Last month Estée Lauder finally launched a small line of four Shadow Paints in Belgium & I was very eager to get my hands on the shimmery peachy pink color Pink Zinc. Having gone a bit overboard with shopping the past month I decided to wait a little to see if my infatuation with the shade kept on lingering (do I really need a shimmery peach pink? YES! No! Yes?), so I waited.. And waited.. And then.. I got my hands on no less than THREE Shadow Paints thanks to Annie Levy. She’s a celebrity make-up artist based in London and is the resident make-up artist for the show Made In Chelsea. She shares her findings & interviews with people in the industry on her super interesting blog, so do check that out. And thank you Annie :) Anyway, back to the shadow paints! I was so happy when I also found out that I got two shades that aren’t even available in Belgium next to my beloved shade Pink Zinc: Extreme Emerald and Chained. There’s just something about products that aren’t available where you live.. Right?

Left to right (second picture): Extreme Emerald, Chained & Pink Zinc.

I have really loved the idea of creamy eyeshadows for a long while now and remember buying one by Benefit many years ago - back when I didn’t even own decent make-up brushes -  that promised to be creaseless but of course creased on me. A bit disappointed, I from then on just opted for regular eyeshadows with a good primer underneath. After a while, when I was already smitten with beauty products and already owned too many brushes, I resorted to MAC paint pots to give it another try and they did open my eyes again for this type of product. It’s so easy to use (fingertip application if you like!), provides a perfect base for eyeshadow and intensifies any look. So of course I was intrigued when I found out Estée Lauder was launching their own kind of paint pots named Stay-On Shadow Paints. 
These Shadow Paints have a creamy texture and set rather quickly after application. They don’t really look patchy on me and have an incredible lasting powder: the longest I did with this was 13 hours before I had to take the look off & my eyes still looked nearly perfect. And the most important feature of these: they simple do not crease. At all. This is mainly because this dries so quickly; I remember the Benefit cream shadow not to dry all too much, so it creased relatively quickly because of it. 

Swatches in natural day light (not overcast), left to right: Pink Zinc, Chained, Extreme Emerald.

The pigmentation is quite nice, although these products do have to be layered to build intensity. Pink Zinc is a very shimmery peachy pink, Chained a warm copper & Extreme Emerald a captivating emerald green. These are easy to apply with your finger, but I use a synthetic brush to apply them and that works perfectly too. I’ve used them both alone or as a primer, and both ways work perfectly fine without creasing and with very long lasting powder. Do note that these dry very quickly; so don’t leave the packaging open too long.

In this super easy daytime look I have used both Pink Zinc & Chained, without using any other products. This looked incredibly warm & soft and was well suited for daytime, as Chained tones down the shimmer that’s much more present in Pink Zinc. This is such an incredibly easy and quick look to do: you need just one brush and it takes not even a minute to apply. I applied Pink Zinc all over the moving eyelid and then added Chained in the crease and underneath the lower lash line to create some depth. Blended out well with the other side of the same brush (my destroyed Petit Crease by Zoeva actually worked quite well for this, even though it is goat hair). And then just added a layer of mascara to open up the eyes. Oh & don’t mind how tired I look here. I’m working on catching that extra sleep!

In Belgium there are four colors available at €25 each. In the UK & US (and I’m not sure where else) nine colors are available at £19 or $24. Unique selling point? They don’t crease and they’ll never crease. Enough said.

(Also pictured: Pieces neon clutch)

These are some things I have been loving lately.. I don’t really change products very often (when something works, it just works right?), but I bought some new things at a twitter sale, rediscovered some forgotten things I’ve actually had for a while, found some nice surprises in past Glossyboxes & got gifted a few budget items I’ve grown to use daily, so take a look! Scroll down for detailed info on why they’re featured. 

MAC Cosmetics Skinfinish in Shimpagne (twitter sale), Make Up Store Brow Trio (MUS London, rediscovered), Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream (Glossybox),  Evian Brumisateur (gifted), Revitalash Eyelash Conditioner (Glossybox), Max Factor False Lash Effect (gifted)

MAC Cosmetics Skinfinish in Shimpagne, Make Up Store Brow Trio, MAC Paint Pot in Delft (twitter sale) and MAC Paint Pot in Nice Vice (twitter sale)

I’m in love with MAC’s Skinfinish in Shimpagne as I believe this one has been made to compliment my skin tone. It’s just perfect. The two paint pots are firsts for me, as I have never owned any paint pots before. They are great as a base & both really fit my eyes. The Make Up Store Brow Trio is a great rediscovery as I have had this one for a year & a half or so already. I use the middle shade for my eyebrows & the other two as eyeshadow colours. The Evian spray is quite handy as well, I use it before taking of my make up with a towlette as it makes the whole process a lot easier. You can also use it to wake up a bit faster in the morning.. Hah! The Garnier BB cream is also a rediscovery, as I did not like this one at all at first. I received a small sample in a little bag for this one (everyone could order it online through their website), which was enough for just one use. I wasn’t impressed at all back then, but when I received a full size in a Glossybox I tried it out again and fell in love. It smells lovely & actually does give great coverage. The Revitalash Serum I also received in a Glossybox & it really makes my lashes grow! It’s insane how much they’ve grown, although the only downside is some occasional itching. And last but not least: the Max Factor mascara. This one is such a great budget mascara! It offers great length while not being clumpy or heavy.