Three very very different cream eyeshadows I got lately and use for different purposes. MAC’s Paints are classics that have been tragically nearly purged from MAC’s permanent line (only four shades remain). I love Urban Decay’s Moondust Eyeshadows and was incredibly curious about the liquid version that got very diverse reviews. And finally, a new brand for me is Charlotte Tilbury, and my first purchase was the Eyes to Mesmerise Long-Lasting Easy Colour in Veruschka.
My love for cream eyeshadows is pretty well documented here – I’ve raved about the Armani eye tints enough, I guess. I wear a cream shadow as a base or for a quick makeup look nearly every day. What I’m looking for in a cream shadow in consequence is pretty diverse. Some days I want a solo eyeshadow that looks complex and that I can wear on its own, but for some days, I just need a coloured base to make my powder eyeshadows adhere better and make them look more vibrant. I always wear them over my eyeshadow primer. With a primer, none of those shadows neither creased nor faded.
The one that is an awesome base
I honestly didn’t expect to be as blown away by MAC’s Paint in Sublime Nature as much as I am. I mean, the whole package, while cute (it looks exactly like a tube of paint!) is kind of unassuming and the colour is a warm beige-brown neutral. Not exactly exciting. But. The texture is great and very, so very easy to spread with your finger or a synthetic brush and to blend and pigmentation is great – you honestly need far less than you’d think. A pea-sized amount is too much for both of your lids. Halfe that amount, and you still have too much. It has the texture of acrylic paint, maybe a bit more mousse-y.
It’s a great base for all kinds of brown, taupe, camel, gold, burgundy and copper looks and powder shadows apply like a dream over it. I’ve also worn it alone on occasions for a very simple and neutral look, and it held up well on its own too. Love it. Can only recommend it. 24€. (Btw – right now the permanent colours are all neutrals. Look for the upcoming Makeup Art collection that’ll debut soon for a white, purple, blue and green one!)
The one that is the best for a quick and polished look
Charlotte Tilbury’s Eyes to Mesmerise in Veruschka comes in a pot of frosted glass and the packaging looks so chic! I’m a fan. I heard that apparently CT’s and Tom Ford’s cream eyeshadow formulas are quite similar, and given the price point and the wonderful colours those come in, I’d opt immediately for Charlotte’s. While I don’t always love her line, there’re a lot of really great things about it – Charlotte’s wide knowledge about beauty as a Makeup Artist, her website that actually offers swatches on a variety of skintones, and a luxe look of her products that isn’t reflected in an outrageous price. Her line is expensive, yes, but it’s among the Chanel and Diors of the world, not the Tom Fords and Louboutins. There’re seven shades right now in the Eyes to Mesmerize lineup, and each one 26€.
Veruschka is a wonderfully rich and complex khaki green with golden shimmer. I usually apply it with my fingers. The texture is a bit mousse-y, but not overly soft or thin, and it’s a joy to apply. You’ve some time to blend and manoeuvre it around on your lids, but then it dries down fast. It’s a very different texture from, say, MAC’s paint pots that are quite stiff and dry down with a noticeable texture on the lids – not the best look if you’re over thirty. Veruschka glides over your lid and has a very forgiving texture. It’s simply wonderful, and while the colour isn’t extraordinary, it’s very elegant, a bit understated and very much for an elegant, quick look for which you need only one shadow. This one. I’ve also used it as a base, but honestly, I don’t see the point. It’s nice as it is.
The one that’s a glitter party on your lids
If you’re a makeup enthusiast and your heart is still beating, I bet the Urban Decay Moondust eyeshadows will make it a-flutter. Swatch them, and you’ll ooooh and aaaah. They look stunning. Incredibly complex colours with duochrome shimmers and glitter particles, and I had to get one. I just had to. I had read varied reviews – some bloggers liked them and some thought them to be unwearable. So, are they? I got Spacetime, which has a khaki base colour not so very different from Veruschka. But then it’s filled with bigger and smaller golden and bronze flakes that reflect the light and look incredible. The texture is more of a very thick liquid than a cream, and the applicator is a joke. It’s a very thin brush when clearly this needs a doe foot applicator. This one is, therefore, quite tricky to apply. The formula dries down very quickly. If you apply it too thickly, it starts to crack and form lines where your skin moves. Consequently, there’s glitter/flaky fallout. Apply it too thinly, and it’s kinda sheer and patchy and a bit underwhelming.
First thing to do is ditching the applicator and working with a fluffy synthetic brush, and do it quickly. Blending is a bit difficult, so the best way to wear this for me is over the lid and use powder eyeshadows for the crease and transition shades. (I guess it would also work as some kind of glitter topper, but haven’t worn it as one yet.) It looks great, but you’ll have to come to terms with the fact that you’ll have glitter on your face as the day and wear time progress. If you’re ok with that, it’s a stunning effect. (Btw – glitter flaky size varies throughout the line-up. There’re some shades with bigger ones and some with more of a very fine duochrome shimmer.) 22€, 8 shades.
Cream eyeshadows comparison
I’m very happy that I own every one of those three cream shadows, and I’m also very happy that I unconsciously chose very different formulas. I use them for different needs and occasions. The most versatile ones are MAC’s Paint and CT’s Veruschka, while Liquid Moondust wouldn’t work as a base, and, while stunning, is a bit fussy to work with.
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