Review & Swatches: New 2012 Eyeshadow Singles from Milani

A while back I gave you a sneak peek at the new 2012 products from Milani, and today I'd like to show you all six new shadow shades, and also share my thoughts about each shade with you. These shadows are now available on the Milani website, and should be making their way to a store near you soon (if they aren't there already). 

So let's start with the three new Marbleized Baked Eyeshadow shades (to see some of the older, existing shades in this collection, you can click here for my previous post). These shadows retail for $7.49 each (0.05 oz):

In the pan, Green Fortune is probably the prettiest baked shadow I have ever seen. There are swirls of mint green, grass green, lime green, bronze, teal and pink in this shadow and it's just one of those shadows you just can't stop staring at. There is also lots of gold sparkle in this shadow, which means there is fallout when worn dry. But as with most baked shadows of this nature, Green Fortune truly shines when you wear it foiled, which is done by dipping your brush in water or mixing medium beforehand. When foiled, the colors meld into a beautiful, almost metallic green that is sort of a mixture of golden olive and lime with a touch of bronze (I'll show you swatches in a minute).

I'm totally biased here. I adore coppers, so I could go on and on about how much I love Copper Excess. Applied dry, this one has a little bit of copper sparkle, but not nearly as much sparkle (or fallout) as Green Fortune. I love it foiled (which you will see below).

For some reason it seems difficult to find a good blue-based fuchsia eyeshadow at the drugstore, so I'm happy to see that Milani is giving us one for 2012. This is the only shadow of all the colors I'm showing you today that does NOT contain any sparkle at all. My only issue with Must Have Fuchsia is that it doesn't seem be quite as pigmented as the other colors, even when applied wet. The good thing is that you can build for more intensity.

The ingredients:

All of the following colors were swatched on bare skin (no primer). The first swatch was done dry; the second was done after swiping the color with a damp brush (I used water).

In addition to the new shades of Marbleized Baked Eyeshadows, Milani has also released three new shades in their Runway Eyes collection ($6.99 each, 0.07 oz). So let's take a look:

Just an FYI in case you don't already own any Runway Eyes shadows: these shadows have a glitter overspray, but the colors underneath the overspray have a pearl finish. So if you're not big on sparkle, don't worry because once you work your way past the overspray, you won't have to contend with much glitter.

Antigua is probably my favorite shade of all the shadows I'm showing you today. It's a murky olive with charcoal undertones, but the gold shimmer (and gold glitter overspray) keep it from looking flat and one-dimensional. It's got a unique, dusty quality about it, and I think it would be gorgeous for a smoky eye. Not extremely pigmented on its own, this one really shines when foiled (swatches below).

 

 

Peaches & Cream has an iridescent glitter overspray that reveals a shimmery light peach underneath. This one is very sheer when used dry, so I would recommend foiling this shade as well. 

 Golden Touch is a pastel, butter yellow with gold glitter overspray. Just like Peaches & Cream, this one's sheer when worn dry so if you want more color, I'd suggest foiling.

The ingredients:

 All of the following colors were swatched on bare skin (no primer). The first swatch was done dry; the second was done after swiping the color with a damp brush (I used water).

FINAL VERDICT: I'm really enjoying the six new eyeshadow shades that Milani has to offer for 2012. True to their labels, these shadows yield a "softer look" when applied dry, and a much more intense look when applied wet (with a damp brush). I love the look of them applied wet so much that I honestly haven't though about using them dry over primer; if you have tried that, please leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. (But I do want to note that I have used the older shades over primer and enjoyed them that way. You can see what the older shades look like over primer here.) When applied with a damp brush, I find the pigmentation of these shadows to be great, and so is the staying power. My favorite is Antigua, followed by Copper Excess and Green Fortune. My only complaint is that some of the sparkle in these shadows (all except Must Have Fuchsia contain sparkle) can fly around during application and cause some fallout when applied dry, but that's yet another reason why I prefer to foil these when I wear them.

Have you spotted these new shades in your area yet? Do you already own any of them? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.