Review: Hard Candy All Lid Up Créme Eye Shadows

Press Sample

I recently received some of the new 2013 Hard Candy products for review, so I'd like to kick off this mini-series with the new All Lid Up créme eye shadows. I received three shades for review (there are ten shades total in this range):

NEW Hard Candy All Lid Up Créme Eye Shadows

(retail: $6 each at Walmart, 0.19 oz)

From the Hard Candy website:

Vibrant, long wearing crème eye shadow lights up and enhances eyes. Our groundbreaking hybrid formula has a soft cushion texture that allows it to be worn as eye shadow or eyeliner. This crease proof, stay put formula is blended luminous, multi-colored pearls that provides glamorous evening looks. Available in 10 gorgeous, vivid shades!

 Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a shimmery gunmetal gray with a tinge of green. I adore colors like this and, in the pan, this shade looks nearly identical to MAC Fiction:

Hard Candy Stepping Stones, MAC Fiction

But when swatched, MAC Fiction actually has a warmer olive-green undertone:

Stepping Stones is actually the color that I wanted Fiction to be.

 Tidal Wave

Tidal Wave is a vivid, shimmery teal blue with a very slight golden sheen (my camera didn't quite pick up the golden sheen).

 Pining 4 You

Pining 4 You is a sort of a cross between lime green and olive green. As with the other two shades above, this one has a shimmery finish.

The following swatches were done using my fingers (no primer underneath):

And here are my fingertips, twenty minutes after swatching:

In other words, once these shadows set, they don't budge.

And finally, here are a few pics just to give you an idea of what all three shades look like on the eye (no primer) applied with a brush:

Stepping Stones: applied all over lid and blended up into crease

Pining 4 You: applied to middle of lid

Tidal Wave: applied to outer corner of eye and on bottom lash line

Texture and consistency: These are cream shadows that have a slightly drier consistency than, say, Maybelline Color Tattoos. They apply smoothly but you do need to work quickly (not very quickly, but you can't take your sweet time) before they set. Once they set, you will no longer be able to blend them.

Ease of application: With fingers, they apply very easily to the eye and they're easiest to blend that way. With a brush, you do need to apply some pressure to the shadow before you can pick up color with your brush. As liner, these shadows apply very easily with a liner brush. I have also used these shadows as a base for powder shadows, and they've wonderful used in that way because they really grab hold of your powder shadows and lock them into place.

Pigmentation and staying power: On their own, without primer, these shadows last about six hours before I start to see minor fading, but I do see some slight creasing a few hours after application. If you sheer out the shadow a bit, it helps considerably with creasing. Over primer, I can get about 8-10 hours of wear, but primer doesn't really intensify the colors. When worn underneath powder shadows, these cream shadows really shine. They beef up the color of powder shadows beautifully while locking powder shadow into place all day and into the night. Used as liner, these shadows stay put for about four to five hours on me, but I find that if I set my line with a corresponding powder eyeshadow, it really helps lock the liner into place. Pigmentation is most intense with Pining 4 You (lime green). Tidal Wave (teal blue) can be a bit spotty but it's a bright blue that doesn't turn muddy after a few hours. Stepping Stones has good pigmentation but it's a lighter color once blended, so don't expect it to be a very bold, intense shade unless you really pack it on (it's lovely as a wash). 

Removal: These shadows are definitely smudge and water-resistant, but they do remove easily with my regular facial cleansers. Also, the shades I received did not leave a  stain on the skin once removed.

Fragrance: I detect a very slight, generic "eyeshadow" scent to these, but they're definitely not fragranced.

FINAL VERDICT: If you like shimmery créme shadows, I think these are definitely worth looking into. Staying power is obviously going to vary from person to person, but I've been quite happy with how long they last on my oily skin. I've been wearing Stepping Stones as a sheer wash of color from lashline to crease lately, and it's a versatile "out the door in five minutes" type of color if you don't want to go with a standard brown or taupe (I also love Stepping Stones as liner). The one issue I have with these is that they can crease if you pack on too much color, so be sure to sheer them out around the crease in your lid to help avoid creasing throughout the day. I like using both my fingers and a brush to apply these shadows and I think they're a great multi-tasker (shadow, primer and liner) for $6 a pop.

Have you tried any of the new 2013 products from Hard Candy yet? I'd love to hear from you!

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