For the Lazy and/or Layerer: Eyeshadow Sticks

The "My Collection" page on the blog is about half unreviewed products, so I'm going to make a concerted effort to try and talk about some pretty things! I've culled my stash several times over the past year, getting rid of things that no longer work or that don't get the love they deserve, and at this point, I'm pretty happy. I think I've still got a couple purging cycles left (and don't even get me started on my closet), but the effort of trying to decide what to discard is more than I feel like putting forth right now!

I have a zillion "new" lippies (some of which I've had more than a year, hence the scare quotes) and I don't really know where to start, so instead, I'm going to talk about cream eyeshadow! Yay! Eyeshadow!

Clockwise from top left: Laura Mercier Sugar Frost*, Mally Champagne,
Rimmel Bulletproof Beige*, Laura Mercier Rose Gold*, Laura Mercier Khaki,
Laura Mercier Pink Opal*, Boots No7 Cool Mink, BECCA Romanticism*,
Sephora+Pantone Tuscany

I've found that I really adore eyeshadow sticks (it's like drawing on yourself!), and between the generosity of friends and some fortuitous sales, my stash has grown considerably. I now own 7, plus two liquid eyeshadows, which, while slightly less convenient, serve a similar purpose: they work great as quick washes or as bases underneath powder (the "lazy" and "layerer" from the title, respectively).

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Khaki Review and Swatches

I am almost always late in the morning, because I always want that extra few minutes of sleep and tell myself I'll be speedy enough to make up for it. It's rarely true. In an effort to remedy this (while still getting those precious snoozes, of course), I've been trying to streamline my beauty routine. 

If I were extraordinarily efficient, I could do my whole beauty routine in 15 minutes, but I am not, so it usually takes about 25-30. Eye makeup is often a time eater, since applying/blending eyeshadow can be a challenge when tired and mostly blind, so I decided to cave and finally try one of the Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks in the hopes it could be a swipe-and-go kind of product.* I chose Khaki, wanting a versatile but not boring neutral, and owning too many (purpley) taupes to justify Amethyst.

a rather uninspiring picture of the unused product

Neutral Eyes: Quick Reviews of Urban Decay Shadow Pencils in Juju and Sin and Hourglass Visionaire Eyeshadow Duo in Gypsy

I wanted to get my thoughts on Urban Decay's shadow pencils up before the end of the giveaway (extended through Memorial Day! Go enter if you haven't!), but didn't feel like doing a full review and happened to have swatches of Hourglass Gypsy that I needed to do something with, so...here's a quick combo review!

Juju (left),
Sin (right)

Urban Decay's eyeliners are cult favorites (I have Mildew and Rockstar, and love the former [the latter is a bit too glittertastic]), so everybody was pretty psyched when they came out with bigger shadow pencils. I picked up the 5 pack they'd released for the holidays when it was on super-sale and kept the two lighter neutrals for myself (the others are here), and have been using them on and off for the past couple months.

Juju (top), Sin (bottom)

Sin is a shimmery light champagne, and Juju is a shimmery taupe. They're pretty firm, so I just swipe it all over my lid and then blend to soften the edges. On their own, they crease and fade pretty badly on my oily lids, but they last ~8 hours over TFSI, and longer if I top them with powder shadow.

Sin blended all over lid, Juju blended in crease

They do need to be sharpened, but I've gotten a lot of wear out of them without needing to do so yet (the only reason I did was to test and make sure it could be sharpened before writing this review, and yes, it can––I used the larger hole in the $2 Revlon sharpener I have to no ill effects). I wouldn't pay $20 for one, but I'm very pleased to have the ones I do! Grade: B (if you get them for cheap, A-)
$20 for 0.10 oz, available from Sephora and Urban Decay