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Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eye Shadow Review, Photos, Swatches (H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar)

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eye Shadow ($25.00 for 0.21 oz.) is a cream-to-powder eyeshadow that can be used as a cream eyeshadow or as an eyeshadow base.

It is available in several shades: H1 Goldlights (gold), H2 Whitelights (white), H3 Tiger Eye (peach-orange), H4 Spring Plum (plum), H5 Aqua Shimmer (aqua), H6 Violet Visions (purple), H7 Green Exotique (green), H8 Bare Pink (soft pink), H9 Glistening Sand (nude), H10 Languid Lagoon (teal), H11 Rose Tulle (rose), H12 Lemon Sugar (soft yellow), and H13 Clover Dew (soft green).

With summer coming up, we have to break out our most long-wearing, budge-proof makeup. It would so not be cute to have mascara smeared under our eyes, eyeliner running around, and eyeshadow creasing and swimming on the lid. I tried three shades of Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow

  • H5 Aqua Shimmer is a steely blue with a silver sheen/shimmer. It doesn’t actually read very aqua to me, but it’s like a darkened water blue.
  • H10 Languid Lagoon is a aqua-teal with flecks of green and gold shimmer.
  • Lemon Sugar is a softened golden yellow.  This would definitely make a nice, universal colored base.

The formula of the Hydro-Powder Eyeshadows is phenomenal. They have a very creamy, almost water-based feel (that’s not to say they’re running or thin, but they’re creamy and have a wet texture) that glides onto the eye easily. The three shades I tried were all pigmented and applied smoothly and evenly to the eye whether you used your finger or a brush.

But the real reason these are amazing is that they’re crease-proof, budge-proof, and smudge-proof once they’ve dried. The drying time is long enough to give you time to blend them together, if you choose to use them as eyeshadows, but not so long that you have to wait around for it to set.

My favorite way to use these are as eyeshadow bases, because they work well to emphasize or intensify your eyeshadows as well as keeping them locked in place all day long. Even though I don’t personally use them as individual eyeshadows, they’re some of the easiest cream eyeshadows to blend together.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ! :)

  • Product: 29/30
  • Value: 8/10
  • Ease of Use: 4/5
  • Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: If you have problems with your eyeshadows creasing, Shiseido’s Hydro-Powder Eyeshadows may rescue you from your makeup woes either alone or worn under eyeshadow!

Availability: Nordstrom, Sephora

See more photos & swatches!

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H10 Languid Lagoonr

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H10 Languid Lagoon

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H12 Lemon Sugar

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow
Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow: H5 Aqua Shimmer, H10 Languid Lagoon, H12 Lemon Sugar

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I was really hoping you'd give these a horrible review, because I've wanted them forever and I'm broke ($28 CAD is a bit much right now for something so small).

Unfortunately these crease on me, although I only have H6 Violet visions. I actually have never tried the shades you have, Christine! :) But for the H6 to last on my eyelids, I definitely need to use a primer first!

Awesome! I actually have the lemon sugar, but had forgotten about it. ;) Time to break it out again!! It would be great to have a crease-resistant base for summer...

i'm so glad you did a review on this eyeshadows,i have been using them for a quite some time and they are absolutely great,first i started with h8 bare pink and after that i bought lemon sugar and white lights,all in all a great product that lasts a long long time

hey christine, how does lemon sugar compare to benefit's Tattle Tale cream shadow?

They're definitely similar -- I'd say Lemon Sugar may be a little less golden, little cooler-toned.

I have this in Bare Pink and Violet Visions. Unfortunately, this creases on me, but after about 6 hours of wear. I mostly use this as a base on my violet and pink eyeshadows. I also love combining those two colors, it's so girly.

Wow, I can't believe it creases! I heard from people who had creasing troubles that if they layered it with UDPP or the like, then it was crease-proof (similar to those who have to layer UDPP and MAC Paint Pots together!).

Yep!! This creased on me. Terribly. Probably the worst of any paint-style eyeshadow. I have it in Bare Pink. It doesn't even make it two hours on me! I have never tried layering it under another shade though, although that's because I'm worried it'll make an even bigger mess. I wonder if it's because Bare Pink is so light. Also, I have tried using the sponge brush that came with this pot, and it seems to like, create a very slick coating on the brush which make it very hard to use. Applying with my fingers didn't help the creasing situation. I now use MAC Paint Pots and they are completely crease-free on me (Indianwood is my favorite).

So beautiful. I really can't wear blue on my eyes but these are so subtly metallic. lovely swatches, thanks!

Very Pretty! I like cream eyeshadows.

I have the violet one and it looks wonderful, it lasts long and I love it very much! Unfortunately, Shiseido is not going to add some darker colours... I mean, ok, love those, but I don't need 5 near-water colour and no grey or black or dark violet... Vale

I absolutely adore these, honestly these are the only ones that are 95% smudge proof on me, without UD primer potion.. Really, they don't smudge at all..! I just wish they had more colour options.

I want these but I don't need them!

I've bought these and they are fantastic, I just wish Shiseido would come out with some non-frosty shades!

Nordstrom.com have all the beautiful colors. I'm on punishment however!

How does H5 and H10 compare to rollickin' and delft? Can you do a side by side comparison? They look almost identical to me.

I don't have either to do a side-by-side comparison, sorry!

Out of my budget but i have to get lemon sugar anyway!

I am so excited for these! Thank you for reviewing them Christine! Your statement about having summer-proof makeup is exactly my concern as well. You sure do cover all the bases :D Great job!

Lemon Sugar is calling my name!

i haven't tried these eyeshadows yet, but they are more pigmented than the ones in Shiseido Maquillage line :D

I have these in Lemon Sugar, Aqua Shimmer and Spring Plum, the latter being the most unusual shadow i own - it's a reddish plum and green duochrome. They're perfect for summer!

The colors are beautiful, but I wouldn't have the first clue how to wear them!

they come with a nice sponge applicator and I like applying them on the desired part of the eyelid with that, I know we all kind of despite the applicators that come with eyeshadows but I find that the sponge tip works wonders with these!

I've been wondering about these...I adore Shiseido for their skincare!!  Lemon Sugar looks gorgeous!! I could see myself wearing the other ones as a sheer pop of color too even though I tend to wear more neutrals on eyes!   Thanks Christine!

I have these in H9 Glistening Sand and H13 Clover Dew and i absolutely love them! The Hydro Powder Shadows are by far the best eyeshadow formula I have ever tried - They don't crease, smudge or fade and are the perfect base, or to wear alone! Next I'll be picking up Violet Visions.

I like these. I want the languid lagoon and lemon sugar. I already have delft paint pot so the Aqua Shimmer wouldn't be necessary at this point. Will definitely have to look into these, especially with Mac paint pots turning into LEs at the drop of a dime.

if you have normal to dry skin they stay for hours, if you have very oily skin they stay max 2 hours. For reference the paint pots stay for about 8 hours on my super oily skin.

Like all products, your mileage may vary -- I've heard good reports from those with super oily skin that these stay on like nobody's business BUT paint pots crease (and vice versa).

Well, they are one of my favorite formulas for sure!

Wow, these are absolutely stunning colors! I might have to go to a Shiseido counter tomorrow and check these out. I've turned into a total cream eyeshadow and Paint Pot junkie. No shame! :D

These look awesome!! Are they really, truly budgeproof? Like, more or less than a paint pot? More like a gel liner? I just have EXTREMELY crease-y eyelids, and unless it's UDPP or paint pot or powder, most things crease horribly on me. And do you usually use shadow on them before or after they set?

Yep, they're just as budge-proof as Paint Pots on me :) Both - I'd say that it dries down fast enough where you probably can't do the whole eye with shadow on top while it's setting, but I haven't really had problems either way. Truthfully, I don't pay that much attention to when it's dry/set when I use it as a base!

is the yellow one like cash flow painpot ?

Nope, it's much lighter and more yellow-gold whereas Cash Flow is more antique gold.

Ooooh too frosty for me. My face gets awfully oily, and too much shimmer makes me look like a disco ball.