Last summer, while working in the university archives, I wrote a post about some treasures I’d unearthed from the “archives” of my own makeup collection. In the spirit of my 2016 low-buy, I’ve decided to turn “From the Archives” into an ongoing, if not regular, series. Let’s get better acquainted with a product I wrote about back in 2014 (yikes, those washed-out iPhone 5 photos): Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eyeshadow in Pomegranate Punk. Is there anything better than discovering an eyeshadow that forms a complete eye look on its own? Yes, in fact: discovering that eyeshadow in your very own stash, where it’s languished, largely untouched, for more than two years.
I often wonder how much thought goes into naming drugstore beauty products. My guess is almost none: Right, it’s dark red. What else is dark red? Uh, pomegranates. Okay, let’s go with “Pomegranate” something. What else begins with P? “Pretzel”? Damn, I’m hungry. How is it only 10:30? Focus, focus. “Punk,” I guess. “Pomegranate Punk”? Yeah, good enough. But believe it or not, “punk” is actually a perfect name for an eyeshadow. Did you know that the word originally meant “whore”? 17th-century literature is littered with references to London “punks” who frequent taverns and playhouses, and whores were often associated with “painting,” or cosmetics: The Rebellion, a tragedy from 1640, mentions “the whoremaster tied to a painted punk.” And there’s something rather 17th-century about Pomegranate Punk’s little glass pot and its gold-flecked bordeaux color:
This Restoration noblewoman is wearing very similar shades on her lips and cheeks, as well as in her clothes:
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| Anna Maria Brudenell, Countess of Shrewsbury, by Peter Lely, c. 1670. That lip color would fit right in with current trends… |
And of course early modern painters loved pomegranates:
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| Still life, Roman school, 17th century. Via Sotheby’s. |
Yeah, all this is a stretch. But it’s less of a stretch than associating a burgundy eyeshadow with the Sex Pistols or whatever.
Arm swatches–one pass, then blended out:
As you can see, this eyeshadow doesn’t deliver ColourPop-level single-swatch opacity (keep in mind, though, that it’s over two years old). Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on your personal taste. As I’ve said before, I prefer an eyeshadow that can be built up to opacity—and no, that’s not the same thing as a streaky, patchy, or poorly pigmented eyeshadow.
I bought Pomegranate Punk at the end of 2013, but only recently—like, in the last few weeks—figured out how best to use it: as a one-and-done color, blended out for a rose-gold effect or built up to emphasize the burgundy base. Here it is worn more sheerly, with some brown smudged into my lashlines to counteract the rabbit-eye effect of reddish shadow. Blush is Sleek Flushed; lipstick is Milani Matte Naked, my favorite (well, only) matte nude.
Today I wore Pomegranate Punk layered more heavily, with no brown on the lashlines. Blush is Flushed again; lipstick is Revlon Matte Balm in Fierce (review coming soon!). I took this photo with the back-facing camera on my phone instead of the front-facing camera, and it came out clearer and more color-accurate (the front-facing camera always pulls my complexion warmer, for some reason). As you can see, the sparkles are very apparent. There’s some fallout, but the cream base does a pretty good job of holding the glitter in place, as well as staying put on my lids. I’ve worn Pomegranate Punk through a workout and seen only negligible fading.
Have you made any discoveries in your makeup archives recently?
P.S. It turns out that my low-buy progress report for January was premature, because I bought one more nail polish yesterday: Urban Outfitters 11:59, a white, fuchsia, and gold glitter topcoat. I’d been eyeing it since November, and yesterday I noticed that it had been marked down from $5 to $.99 and there was only one left on the shelf. I mean, come on. It would have been rude to leave it there.
The name suggests that it’s meant to be a New Year’s Eve sort of thing, but I think 11:59 would be a nice spring glitter if layered over a pastel creme, or a year-round glitter atop a neutral base (black, gray, beige, whatever). Maybe I’ll even get around to reviewing this one, despite my odd aversion to writing blog posts about nail polish—because, really, what is there to say? I guess it’s my job to figure that out.
Auxiliary Beauty 
That looks so pretty on you! It's tempting me to pull it back out of my rejects pile and try it sheered out. I could never get it to work. It always made me look sickly, even with another color closest to my eye. It seems browner on you, but it was quite red on me, if I remember correctly. Maybe I should give it one last try? I'm interested to see what that nail polish looks like on your nails. I've found that glitters can look surprisingly different when they're out of the bottle.
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Now that you say that, I wonder if mine has changed color over time? I do think it looks a tiny bit redder in person than it does in the photos, but I see a lot of brown in it as well.I'm just hoping 11:59 isn't one of those awful glitter topcoats that give you two particles of glitter every time you dip your brush. But for $.99, I thought it was worth the risk. I'm sure I'll post about it on Instagram, at least!
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Ooh I'd love to see that polish on, it would be great over a pastel cream I agree. I think I've worn my pot of Pomegranate Punk perhaps once? Terrible, I need to go through my stash and get rid of bits and pieces as it is just getting ridiculous in there.
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I had almost decided to destash Pomegranate Punk when I decided to give it one more chance. I was surprised at how well the formula had held up! Though now that I'm heading into spring-makeup mode (I rediscover bright cool pinks every February), I'm not sure how much more use it will get…
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That color looks lovely on you! I'm still new to the eyeshadow game (all I have are bronzes and browns and neutrals) but want to have a bolder color. Bordeaux seems to be a pretty good next step.My rediscovered lipstick is Bite Beauty Deconstructed Rose Grandifolia Lipstick. I came in 100% sure I would get Pomegranate (oh look, my comment sorta ties into your post), but when the beauty assistant put it on my lips I thought \”well, this is just okay..\” Then she applied Grandifolia and my face just lit up!I don't wear it often, weirdly enough. In fact, I was only reminded of it digging through my stack of lippies last week. Temptalia described it a warm orange-red, but on me it looks like a bright equal-color-fuschia-red. Perfect for days when you can't decide between pink and red.
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I just looked up Grandifolia, and it's beautiful (great name, too)! Looks like one of those lush coral reds that I have such a hard time wearing. Temptalia does have a tendency to describe lipsticks as warmer than they are, I've noticed. She classifies YSL Glossy Stain in Rouge Gouache as an orange, and it's absolutely, 100% a cool pinkish red. I don't know if it's the lighting she uses or what…
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Ugh, I promise I am working on my red eyeshadow master post. I have so much of it, I'm actually breaking it up into shade families for the full spectrum of rabbit eyes. That being said, Pomegranate Punk exemplifies one of my ultimate pet peeves: it's brooooowwwwn, it's not red, why you gotta fool me with that name, Maybelline. Okay, it's not *really* brown, but it's not pomegranate! Gah! I accept that \”Undead Chic\” is not really the typical coveted beauty look but I am going to MAKE IT A THING.
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I understand your frustration, because I used to feel the same way about lipsticks that claimed to be purple and were actually PLUM. Now, of course, every drugstore brand makes a true purple lipstick, but the pickings were slim back in 2011.I await your red eyeshadow post with bated breath! I'm just starting to feel mild enthusiasm for pink and burgundy shadows (how can I be so adventurous with lipstick and so BASIC with eyeshadow?!), so I'm curious what sorts of undead looks you've contrived with true reds.
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I tried it again and I looked feverish (this was before the actual fever I have now set in). I think it must be the differences in our coloring. Lucky you! And mine is at least as old as yours, so if yours has changed color, mine should have too, in theory.
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That's so interesting! Maybe my complexion is a little warmer than yours?
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Very interesting blog, looking forward to more wonderful! Cheap MAC Makeup
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[…] to right: Golden Mauve, Seventeen Statuesque, Maybelline Pomegranate Punk. I didn’t get home before sunset today, so I had to take this photo in artificial light. […]
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[…] Bad to the Bronze: Blending out Pomegranate Punk produces a color similar to Statuesque (see this post for proof), but the large gold sparkles make Pomegranate Punk less subtle than Statuesque. I also […]
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