bareMinerals The Phenomenon Ready Eyeshadow Duo Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:00:45 +0000

bareMinerals The Phenomenon Ready Eyeshadow Duo

bareMinerals The Phenomenon Ready Eyeshadow Duo ($20.00 for 0.10 oz.) contains two shades: Azure Iris (prismatic lavender) and Golden Iris (illuminating amber). This is one of seven new duos for spring/summer. Each duo is packaged in a rubberized plastic compact with a full-size mirror inside and a sponge-tipped applicator. Each eyeshadow is the size of the average full-size eyeshadow (0.05 oz.).

Azure Iris is a subdued lavender with a very, very faint golden sheen. I wouldn’t describe it as prismatic. While it’s not as interesting on the surface, I don’t really have anything like it. Tarina Tarantino Violet Storm is brighter and frostier. MAC Beautiful Iris is a little more vibrant and cooler in tone. The texture is soft to the touch, and it applies smoothly against the skin.

Golden Iris is a light-medium tangerine orange with a golden orange shimmer-sheen. It has good color payoff and applies very smoothly. Chanel Tigerlily is darker, more orange. bareMinerals Nirvana is lighter, almost pink-tinted. theBalm Mischievous Marissa is more copper. Milani Bronze Doll is darker.

The texture of both shades is a little thinner, drier compared to most of the other duos in the range. As a result, they are slightly on the powder side–so be gentle with your brush when you go to use these so you don’t kick up a lot of excess powder. Both shades are nicely pigmented and extremely easy to blend. When I tested the wear of the duo, these lasted for eight hours with minor fading along the edges without a primer, and then a full eight hours with no noticeable fading with a primer.