I have never really seen or noticed liquid eye shadows in beauty stores or at makeup counters in the past. All of a sudden, in the course of a few weeks I found two different products that intrigued me. The first was Charlotte Ronson Starry Eyes Liquid Eyeshadow. I had never heard of Charlotte Ronson having a makeup line before and I had NEVER seen an eyeshadow quite like this before.
These shadows are interesting. The first thing I noticed is that the pigment is sitting in clear liquid the consistancy of water. It sinks to the bottom. It really feels like water and crushed eyeshadow. I am sure thats not what it is, but I have no idea how else to describe it.
Once shaken up, as you can see, they do mix completely. They sound like they have two HEAVY metal balls in them. I would assume they are probably the same ones that are in nail polish, but as the liquid in these is much much less thick you hear them much more. As you can see, the pink one has half the pigment that the brown one has. I have NO IDEA if that is intentional or if one of these is in some way "off".
When swatched in Sephora I was impressed by how pigmented they seemed to be. This is one swipe of each one (the pale pink is sky, the brown is alison). There are two other colours available that I had originally though about going back to pick up but I have chosen to pass.
The applicator is an easy to use sponge tip.
I will say that when I tried them on the eye they were a very very pale wash of colour. A nice way to brighten your eyes with a subtle touch. They however were completely worn off within an hour or two. I am not sure if it was my fault for not being more careful and letting it dry more before blinking and such, but they wore TERRIBLY. I will have to try again with a shadow base. I try not to use a shadow base the first time I test a product to see how the shadow wears on its own. But these two were so disappointing that I never used them again. I will have to try again.
About a week later what comes in to Sephora? Dior 1 Couleur Eye Gloss in Sunset and Tan!! These eye glosses from Dior are not a liquid. They are more like a thin cream. My best comparison would be a dryer lipgloss if that makes sense. The colour options for these are limited. Here in Canada (and the USA) these are the only two available. In Europe there are four colour options. WHY OH WHY can Dior not be like Chanel where Canada gets the FRENCH stuff and not the American stuff?! HUH???
Tan (the brown one) and Sunset (the peachy pink one) are swatched here on my glow in the dark white skin with one swipe each. The colour did not seem as pigmented on my arm as the Charlotte Ronson ones.
And here is the applicator. Seems very similar to the Starry Eyes ones except its a tad smaller.
Here is a close up of the two brushes side by side. The Dior one is on the bottom.
I guess I gravitate towards very specific colours. Which you can see since these colours are so similar!!
And here, swatched on my arm, from left to right, Starry Eyes Sky, Dior Sunset, Starry Eyes Alison and Dior Tan. Colour wise, I like Starry Eyes Alison the best on my arm!
Now for wear, Dior ones LASTED! Not as good as the powders, but I got about 5 hours before they faded and that was without a primer. So with the primer, I see no reason why these wont last a day. Price wise The Diors are retail at Sephora for 30.00 each and the Charlotte Ronson ones for 22.00 so there is a considerable price difference. If the Ronson ones wore well I would say that they were the clear winner and to forgo the Dior, but sadly I have to say to stick with the Dior. The Charlotte Ronson ones unfortunately lacked the longevity needed in an eyeshadow to make it worthwhile.