Milani Fierce Foil Eyeshine: 01 Milan

Milani Fierce Foil Eyeshine in Milan

Milani's new Fierce Foil collection includes not only the Fierce Foil Eyeliners (reviewed here) but also the Fierce Foil Eyeshines, four different quad palettes of beautiful eye shadows formulated with "ground-breaking gloss technology." Given my affinity for cream shadows, I was terribly curious to feel for myself this novel formula.

Milani Fierce Foil Eyeshine in Milan

I went with the neutral palette in 01 Milan, which includes a cream shade with golden flash, a pale champagne pink, a bright bronze brown with dense golden shimmer, and a medium neutral taupe. All the shades are packed with a unique opalescent glitter that shines pink, green, and yellow when examined closely, but the opalescent effect is subtle overall. All the shades are beautiful but I am particularly impressed with the bronze shade, which has a brilliant shine and is extremely pigmented. The golden cream shade is also well pigmented. The one with the least pigmentation is the champagne shade, which, in actual wear, just adds glitter and shimmer to the lids without any obvious color. The taupe shade is gorgeous. I love that it is neither cool nor warm. In actual wear, it too goes on sheer but with enough pigmentation to add a light wash of color to the lids.

Fierce Foil Eyeshine in Milan, swatched clockwise from upper left

As for the texture, these are thick tacky creams that don't set in place. They remain emollient. This may sound like a disaster in the making, with the potential for creasing and smudging throughout the day. Remarkably, however, I have not had any of these issues when using these as eyeshadow bases. I apply only thin layers of the Eyeshines and because they are tacky, they grab onto the powder shadows that I layer on top. They aren't so sticky that the powders end up concentrating wherever they're initially placed. I am still able to blend as I normally do with the powder shadows. The Eyeshines also provide abundant shimmer and glitter to the lids, which continue to shine through even with the other shadows on top. This look may not be appropriate to all settings but for the holiday season, I feel the glint and gleam are nice touches.

Better view of the glitter in the Fierce Foil Eyeshines

To be fair, I have not used these shadows on their own as my main lid shades so I don't know how well they would hold up without other products set over them. When other products are used on top, I feel that the colors of the Eyeshines get obscured, even though some of the shimmer remains visible. Hence, it is difficult to comment on utility of this product. They shadows themselves are beautiful but if you're going to use them as bases, which they function very well as, then the original colors won't likely show through. The glitter finish is a nice touch for special occasions but may be excessive for most everyday looks.

This is by no means a must-have product that will revolutionize your collection but  I have to say, these shadows are fun for someone like me who doesn't usually play around with glitter. They allow me to incorporate some glitter into my routine in a way that isn't too obvious or over the top since I can apply these in sheer layers. Other than the price at over $10, I don't have anything bad to say about the new Fierce Foil Eyeshines.

Champagne shade (least pigmented)

Final look with champagne shade (powder shadows layered over top)

Bronze shade (most pigmented)

Final look with bronze shade (powder shadows layered over top)

Zoya Nail Lacquer: Jules

Zoya in Jules

Zoya's nail polish in Jules is another festive option for this holiday season. It is a rather interesting twist on silver as it has a warm golden sheen that makes it the perfect blend of the two metal shades. This makes it quite versatile as it will pair nicely with just about any jewelry and outfit combination. The formula is also wonderful to work with. It glides on evenly and smoothly with good opacity, and dries rather quickly. Another winner!

Zoya in Jules (ambient light)

Zoya in Jules (with flash)

Milani Fierce Foil Eyeliner: Brown Foil, Black Gold Foil

Milani Fierce Foil Eyeliners

The new Milani Fierce Foil collection is just one of the overwhelming numbers of new drugstore releases that are hitting the shelves now. These are said to be "long-wearing" with "rich intense metallic foil finish." The idea of metallic liners sounded novel and fantastic so when I stumbled upon this collection, I gleefully grabbed both the Black Gold Foil and the Brown Foil eyeliners.

I'll cut straight to the chase; these items fell far short of the mark.

Milani Fierce Foil Eyeliners in Brown Foil and Black Gold Foil

Truth be told, I was underwhelmed when I saw these liners in person. The Brown Foil in particular lacked any sort of metallic appearance. It just looked like a mostly matte deep dark brown. The Black Gold Foil, on the other hand, clearly had gold flecks interspersed through the black base, though not enough for it to look metallic in the pan. I figured that these might prove to be metallic upon application with a dampened brush since most foil finish products work that way, so I took a chance.

When I got home and swatched these, I was again disappointed to find that the Brown Foil largely looked on the skin as it did in the pan. It did have the subtlest touch of shimmer running through it but it was hardly noticeable. The same was true of the Black Foil in that it looked just as you would expect from looking at it in the pan. The gold shimmer in it was more obvious than that of the Brown Foil but not enough for a foil finish. I again gave it the benefit of the doubt by assuming the finish might improve with damp application.

Brown Foil

Black Gold Foil

I put Black Foil to the test this morning. It was a disaster. I dampened the liner brush that it came with with a bit of MAC's Fix Plus and proceeded to apply the liner. From the start, it was clear that the black seriously lacked in opacity as the color was very much gray upon initial application. I had to go over the line several times before I built up enough intensity for it to be black. Even then, it was not as dark as I am accustomed to with the products I normally use. Worse yet, there was still no metallic finish!

It didn't stop there. The worst of it was, within at least 30 minutes of application (but possibly sooner), I found that the liner had already stamped and smudged onto my upper lid. I cannot remember the last time I had to remove and redo my makeup but today's situation necessitated just that. Who normally has time to deal with that? Thankfully I was up far earlier than I needed to be today, but this would have made for an embarrassing look on any other day.

Top row, L-R: Black Gold swatched with finger and eyeliner brush; Brown Foil swatched with finger and eyeliner brush

Bottom row, L-R: Milani Liquid Eye Pencil, MAC Fluidline

In preparation for this review, I experimented a bit more with these liners tonight. I re-swatched them, both wet and dry, and found that the finish is the same either way. Neither one is metallic. Damp application does not improve the intensity. The texture is like a cream but with a powder finish. I let them sit on the back of my hand for a while (at least 10 minutes), then ran my finger over them to see if they had set. I was appalled to find instead that they smudged and rubbed right off. For a proper comparison, I decided to swatch my normal liners (MAC Fluidline and Milani Liquid Eye Pencil) on the back of my hand. I let those sit for 10 minutes as well, and then ran my fingers over them. They did not budge at all. Therefore, I must conclude that these Fierce Foil liners are duds that would never work for me.

Fingers run once over all swatches after 10 min

Sadly, these Fierce Foil Eyeliners fail to live up to any of their promises. They are neither "long wearing" nor "rich intense [or] metallic" in finish. As an Asian with double eyelids and creases that run very close to or on top of my liner, I can't use eyeliners that don't set in place. If you have similar anatomy, then I doubt these will work any better for you. If you have different eye shape such that your lids don't touch your eye liner, then this might hold up better on you. Even so, there would be nothing special about these liners. The end result is a gray-black or a standard dark brown, so why not go for better quality options in the same shades?

Essie Nail Lacquer: Haute in the Heat

Essie Haute in the Heat

Essie's Haute in the Heat was a surprise winner for me. I was obviously attracted to the color (hence I bought it) but I expected it to be a raspberry pink shade, more appropriate to spring and summer. Once I applied it, however, it turned out to be a lovely, refreshing twist on a red that is actually perfect for this holiday season. To me, it looks like a bright berry red with pink tones that come out in certain lighting. Very sweet and pretty!

 
Essie Haute in the Heat (natural lighting)

Essie Haute in the Heat (with flash)

L'oreal Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono Eyeshadows: 106 Breaking Nude, 107 Macaron Vanille, 200 Over the Taupe, 204 Golden Nude, 502 Quartz Fume

L'oreal Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono Shadows

L'oreal Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono Shadows

Watching my fair share of British YouTubers, I sometimes end up lusting after products that are not available in the US. Case in point- the L'oreal Color Riche Mono Eyeshadows. What started off as a passing interest turned into a hot pursuit once I learned the exclusivity of these items. Fuel to my fire were the consistently stellar reviews that I came across in my search. I don't think I came across a single negative opinion of these shadows. To my luck, I was able to get a great deal on them on Ebay so that I am now able to bring you my own review.

L'oreal Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono Shadows, clockwise from bottom left: 502; 106; 107; 200; 204

I was, of course, drawn to the neutral shades. No surprise there.

106 Breaking Nude (matte)

106 Breaking Nude is a medium nutty taupe shade in a matte finish. The color is quite lovely as it has that gray-lilac undertone that can lean warm or cool depending on how you pair it or blend it out. The texture is soft, smooth, and a bit powdery but I have not had any issues with fallout. The pigmentation is great.

107 Macaron Vanille (matte)

107 Macaron Vanille is a peachy nude "bone" shade, also in a matte finish. It's not my favorite shade as I don't have much use for ones like this but I think it would be great for under the brow or for a clean professional eye look. As with 106 Breaking Nude, the texture is smooth and powdery-feeling but without fallout. Again, good pigmentation.

200 Over the Taupe (frost)

200 Over the Taupe reminds me of a warmer, lighter version of MAC's Satin Taupe. It is an interesting warm taupe brown with pink-mauve undertones. It has an incredibly frosty finish that I find to be quite unfortunate. The color is beautiful but the frost makes it rather difficult to wear. When I put it on the lids, all I see is the harsh silver sheen. When I blend it out, the color loses its dimensions and ends up looking flat and muddy. The texture of this shadow is very soft, creamy, and a bit crumbly, much like a pressed pigment. However, it lacks that bit of tackiness that I like about other pressed-pigment-like shadows, such as The Body Shop's now discontinued eyeshadows (as reviewed here) or L'oreal's Infallible Eye Shadows (as reviewed here and here). Because it is missing that quality, it ends up spreading over a wide area during blending, which contributes to the muddiness of the color. As I have already said, it is truly unfortunate as this shade had such potential. In fact, it was the one that caught my eye in the first place.

204 Golden Nude (frost/shimmer)

204 Golden Nude has the same issues as 200 Over the Taupe. It is a lovely warm golden nude shade with high shimmer. However, the finish is so frosty that once on the lids, it just looks tacky. When blended, it loses all of its original appeal.

502 Quartz Flume (satin)

Lastly, 502 Quartz Flume is a deep cool gray-purple shade in a satin finish. It is also reminiscent of MAC's Satin Taupe. In fact, I think if 200 Over the Taupe and 502 Quartz Flume had a baby, it would be Satin Taupe. Anyway, this particular shade comes in a wavy textured pan that adds a nice touch of luxe. I don't know the difference between the textured versus smooth pans. I believe they all belong to the same range of eyeshadows. Whatever the case, this shade is very smooth in texture but does not feel powdery like the matte shades, nor creamy and crumbly like the frost finish shades. It has good pigmentation when I swatch it but when I try to blend it out on the back of my hand, the color wipes right off without depositing any color. It is difficult for me to say much about how it performs in actual wear on the lids because the shade is so dark that I use it only in a very small area along the lashline. I have noted, though, that it is far less pigmented going on the eyes than I would expect from looking at it in the pan or from my swatches.

L-R: 106 Breaking Nude, 107 Macaron Vanille, 200 Over the Taupe, 204 Golden Nude, 502 Quartz Fume

L-R: 106 Breaking Nude, 107 Macaron Vanille, 200 Over the Taupe, 204 Golden Nude, 502 Quartz Fume

I am sad to say that as much as I wanted to love these shadows, I am not sold. They were so promising on swatches but I was very disappointed with the application and actual wear. The frost finish of 200 Over the Taupe and 204 Golden Nude is a huge deterrent for me as I find it to look cheap and unprofessional. Furthermore, once blended, the shades lost their impact. They ended up blending so much into one another that the colors got all muddled. I had to go over the shades multiple times in order to get the look that I wanted, which is more effort than I have the time or interest in investing. These might work better for people with more lid space (I don't have much) so that there is more room to do targeted blending and surface area for the shadows to disperse over.

204 along the inner corners, 200 across the lids, 106 along the outer V, 502 smudged close to the lash line, and 107 as the blending shade along the crease

Lower lash line: 204 along the inner third, 502 along the outer 2/3