counters and drugstores and most of the time I pass on them, because there is always a color or two that I know I won't wear. And then it seems a waste to me to buy them just for the few colors I would use. So, into the cart it went.

Showstopping Taupes came home with me amidst the bananas and Diet Cokes and paper towels that day. I didn't even open it for a few days. And then I started to notice the talk -- a little here and there -- on the makeup board at MakeUpAlley. Someone posted a photo of her quad, and that was all it took -- like a shotgun at the beginning of a marathon! Everyone was loving, searching, wanting!

Inside the beautiful lucite square case are four pretty shades that I am now using every day. Neutral but not nude, definitely cool-toned (so rare with neutrals!) and with slight shimmer that is not over-the-top or theatrical for daywear, the colors are a pale beige, a slighly mauvey shade , a pink-peach color, and the prettiest taupe since Chanel Safari. The quality of these shadows is absolutely top-notch. They smooth on easily and evenly, without gripping or skipping, they blend out softly, and they look great together or alone. I'm using one or two of the lighter ones as a wash, and I put the taupe above the crease when I want a bit more "eye look" for special occasions. Oh, and did I mention that they last all day on me? The back of the quad shows "Wear Infinite" -- L'Oreal's long-lasting formula name.

Since discovering this beautiful quad, I'm paying lots more attention to the displays at the drugstore for new items from L'Oreal. And to be sure, new things are now arriving and are pretty to look at and full of promise. But I doubt if there will be anything in the near future to match the frenzy and fervor for which Showstopping Taupes has been received. It is truly deserving of its instant cult status!

Credit: Patti/Cavewoman
Graphic: Melanie Parker
Disclosure: This product was purchased and reviewed by Cavewoman