They’re my passion. I totally dig mattes in an eyeshadow look, but ugh, a good shimmer? Swoon-worthy. I’ll get excited over smooth, satiny shimmer or intense, metallic shimmer. Give me all of it!! I do find that sometimes thicker metallics can crease, though, which is obviously annoying!
— Christine
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I love how they brighten my entire face. Even when I worked in corporate America and was confined to neutrals, a mid-toned brown shimmer looked office-appropriate. A matte would not have worked because it would have matched the inevitable under eye circles.
My only issue is that with hooded eyes, shadow tends to migrate to my brow bone and a colored shimmer in that spot may not be the look I was going for. That doesn’t happen if I apply the lid shimmer with a brush dampened with a setting medium (the look is more foiled then) but it is a step I don’t need to do with any but the brightest mattes.
For me, it’s a love/hate thing. I think shimmers are gorgeous and add incredible nuance, but I struggle with travel and creasing on my hooded eyes. Even the best eyeshadow primer and MAC fix plus cannot hold shimmer from shimmering all over my eyes by the end of the day.
I dampen my brush with Ben Nye LiquiSet and the shadow does not travel up my hood, even without primer.
I’m not sure why but lately I haven’t been liking super shimmery, piece-y shadows. I’ve never really liked glitter shades, whenever I see a shimmer that has it it turns me off immediately, but lately even the super reflective, metallic, non-glittery ones haven’t been my cup of tea; just too much information and doesn’t match my vibe, for example my colourpop shimmers, they just haven’t been doing it for me lately; I’m not sure if that’s something that will stick with me or not. However I still love smooth satins and don’t think I’ll ever stop loving them, they just work so beautifully at opening up the eyes, I love them even in this more matte-leaning phase of mine, my favorite for that is the viseart paris nudes.
Honestly, when a finish is too metallic I feel like I have a hard time actually seeing the color. I prefer subtler shimmers and more sparkly toppers for when I want to knock things up a notch. I agree that a buttery-smooth shimmer shade is a joy!
All I have to say is GIVE ME ALL THE SHIMMER EYESHADOWS.
^^^^^ What SHE said!!!!
me three!!!!
This exactly!
Yes to this!
I’m crazy about shimmers. They are my favorite and I think the bright shininess suits my coloring. I know a lot of people are really into mattes, and I do use them, but I could almost get by without them. When I’m looking at a palette it’s the shimmers that get me to buy. I’m never like, “I’ve got to have those mattes.”
Even though I have very hooded lids, I still LOVE to wear shimmers and metallics on my mobile lid extended upwards to where I can feel my eye socket. Thankfully, my lids are still fairly smooth for a nearly 62 y.o., so I can usually get away with it without it making my lids look crepey. I realize that it won’t be this way forever, so that does make me feel a bit sad that someday I’ll have to give most of them up. Already noticing that some duochrome shades look not quite right on me anymore. *sigh*
I’m one year behind you and I’m at the same point, I’ll be very sad when I can’t wear my shiny eye shadows anymore 🙁
Ditto Nancy, though perhaps mine are more crepey than yours and I’m younger, so I do wear them, but I don’t wear then as often as I’d like.
I don’t think we need to give up on shimmery eyeshadows, Nancy. Maybe duochromes, I don’t know as I don’t have many and very rarely use the few I have. I find with my hoods and small eyes they don’t have much of an impact. I sometime try an all matte look and I think the matte eyeshadows enhance what texture I have on my lids whereas shimmers fools the eyes a bit.
I am all about shimmers, almost exclusively! I have monolids so I only wear eyeshadow as an all-over lid shade, preferring skin-colored or clear shades with shimmer, and as eyeliner, preferring darker colors with shimmer. Shimmer makes the eye makeup more fun, considering I can’t do all the full looks that people with double eyelids can do, and it provides something to look at besides just the color I’m able to put on.
I love how monolids wear shadow. I know it can be frustrating when you have them, but as someone who doesn’t, I think the way shadows look on them is absolutely the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen. ♥️
I love shimmer or satin or a light pearl. Mattes can look dead so I like the shiny look. But no metallic on older eyes.
I love shimmers , I love how they brighten my eyes .. …but I always prefer mattes for the crease .
Love, love and love shimmery eyeshadows – particularly those with a soft sheen and a dense kind of formula. With so many great ones in the market these days, there is a lot of choice. SG, Give Me Glow and JD Glow make excellent singles. All of my palettes have shimmery shades in the majority.
My only dislike is when they are loosely packed into the pan and require a damp brush for use or when they include glittery chunks.
I love pretty much everything about them. I love how they brighten my eyes and make me look more wide awake and bright eyed. I guess the only negative would be fall-out but that can happen just as easily with a dark matte shadow. And some shimmers aren’t very finely milled or made so they look garish or scaly.
Where do I begin?? A good shimmer can take my breath away! Even if it’s not the strongest I can work with it, just give me a gel liner for a base, some glitter glue and a wet brush and I’m good to go! I need mattes to anchor a look, sure, but the shimmers are the star of the show, baby! I’ve tried to do an all matte look, but I literally can not. I have to have shimmer on the lid or I feel incomplete.
I love my shimmery eye shadows, they draw attention to my eyes which are my best feature. I am hoping I will be able to wear them maybe into my 70s?!
What brand are the shadows in the photo of the Shimmery Shadows posted above?
Like almost everyone else here, I also love shimmery shadows. Mattes are fine, but they tend to make my eyes look smaller, dry, and a bit flat and dull when not used sparingly. Shimmers, metallics, foiled, all bring light to my eyes and provide the much needed contrast to make my eyes really stand out.
I love me some good shimmer formula, especially in green (as some matte green shades make me look beaten up).
But some formulas emphasize my lid texture – for example BH cosmetics baked eyeshadows, PMG. Colourpop, UD and Too faced are usually fine though.
Also, give me more satin eyeshadows!
Like: They are BEAUTIFUL! Especially duo chrome and mulichromes
Dislike: Working them into looks, especially for day wear is a tad more difficult (though I admit I haven’t made a great effort to look at my shadows and planning better). also, as I prefer darker ones, they are harder to wear often with mature lids (makes me look very dramatic). I like the look, but I recognize that sometimes it’s too much.
I could’ve written this answer myself! I like mattes but I just absolutely love shimmers/metallics. They are my passion too. If you go through my eyeshadow palette collection (which is ridiculously huge at this point) you’ll see a ton of almost panned shimmers and a ton of lightly used mattes lol. I also find that shimmers are usually easier to work with. Not always obviously it depends on the formula but more times than not they perform better and are easier to work with imo.
I dont like shimerring yeshadows. I think that it don’t look natural. I like satin eyeshadows
Love shimmer hate that it can’t be used in the crease so I have more of an appreciation for all matte palettes🤷🏾♀️