Cream Shadows, How I Love Thee; ULTA, Maybelline, Laura Mercier and more!

I have a Thing for cream shadows, I can't really justify it. They seem more fun to apply, somehow easier, giving some special texture a regular shadow can't, I don't know. In reality, I think they are more of a hassle. They're more likely to crease, they can be tricky to apply and blend out into the crease, they can glob up on loose skin making it look even older, etc. But I still love them.

So, I have picked up quite a few in the past two years - some have better formulas than others.

In short: the NYX shadow pencils, LA Splash potted shadow labeled Enlightened, Revlon quad Maybelline Cooling shadow pencils (discontinued) will crease if worn alone even over primer in my experience.

The Maybelline Color Tattoos, LA Splash Hydro Liquid, ULTA Extreme Wear whipped shadows, Physicians Formula cream liners, MAC Paint Pots, Boots cream shadow, MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Creams, Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Color Stick, Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil can be worn alone, but I do wear them over primer otherwise I will get some creasing after 8-10 hours.

Here's my favorites.

Left to Right:

• Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige
• Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze
• Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Color Stick in Twilight
• MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Cream in #12 (this can be a little hard to apply, I grabbed too much and excess flaked off once dried)
• MAC Paint Pot in Genuine Treasure (lots of small glitter suspended in sheer taupe shimmer)
• Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Sin (tends to dry out on me making it difficult to apply)
• ULTA Extreme Wear Whipped Eye Shadow in Tiramisu Cream
• ULTA Extreme Wear Whipped Eye Shadow in Whipped Stardust (love this name, I'm a sucker for space/tech/scifi, see my other blog for evidence ;)
• ULTA Extreme Wear Whipped Eye Shadow in Whipped Cream
• LA Splash Hydro Liquid in Duality (this is lovely but needs to be spread quickly, liquidy and it sets fast)
• Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips gel liner in Glam Brown Eyes - light gold
• Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips gel liner in Glam Brown Eyes - bronze

I think ULTA Extreme Wear whipped shadows may be the easiest to work with for a quick wash of color. It's a wet whipped texture (not like a Maybelline mousse) but it spreads easily, dries down to a powder-like feeling easily. Not completely buildable without getting flaky, but it can be done.

ULTA Extreme Wear Whipped Eye Shadow in Tiramisu Cream - easy wash of very light shimmery brown.

My dreamy ULTA Extreme Wear Whipped Eye Shadow in Whipped Stardust - wash of shimmery steel silver, dreaming of space.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Creams are a stiff slippery feeling texture but if not careful you can pick up chunks of product which will not spread out on the eye and get flaky and awful looking. Mine started cracking like this not long after buying them, but they're still plenty wet to use.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze has a texture like a MAC Paint Pot, also stiff and slippery like the MUFE but less likely to pick up a glob of product so makes it easier to apply. I always expect this to be a deeper shade of brown but it can kind of disappear on my lids.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige - this is part of a Limited Edition Fall collection, I just picked it up a week ago. It has a much more wet texture as you can see here where I dabbed my finger in as opposed to needing to swirl it around. It's a very light beige shimmer.

How do you feel about cream shadows? Bit by the bug, helped along by Maybelline Color Tattoos perhaps? :D 

*This is a scheduled post while I'm on vacation, I will get back to comments shortly to be sure!