bareMinerals Showstopper Eyeshadow Duo Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:18:44 +0000

bareMinerals Showstopper Eyeshadow Duo

Debuting in October, has a new line of bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow — and it’s nothing like their current line-up of mineral eyeshadow. Ready is a solid eyeshadow, but the brand states that they still include the SeaNutritive Mineral Complex (which includes sea minerals with antioxidants, cold-pressed borage oil, caffeine, and cucumber) that deliver “anti-aging benefits for a softer, smoother, revitalized eye area.” The new solid eyeshadow is described as “creamy, silky smooth” with “seamless blendability” with “stay-true color” that can be worn alone and is long-wearing and “won’t smudge or run.” This review is not evaluating the anti-aging claim, because to truly test to that, one would have to wear these eyeshadows for 6-8 weeks everyday.

They will be available in duos as well as quads–and I’ll be reviewing all of them in the coming weeks. There are 15 duos and four quads that will be available. Each duo (Ready 2.0) will retail for $20.00 and contains 0.10 oz., while the quad (Ready 4.0) will retail for $30.00 and contain 0.17 oz. I’m still waiting to get confirmation of the quantity in each duo (the packaging I have does not have official labeling). I loved that each duo/quad has a name but also each individual eyeshadow has its own name, too (and everything goes with its theme). I would love to see future adaptations that might allow for mixing and matching of your favorites, so it could be a more customizable system.

The first duo I wanted to share was The Showstopper, which includes two shades: Bravo and Encore. I almost thought this duo was a dupe for NARS Demon Lover, but it’s much lighter–it’s similar in concept, with a cool-toned, blue with a hint of purple matched with a purpler shade, but they are quite different.

Bravo is a pale, periwinkle blue with a white, frosted finish. Inglot #429 is bluer and darker.
Encore is a medium-dark purple that doesn’t lean too red, but it’s not a cool-toned purple either, with a softened frost finish. It is several shades lighter than Giorgio Armani #3, a touch darker and more opaque than Milani Purr-fect Purple, and most similar to theBalm All the Way Annie.

The texture of these eyeshadows is amazing–silky to the touch, smooths out beautifully, and applies easily to the lid with excellent blendability and staying power. I’ve worn a few of the duos alone, and I’ve achieved 10 hours of wear without an eyeshadow primer. Both Bravo and Encore were true-to-color and delivered rich, opaque color. If I had to be nit picky, Bravo was the tiniest bit powdery if you were heavy-handed with a brush in the pan, but it melts against skin and there is no fall out when used.

Each duo is packaged in a black, rubberized compact with a mirror inside and an applicator (none of mine came with an applicator, so I’m not sure if it’s sponge-tipped or not, but I would expect that it is). If you’re familiar with NARS’ packaging, this is similar. I like the rubberized surface, because it allows for better grip and is more forgiving when dropped on a hard surface (it absorbs the impact better than hard plastic, but not as well as cardboard).