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The Hit List: Worst Eyeshadow
Worst Eyeshadow? What eyeshadow wins this category? Brand? Specific color/shade?
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Icing eyeshadow palettes. It’s too powdery.
yes, they are really powdery and have zero color payoff unless you rub those darn brushes all on your lid lol…
I really hate MAC’s cordorouy on me it is pointless I see nothing but thats just on me on my lil cousin its adorable GO figure!!! Oh and I am NOT a fan Femme Noir either
MAC’s Forgery. Hate the finish and the color – I never use it!
Totally agree!! 🙁
I’d have to say the shadows in Suite Array (duos) were really terrible. I’m really mad that I bought one. They’re not blendable and the color payoff is terrible.
When eyeshadows get that gross oily layer on top of it, you can’t get any colour payoff 🙁
Ooooh Yes!!
oh yeah!
its like hard or something, what is that and how do u fix it? :[
Scrape off the top layer. A clean mascara spoolie will work beautifully for this purpose.
Kid was a waste of money..the texture is so hard to work with.
I haven’t puchased a “cheap” eyeshadow in years, so kepe that in mind when I say…
MAC mineral shadows. Oh the creasy, super shiny lack of pigmentation. I wish they’d stop making them.
I think exactly the same as Kandice in the below post. Really weird, how different eyeshadows can come out on different people. On me the Fresh Green Mix Mineralize eyeshadow e.g. is the most intense and pigmented bright green MAC has ever made beside Chartreuse pigment.
2nd the MES.
Trax…so pretty in the pan yet so horrible on my eyes. I really hate it.
Trax is my absolute favorite color! It really works with my green eyes. How weird! It’s crazy how a color can look gorgeous on one person and not work for another…
I love Trax too and I also have green eyes. Maybe it’s a green eyes thing!!!!!
I agree about Trax, the color is sickly looking on my eyelids.
Holy cow…I love Trax. I have brown eyes/black hair and I love how it brings out the brown. My mom owns it too!
oh wow. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I must be using the wrong colours 🙁
I don’t think its a green eyes thing, I have green eyes. I am pretty fair though so maybe on my pale skin it just makes me look sickly/like someone just punched me in the eye.
I’m quite pale.. NW15/20 and dark green eyes and I adore Trax!
I agree ! I have tried trax with different colours and nothing works.
I hate MAC lustre finish. They are so dusty and the color is always under the eyes.
I was once at a counter with a friend of mine. She looked for a new green. My friend and the MA chose a color and she applied the shadow and praised the colors to the skies. It suited her perfect, but it was a lustre! Holly shit. The powder was nearly everywhere but not on the lid. I told my friend not to buy a lustre and she picked a similar color. The MA was totally pissed because she had exchance the color, and in my opinion that was the worst service ever, because we said several times, no lustre and she didn’t accepted our wish.
are lustres really that bad? i’m planning to buy lustres, but if they’re that bad then…
I have several that I like just fine. Swimming for instance. Something you have to test for yourself. And the ones in the Fafi Eyes 2 quad work very well for me
I think it just depends, mac retrospeck is fine! Pandamonium is fine.
Tempting and Charred are the best lustres I’ve come in contact with. Lustre’s aren’t HORRIBLE, but here’s the deal: You’re paying top buck (10.50 or 14.50), to not have some glitter, chunky, poor colour-payoff shadow. Not admissable.
$17.00 here in Canada! & MAC is Canadian!
In my opinion, yes, they are horrile!
They are dusty, rough, glittery, the payoff isn’t good and I have to apply several coats to get good coverage. The restult is everything but not even.
I own Retrospect, Gleam, Pink Venus, Idol Eyes and Smoking.
I returned Idol Eyes after I got it… It was terrible! I still have Retrospeck though.
So far Mac’s Newly Minted. I hate it with a passion!!
Why do you hate Newly Minted!?
I find it difficult to work with, very dusty and messy. And it has little staying power, even with a base/primer.
OMG! Yes, lol! My least favorite matte2
I have to agree about the MAC mineral eyeshadows. I truly hate them and never use them. I wish, I could’ve returned them!!!
I think Cornflower is very difficult to work with. The more I try, the bluer it gets and the tiny purple sparks end up under my eye, even when I use paint pots.
Sadly, since I am in love with the color, so now I use it wet.
Same goes for Helium.
I think Viz a Violet and Stars n Rockets has horrible staying power, even though everthing else stick well to my eyes.
I have made a close match of Stars n rockets by mixing Violet and Fuchsia in a seperate jar.
MAC Pink Venus – I hate this colour so badly, it’s got such low pigment and makes me look like I was rubbing my eyes.
I have to agree witht he Suite Array formula – so hard, so chalky…nice colours, but low quality.
i agree! Pink venus was such a waste. every single time i try it, the outcome is always worse.
Yeah, I’ve given that colour several chances – even with paint ppot underneath it looks & performs like dust.
I take my seat in the row! No color, just a bit of glitter, uurgh!
Maybelline shadows have the worst colour pay off ever, I’ve bought 2 or 3 quads and thrown them away because I can’t make them work, even with mixing medium. Pure Luxe, despite rave reviews on youtube didn’t work for me either – they’re difficult to blend and the colours don’t translate well – for me at least, they all look too dark/too glittery on me.
Also – have to agree with the suite array comments, super chalky, a problem i’ve never had with any of the ‘normal’ MAC shadows 🙁
Mac’s swish eyeshadow, makes my eyes look like i have pink eye 😛
Wondering by Fresh Minerals. I don’t know if it’s the line, or just that colour.. I could pile on the whole pot and it wouldn’t make a differences as far as pigmentation goes. A shame too, it looks lovely in the pan. 😐
MAC’s Lotusland and Sunset B from the Starflash collection. TERRIBLE chalky mess!!!!! I am so mad that I purchased them.
Wow, really? I have them both and they aren’t even slightly chalky for me. I love them so much that I want to get backups of them. Also got Blue Zone from Suite Array and I love it too. So far, I haven’t found a single MAC eyeshadow that I don’t like. I hate every other brand of eyeshadow I have found though.
really?!? I love those colors! Sunset B is actually the only pink MAC has that i think had a good color pay off… i
OMG I didn’t buy anything from Starflash for the same reason! Chalky messes and no color payoff.
You REALLY should reconsider this. I own almost the whole Starflash collection of eyeshadows… They go on smooth and perfect… almost no need for a base in fact, and the color payoff is insane!!!!
From higher end lines… By FAR MAC violet pigment… It seems to clump together even in the jar… It creases… It doesn’t work well even wet and it loses pigmentation when you attempt to blend… BLECH! What a disappointment for such a beautiful color!
DAMN! I love Sunset B!
I have to second the Maybelline diss – I have a duo that even with Primer Potion, crumbled and creased into a mess after only a few hours of wear.
I also really, really hate Rimmel shadows. They are chalky and cheap.
I don’t like Mac’s showstopper, way too dark and I can’t seem to make it work for me, I also hate all the lustre finishes.
ok don’t laugh but I actually like some of Maybelline’s e/s’S… I have a few that I refer to as dupes to some of MAC’s like Humid and Deep Truth, for ex. From what I’ve gathered, Maybelline recently changed their e/s formula, like in the past 2 years I’d say, and you can see a diference. This does not apply to all of their e/s’s, just to some that I refer to as diamonds in the rough lol… I feel the same way about make up as I do about people, there are good and bad in every kind, in this case, in every brand.
As far as worst e/s… I’d say Stila, Rimmel, and Claire Accessories M/UP
Stila? Wow! Id never thought I’d see that. What don’t you like about ’em (nothing wrong, just so shocked to see that on here!)
MAC’s Honey Lust. I think it’s the only Lustre I own, and now I realize why LOL It’s just chalked full of glitter. Same with all the mineral shadows. FAIL!
I have Honey Lust as well, which looked pretty in a swatch on my hand but when I brought it home…nothing but chunky glitter fallout. No more lustres for me!
ugh MAC’s “beauty marked” is one shadow i wish i never purchased. on my skin, it’s the equivalent of “carbon” w/o the marroon flecks.
NYX shadows are crap too. they’re good for their purchase price (1.99). but they’re overly powdery….almost like loose baby powder.
also, i’m going to be on board alone here, but i HATE MAC pigments. they never seem to stay where they’re placed. i always end up with glitter all over my cheeks. even if i use udpp, the result is the same.
Hey Kat – I’ve been a MAC addict since 2000 and I NEVER liked pigments. Matter of fact, I only owned one, Violet, for 7 years and never purchased any for the same reason you mentioned – glitter everywhere, horrible creasing, and fallout, fallout, fallout. UNTIL…I started reading Temptalia and made my homemade mixing medium. WOW…I now LOVE pigments and have bought like 8 this year because I never have fallout anywhere or glitter on my cheeks. I use UDPP and with the mixing medium to help me put it on, I never have creasing. Plus, the pigments looks AMAZING when I put them on with the mixing medium as opposed to without.
I feel the same way about beauty marked. Waste of money for sure!
I am not a fan of Bobbi Brown’s shadows. I have several and I can’t get any color out of them. Not even enough to be considered neutral or a no-make up look.
I totally agree!! I can’t get on the Bobbi Brown bandwagon at ALL. Have tried and tried though…
Hey kat,
Actually u r not alone: don’t hate them but own 25 of them and they are very difficult to work with since they seem to always end up on my cheeks and everywhere else but the eye lids. Very messy. I have been using makeup for 30 years so I am not a beginner…
Also I don’t buy cheap makeup but many higher end makeup[ and e/s don’t have good color payoff for the price:
– Elizabeth Arden
– Lancome
– Christian Dior (too shimmery)
– Bobbi Brown (way too many neutrals….)
– some Chanel (not all are created equal…)
– MAC Suite Array (of which, I am happy to say, I did not buy any)
– and, to my utmost dismay. some of the NARS Night collection e/s have way too many sparkle bits, making them useless on the eyelids (such as the white one, the peachy one, and the lavender one. Sorry I don’t remember the names by heart)
I confirm: some Nars e/s from the Night Series are useless, because their colour and sparkles don’t show on lids. I’ve tried Night Fairy (the lavender one), a total waste of money.
MAC’s Pink Venus wins hands down for me.
It put me off lustre finishes for quite a while. Took a chance with MAC’s Greensmoke (this one’s also a lustre) but surprisingly the payoff for Greensmoke is awesome for me!
Stila shadows are generally too darn shimmery for me, but I do like Kitten and a few others.
I really dislike the Sephora brand eyeshadows – no color payoff, don’t go on smoothly, etc.
I would have to say MOST but not ALL of the MAC Lustre eyeshadows…there is too much fall out, color pay off is rarly decent and it just ends up IRRITATING me!
Urban Decay’s Midnight Cowboy Rides Again.
Seriously.
I know people love it. But I just look like a fairy exploded on my face. The glitter goes everywhere except for where I want it.
Some MAC Lustre shadows are not so nice either – Swimming takes too much work to get the payoff I want, in my experience.
Wow! Really? Midnight Cowboy is my favourite shadow from any brand ever!! but then.. i do love a bit of sparkle 😉
Rimmel shadows are the worst! I don’t know how the rest of their stuff is, but I’m really turned off of that brand!
As far as MAC goes, the only ones I have truly disliked are Motif (I could not get good color payoff for the life of me!), and also Forgery (white glitter is not flattering).
I wish I would have never bought MAC Sumptous Olive. It just really doesn’t look good on me. Also the mineralized eyeshadows from MAC. They are a hot mess.
MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows, Lustre Finishes and all UD shadows with glitter in them – HATE glitter!!!
For me the ones I like least are MAC Pink Venus and MAC Forgery, so difficult to work with, glitter everywhere, such a mess! I still haven’t given up on them though!! Oh and Dreammaker from Starflash!!
The MAC suite array are disappointing, which is why I never bought any of them.
I thought Climate Blue is pretty chalky too, as with Bitter.
I have no problems with the MAC lustre eyeshadows I have, mainly Aquadisac and Tempting.
Overall, MAC eyeshadows are very good in quality. I bought a Mineralised duo (Bright Side/Gallery Girl) from their minerals collection recently, but color payoff is great and it doesn’t fallout, especially when used wet.
Wow! Funny, Climate Blue is my fav of the whole collection! I love using it as a liner.
yeah, the colors in the suite array collection were way tooo chalky. and when the m/a did a swatch on her hand i wasn’t impressed.
I agree Climate Blue was a major let down. I really really wanted a nice intense indigo…insted it just turns grayish.
And I love Climate Blue!
All red eyeshadows. it’s always like you’ve been hit or something.
Wet ‘N Wild eyeshadow. I haven’t used it in YEARS but had to buy some when I went on a trip and forgot to pack eyeshadow. Talk about a heart-stopping moment!!! It really doesn’t have any pigment to it – almost like wearing nothing.
any Milani shadows for sure, they don’t stay on with even UDPP, and all MAC Lustre shadows. MAC should be ashamed to even sell them lol
Wow! I really like Milani shadows. Definitely not the Wet/Dry shadows that were raved about – they’re overrated. But I have an awesome sparkly black that is one of my staple shadows. I do use them with mixing medium, though.
I bought a pallet from Clinique, Polar Ice? Polar Blue? It was a quad of 3 blues and a cream colored highlighter, and they are really bad. I even tried to blend with some MAC but nothing helps it. The color pay off is bad and they are just weak.
OH! and I agree with the others; I dont like MAC Lustre shadows. I have tempting that is pretty but it gets so messy. I can work with one, but thats all!
MAC Beautymarked. Terrible texture, terrible color pay-off, terrible eyeshadow in general. I’m not all that impressed with MAC shadows to begin with (I prefer Urban Decay and Stila), but Beautymarked was a stand-out terrible eyeshadow in my opinion.