Unsung Makeup Heroes: The Dolce & Gabbana Desert Quad

It was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

That’s how how hot it gets in Davis, California, where I went to school. I can’t believe I’d go jogging in the middle of the day back then at the height of summer. It would be 110 degrees outside, with waves of heat rippling off the sidewalk and vultures circling high overhead, and there’d I’d be, jogging my steaming buns off between classes.

In parts of the California Central Valley, it gets hotter than Death Valley. I’m serious. A whole swath of the state basically turns into a desert every summer, which reminds me…

I’ve liked Dolce & Gabbana’s Eyeshadow Quad in Desert ($60) ever since I started wearing it off and on in 2010, but I only recently fell Beyonce-crazy-in-love with it.

I noticed that I was bringing it with me on all of my trips this summer. I literally wasn’t leaving the house without it, and I think the mattes have everything to do with it.

There are three of them in this quad — a beige, a golden brown and a dark chocolate brown, all of which are the freakin’ ish — as well as a hit-the-pan worthy golden shade, which we’ll get to in a minute.

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned (multiple times) this summer, me and matte eyeshadows have been like this lately (they’re so kind to my fine lines!). I’ve also been diving full-on into the current ’90s makeup revival, and have been wearing a lot of mattes, especially Dolce & Gabbana’s, which I think are some of the easiest, most forgiving high-end mattes around.

First, zero fallout. When I wear these shadows, I don’t see any. At all. So that’s one thing. Second, they’re silkier than silk, so they don’t look or feel like tiny anvils on my lids. And third, they don’t look dry or flat, unlike many other mattes.

With a primer, these shadows last 10-11 hours on me, and they blend like room temperature, full-fat butter.

Mmmm, butter…

No, seriously. Even when I’m totally non-functional first thing in the morning, which is about 99.9% of my mornings, I know I can grab this quad and do a quickie defined classic eye look without having to dedicate too many neurons to blending.

The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite permanent collection products from a variety of bodacious beauty brands.

Most of the time when I use this, I’ll sweep the golden brown in the crease, blend the chocolate brown in the outer corners, buff the beige on my brown bone and lid, and add a touch of the gold in the inner corner — you know, to break up the mattes and brighten the eyes.

So, that gold shade? Bomb. It has a subtle sheen to it, but nothing too frosty. For instance, it’s nowhere near a high-shine shimmer, so you can get a soft glow similar to the Hourglass Ambient Face Powders — just a subtle reflection where you place it. Nothing too in your face, like “HAAAY GURL, HAAAY!”

Even if you usually avoid wearing shimmers on your lids, I think you might like this gold, for reals.

And when I feel like turning things up, I’ll add black liner, false lashes and a red lip, like I did here for these pics. Easy-peasy, classically chic.

Between this quad and the Smoky quad (another favorite of mine from the line), my lids have been lovin’ Dolce & Gabbana these days. 🙂

You can find the $60 Desert Quad sizzling now at Dolce & Gabbana counters, Sephora and online.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen