Review: NYC Sparkle Eye Dust in Golden Champagne

The product featured in this post was purchased with personal funds.

I purchased one of the new NYC Sparkle Eye Dusts a while back at CVS (not to be confused with the older style Sparkle Eye Dusts that came in jars like this) and today I'd like to share my thoughts with you.

New NYC Sparkle Eye Dust in Golden Champagne

(retail: $2.99, 0.074 oz)

There are ten shades in the new Sparkle Eye Dust collection. 

Keep reading for my full review...

The issue I had with the older style Sparkle Eye Dusts was that they came with a brush, and the minute you pulled the brush from the jar, it left a mess all over the place. So I was happy to see that NYC revamped the packaging on this product but, as you're about to see, the new doe-foot applicator does very little to decrease the amount of fallout when using this product:

In fact, I think this new style packaging creates MORE of a mess, because the wand is longer, thus increasing the potential for product to fly off the wand (and onto everything else). These loose pigments are VERY fine, so I really think the best packaging for them would be a traditional screw-top pot. In fact, some of you have left comments on this blog about how you've been depotting these shadows into little pots and that this works much better for you. Something to keep in mind if you fall in love with these (but don't love the packaging)...

Here's a swatch taken after running the doe-foot applicator across the back of my hand (no primer):

You can see that there is fallout to the left of the photo above, and let's not get into how much fallout was all over my hands and desk as well.

Here are some more swatches, taken after blending the swatch above with my finger, and then another swatch where I lightly pressed this shadow onto my hand (over primer) with my fingertip:

As you can see, pressing this shadow onto primered skin with your fingertip works best. It helps to control the fallout, and I think it also yields the best pigmentation. If you try blending out with a brush (or your finger) I find that the pigmentation greatly decreases and gives you more of a sheer wash of color.

Texture and consistency: This a very fine, loose pigment that contains a high amount of shimmer. It spreads easily across the skin, but I don't like the way this product blends when you use an eyeshadow brush. I find that it sheers out too much that way, and creates far too much fallout, so my favorite method of application is to lightly press this pigment onto the skin with my fingertip (over primer). I find that this yields the best results.

Pigmentation: I can't speak for all the colors in this range, and I have actually heard that the pigmentation of the deeper, darker shades in this collection is excellent, but Golden Champagne has medium pigmentation on its own. The problem lies in how this shade blends when not used with primer. It's very sheer after blending, so I highly recommend primer before application. This gives the pigment something to stick to, and it also greatly improves pigmentation (especially if you lightly press the pigment onto your skin as opposed to brushing it on).

Staying power: Without primer, I can get about three hours of wear before I start to see major fading. With primer, this shadow lasts all day. It stays vibrant and crease-free for over eight hours with primer.

Fragrance: I detect no fragrance in this product.

FINAL VERDICT: Are the new Sparkle Eye Dusts a great improvement over the old Sparkle Eye Dusts? Well since I only own one of the new versions, I can't quite give you an enthusiastic "YES!" I have heard that the pigmentation of the other shades in this new range is a great improvement over the old style, but I have mixed emotions about Golden Champagne. On the one hand, the pigmentation is quite lovely over primer but, on the other hand, this is one messy product to use due to the doe-foot applicator. I'm more of a pressed eyeshadow type of gal, so it's not quite worth it to me to run out and buy a small pot to pour this shadow into (but it would be much easier to use if it were in a pot). But if you are a loose eyeshadow lover, then these may be worth the extra effort. The shade Golden Champagne is gorgeous, however I already have lots of champagne beige shadows that don't produce any fallout, so I don't see myself reaching for this again anytime soon. In fact, the reason why I didn't show you an eye look using this shadow is because I just didn't want to use it again, due to the mess it creates. This is definitely a personal preference type of thing though, so I say give these a shot if you're already very comfortable with working with loose pigments. You can't beat the price at $2.99 each.

Do you own any of the new NYC Sparkle Eye Dusts? I'd love to hear what you think of them!