Milani Naturally Chic Shadow Eyez

Disclaimer:  I purchased these.

I looked everywhere in Mobile for the Milani Naturally Chic Shadow Eyez pencils, to no avail.  I read on another blog that Cherry Culture had them, but when I checked, they were sold out.  I resisted getting them from Milani online, as I didn't want to pay their shipping.  Fortunately, Cherry Culture had a sale a few weeks back, and to my surprise, the Shadow Eyez pencils were back in stock and on sale for 10% off, which covered the shipping costs, so I got all of them!  Was it worth all of this?

Sadly, I'm going to say not so much.  Or perhaps kind of, sort of?  All of the colors swatch beautifully on my arm.  However, my lids are another matter, as they are looser and getting a bit crepey (sigh, it happens).  You can use a brush to smooth out the shadow before it sets, but this also seems to contribute to  the shadows becoming muddy and/or patchy.  Applying a thicker layer and then blending with my finger seemed to work a bit better.  I guess there was more of a learning curve with figuring out how to work these to their best advantage!

Almond Cream (matte)

Sand Dunes (shimmer)

Cafe Au Lait (matte)

Golden Bronze (shimmer)

Espresso (matte)

Ink (matte)

The colors I was most excited about were the mattes Almond Creme and Cafe Au Lait, as I thought they would make great bases for powder shadows.  However, I'm finding that they do not apply as smoothly as I would like to my lids and end up looking a bit patchy or muddy.  Here is how Almond Creme and Cafe Au Lait looked when blended out with a brush.  Scary, I know. 

The colors I almost ended up passing on were the sparkly Sand Dunes and Golden Bronze, and they are my surprise favorites!  They make great highlighters over other shadows and apply easily, so I can see using these often.  The two I was most neutral about, Espresso and Black Ink, will work as liners, but the thickness of the tips make them not as well suited for that as many other pencils I already have.  So those two are a bit of a wash, I fear, although I  do want to try the black with Maybelline's Waves of White on top.  It was hot out when I was taking pictures and I messed up Black Ink when I took the cap off, which was stuck.

I've seen plenty of good reviews on these, so it's possible that the mattes are just not a good shadow base option for my lids.  Wear time over Urban Decay's eye primer was about 7-8 hours before I could see the shadows starting to fade and disintegrate, which is about average for me.  I've got other cream shadow bases I like and that wear better, such as Maybelline's Color Tattoo's.  So my bottom line is that Sand Dunes and Golden Bronze were worth it, but not the others.  

Cherry Culture still have these in stock for $6.99 each, if anyone is interested.