I was pretty bummed when Hard Candy went out of business. At least, I assume they went out of business. I researched and could never get a definitive answer. All I know is that their stuff went 75% off on their website and Sephora.com and then they were gone. So I was totally excited to hear that Hard Candy was being re-branded… by Wal-Mart. Great cosmetics at Wal-Mart prices? Sounded great to me.

The Wal-Mart in my area FINALLY started carrying the brand and I was so excited to see a HUGE Hard Candy display in the cosmetics aisle. There are seriously so many products available… I was overwhelmed! Glitter shadows, shadow quads, baked shadow duos, baked bronzers, funky colored liners, lipstick, lipgloss, nail polish (with those adorable plastic rings)… I could go on and on. I chose to try baked blush in Honeymoon (a reasonable $7), an iridescent pinky peach that can be applied wet or dry and looked absolutely gorgeous.

Sorry Hard Candy, but I am sadly disappointed. Your Punk Palette and nail polish in Hick are in my regular rotation, but these products are clearly not up to the same standard as the original Hard Candy.

Swatched dry (left) and wet (right) + Honeymoon baked blush.

If I swatch this with my finger, it goes on smoothly but is barely pigmented (applying it wet doesn’t help the pigmentation.) If I try to apply with a brush, the product will not stay in my brush. Hardcore fallout. It doesn’t even show up on my face because I can’t even get it on the brush long enough to get there. I’m sure there’s a way one could finagle their way around this, like applying in 100 times over, but, should I have to? I get that it was only $7 and that it was from Wal-Mart, but I had such high hopes for this collection and this color looked so gorgeous in the pan. I can’t help but be disappointed.

All in all, I won’t judge the brand by this one product, but I don’t know if I’d take the chance on trying something else. I will say, though, that the colors of the baked shadow duos are brilliant. If they apply well, then they’re definitely a steal because I think they’re only $5. Go go to Wal-Mart and check out Hard Candy for yourself. Have better luck with another Hard Candy product? Leave us a comment and let us know!