OK, ladies. I tried out the shadows today and here are my thoughts:
1) This ISN'T a high maintenance product, but you have to know what to expect.
2) This is a collection of super sheer tints. 100% beach makeup. These shadows are for that no-makeup look. Don't expect anything more.
3) I've been wearing the snow white Cool Elite all day - no creasing and NO glitter transfer at all, unlike the sparkly paint pots from Champale. BUT, I applied it sheerly (with fingers, not over any primer). I got compliments for looking "vibrant" from my friend, so it was doing what it was supposed to be doing.
4) Because they're so sheer, you really need to be careful about which colors you pick. Unlike more pigmented shadows, you can't get away with colors that do nothing for your skin tone and eye color. I really liked the light blue one, for example, but it wasn't right for my skin tone or my green eyes. You have to pick a color that subtly enhances what you already have, because these are not going to be able to override your natural coloring successfully.
5) This is a collection that is mostly for people with a good tan or for paler people who are willing to wear some bronzer. The look here is good lashes, subtle highlight on the eyes, bronzed glowing skin (the Liquid Powders are a great choice) and just some really neutral lips. If you want to use strong color on lips or cheeks, just skip these all the way. If you want rich color on the eyes, not just a very subtle wash, skip them.
6) They look great in bright sunlight, but these are subtle - not really a nighttime look in any way.
7) There are sparkles, but they are very finely milled sparkle. It looks like a sheer wash of mica powder, as if you had very fine mica powder fused to your skin. It doesn't lay on the skin, it fuses in when it dries down - actually a pretty nice, sophisticated look, but mega-subtle.
8) Stay away from the really bright colors, like the bright green or the light blue, unless you have fairly tanned skin and just the right eye color. With my green eyes and NC15 skin, the only bright color that really worked well was the mauve purple and that looks great - but like I said, it's a subtle enhancement of what you already have, not a colorful transformation. There's a reason half the colors are neutral golds and bronzes of differing darknesses.
9) I wound up buying the black, which is very sexy and works even on light skin (also is less sheer than most), the snow white, which is one of those harsh colors that only looks good when it's super sheer anyways, and the mauve- Luxury Touch, because that was the best enhancing color for green eyes plus skin more on the NC side than the NW side. If you have brown eyes, the greens, especially the khaki/olive and the darker green, would look lovely. Blue and brown eyes could go for the light blue better than I could. I liked the very pale pink as a softer alternative to the white on my skin tone, and also the most orangey of the copper/bronzes for bringing out the green eyes. The pale gold looked right on my skin tone too and might be worth it to pick up if it weren't for the gold coming up in the pigment stacks with Surf Baby - these are much easier to use than those metallic pigments, though. NOT CHUNKY.
10) The textures are a little variable by color, so you need to test them out. The bright green was more on the gritty side than the others, I thought, but could really look great on someone with hazel or brown eyes and medium or deeper skin tone.
11) Most of them apply just fine with fingers but you have to use a teeny amount, maybe the size of a lentil split between both eyes. There's also a 6 month expiration date on these and you are supposed to keep the plastic lid in the jar and make sure to close the jar tightly or they could dry out faster. I think the way to go is to find a few colors and split them with friends, since you need so little and there is a metric ton of product in the jar for how much you need to use.
12) Don't expect to blend colors together, but you can layer 2 colors one on the lid and one on the brow without blending, considering they only look right when applied very sheerly.
13) Like I said, no glitter transfer and I am a watery eyed eye-rubber and face toucher so I usually get transfer from being such a fidgety person. But no transfer here.
14) Takes about a minute to dry down completely but you don't have to sit with your eyes closed not budging an inch. When they dry down, you get that fused-to-your-face tint. This effect looks particularly lovely with the olive green - if only that color did something for me....
15) Putting these in the paint pot jars was a bit of a wtf idea. Would have been better in a tube with a little plastic spatula applicator. If you're going to buy these, ask your MA to give you a bunch of the little disposable spatulas they keep for concealer and the like or use some sort of makeshift spatula at home to take product from the jar. This ought to keep things hygenic and extend the life of the shadows.
16) Don't apply these over any sort of concealer or primer that is drying to the eyes - they'll just look crusty. Just use on bare, well-moisturized skin. I originally tried a few colors with primer and was a bit "meh", but when I wiped off the primer and tried again, they all looked better and also dried down better/faster.
17) Final summary: I'm quite happy with the colors I got and might get one or two others for the hell of it, if I feel like I want to go with the no makeup look for most of the summer. I'm probably going to split the colors I got with a friend, so then they'll be the best value. I'm a little jealous of my more olive-skinned friends because all of these are going to look better on them for sure, without as much toiling over what's the exact best shade to use.
