Make Up For Ever 106 Grenny White Star Lit Diamond Powder ($26.00 for 0.08 oz.) shifts from lavender-pink to flashy, greenish-gold with a sparkling, shiny finish. It looked more gold and green than it did pink or lavender on me most of the time; at certain angles, I could see the pink coming through as more of a base color. It had buildable pigmentation, which was largely in the application method, but it was easy to get sheer coverage or get more semi-opaque to opaque coverage.
When I used it as an eyeshadow, I used a pencil brush to pat and push it onto my lower lash line, and it appeared more green-gold and built up to opaque coverage. The wear was decent with migration and slight fallout over an eight-hour period, though less than anticipated based on the large amount of sparkle in it. I would highly recommend using an adhesive spray or glitter adhesive with it, though, for better coverage and wear.
When I used as a highlighter, it appeared a little more like a aqua-green with a subtle shift to green-gold most of the time, and again that lavender-ish base only came through at certain angles when I went looking for it. The highlighter buffed well onto my cheeks, which are more normal than normal-to-dry in skin type, so I think the natural oils on my skin helped keep the loose highlighter from falling right off my cheeks. It wore well for eight hours with slight sparkle migration over time.
The formula is supposed to be "buildable, blendable, [and] light-reflective" and can be used on the eyes, face, and body. The brand says that they can be applied with "brush or fingers," and while they say that "for cleaner application and stronger hold, wet brush with" an adhesive spray, it does imply it can be used without for less clean/less hold. The powders seem as finely-milled as they're going to get, but they have micro-sparkle and sparkle to them so they have a drier, almost loose glittery texture overall. Some shades seemed to have a stronger base color that came through than others, which were more glittery overall with a sheerer or transparent base.
I wore several of them on cheeks as well as eyes with most shades performing decently without an adhesive spray/tacky base, but the wear time was between six and eight hours with light to moderate fallout (depending on the shade) on eyes and eight hours on cheeks with some sparkle migration over time. I definitely would recommend using the product with an adhesive spray for the "cleaner application and stronger hold" the brand says it would result in.
Make Up For Ever 103 Pink White Star Lit Diamond Powder ($26.00 for 0.08 oz.) has a silvery-beige base that has a more dominant, pink-to-lavender shift from the shimmer and sparkle in it. On me, it read more iridescent, cool-toned pink than beige most of the time, both on eyes and on cheeks. The texture was full of sparkle, so there wasn’t much of a base color until it was really buffed onto the skin, and then it seemed like there was a subtle, pearlescent sheen coming through from the base pigment.
As one might expect, it’s not particularly easy to apply or to wear without some sort of adhesive spray, dampened brush, or tacky base. I think if you’re prepared to use one of those aforementioned items with this product, you won’t be disappointed, but it’s not much of a standalone product without getting moderate fallout over time. It was easiest to wear buffed onto my cheeks, as it melded with the skin there more than when I applied it to the inner corner, as I enjoyed noticeable fallout throughout the eight hours I wore it for (unless I used it with a setting spray). There was light sparkle migration over time but what I’d deem “acceptable” for a such a sparkle-heavy product. It had medium, buildable pigmentation depending on how it was applied and what it was applied over.
The formula is supposed to be "buildable, blendable, [and] light-reflective" and can be used on the eyes, face, and body. The brand says that they can be applied with "brush or fingers," and while they say that "for cleaner application and stronger hold, wet brush with" an adhesive spray, it does imply it can be used without for less clean/less hold. The powders seem as finely-milled as they're going to get, but they have micro-sparkle and sparkle to them so they have a drier, almost loose glittery texture overall. Some shades seemed to have a stronger base color that came through than others, which were more glittery overall with a sheerer or transparent base.
I wore several of them on cheeks as well as eyes with most shades performing decently without an adhesive spray/tacky base, but the wear time was between six and eight hours with light to moderate fallout (depending on the shade) on eyes and eight hours on cheeks with some sparkle migration over time. I definitely would recommend using the product with an adhesive spray for the "cleaner application and stronger hold" the brand says it would result in.
Make Up For Ever 109 Golden Star Lit Diamond Powder ($26.00 for 0.08 oz.) has a medium-dark, coppery-brown base with gold-to-green shifting sparkle and shimmer. It had a stronger, more pigmented base to it, and it seemed to melt a bit more on more normal-to-oily skin (rather than dry, like my arm) and didn’t sheer out too readily but would be best applied with a dampened brush or used with a tacky base/adhesive spray for maximum coverage and minimal fallout. The texture felt as finely-milled as expected, given it had a lot of sparkles in it.
There was a definite shift that was noticeable, though it tended too look a bit brighter and lighter (almost in-between shift and no-shift) overall. For example, I wore it on my lower lash line (shown above) and it has a greener look (with neither copper nor gold dominating), whereas it was more gold-green shift on my cheeks (and I enhanced the gold tones by using it with a yellowish highlighter for the look in the slideshow). On its own, it lasted for eight hours with moderate fallout on my lid but closer to eight hours with some traveling/migration on cheeks.
The formula is supposed to be "buildable, blendable, [and] light-reflective" and can be used on the eyes, face, and body. The brand says that they can be applied with "brush or fingers," and while they say that "for cleaner application and stronger hold, wet brush with" an adhesive spray, it does imply it can be used without for less clean/less hold. The powders seem as finely-milled as they're going to get, but they have micro-sparkle and sparkle to them so they have a drier, almost loose glittery texture overall. Some shades seemed to have a stronger base color that came through than others, which were more glittery overall with a sheerer or transparent base.
I wore several of them on cheeks as well as eyes with most shades performing decently without an adhesive spray/tacky base, but the wear time was between six and eight hours with light to moderate fallout (depending on the shade) on eyes and eight hours on cheeks with some sparkle migration over time. I definitely would recommend using the product with an adhesive spray for the "cleaner application and stronger hold" the brand says it would result in.
Make Up For Ever 107 Bronze Star Lit Diamond Powder ($26.00 for 0.08 oz.) has a medium, coppery base (with warmer undertones) paired with flecks of gold and pink sparkle that give it a peach-to-pink shifting finish. Most of the time, it read “peachy-copper with pink sheen” when I wore it on my cheeks with a slightly warmer and cooler appearance as I moved or tilted my face. As I mention in the “formula overview,” this product worked best with some tackiness, whether patted over a cream eyeshadow, tacky base, liquid/cream foundation, or with an adhesive spray, which helped the micro-sparkles adhere better with less transfer/movement over time. The pigmentation was buildable and really depended on tool/application method and how much product one picked up (loose products are harder to be consistent with how “much” is picked up compared to a pressed eyeshadow).
When I used this dry as a cheek product, it applied fairly well and blended out nicely with visible sparkles but did not emphasize my skin’s natural texture. There was slight migration of the sparkles over time but not to a troublesome degree (where they went so far that it was a wonder how they managed the feat). When I used it dry as an eyeshadow, it had slight fallout when applied and continuous fallout when worn, and I found using it with a dampened brush (even just water) helped it go on more smoothly and have less fallout over time, though using it with an adhesive spray is your best bet for longer hold.
The formula is supposed to be "buildable, blendable, [and] light-reflective" and can be used on the eyes, face, and body. The brand says that they can be applied with "brush or fingers," and while they say that "for cleaner application and stronger hold, wet brush with" an adhesive spray, it does imply it can be used without for less clean/less hold. The powders seem as finely-milled as they're going to get, but they have micro-sparkle and sparkle to them so they have a drier, almost loose glittery texture overall. Some shades seemed to have a stronger base color that came through than others, which were more glittery overall with a sheerer or transparent base.
I wore several of them on cheeks as well as eyes with most shades performing decently without an adhesive spray/tacky base, but the wear time was between six and eight hours with light to moderate fallout (depending on the shade) on eyes and eight hours on cheeks with some sparkle migration over time. I definitely would recommend using the product with an adhesive spray for the "cleaner application and stronger hold" the brand says it would result in.
Make Up For Ever 108 Burgundy Star Lit Diamond Powder ($26.00 for 0.08 oz.) is a reddish-copper base with blue-to-tea shifting sparkle/pearl. There was a noticeable shift at times, though I found it had the most noticeable shift as a cheek color and less of a shift as an eyeshadow (but very sparkling!). The texture felt like a mix of loose powder eyeshadow and glitter, so it didn’t feel finely-milled or silky as there was quite a bit of larger sparkles in it that gave it a more textured, drier feel. It had more semi-sheer, buildable pigmentation I used it dry and more medium to opaque coverage when I used it with a wet brush (depending on how much product I picked up). It worked best applied with a dampened brush or over a tacky base, like liquid foundation to use it as a cheek color or setting spray as an eye color. When I wore it alone as an eyeshadow, most of the color was intact after eight hours but there was some fallout. When I wore it with an adhesive spray, it lasted for eight hours with minimal fallout.
The formula is supposed to be "buildable, blendable, [and] light-reflective" and can be used on the eyes, face, and body. The brand says that they can be applied with "brush or fingers," and while they say that "for cleaner application and stronger hold, wet brush with" an adhesive spray, it does imply it can be used without for less clean/less hold. The powders seem as finely-milled as they're going to get, but they have micro-sparkle and sparkle to them so they have a drier, almost loose glittery texture overall. Some shades seemed to have a stronger base color that came through than others, which were more glittery overall with a sheerer or transparent base.
I wore several of them on cheeks as well as eyes with most shades performing decently without an adhesive spray/tacky base, but the wear time was between six and eight hours with light to moderate fallout (depending on the shade) on eyes and eight hours on cheeks with some sparkle migration over time. I definitely would recommend using the product with an adhesive spray for the "cleaner application and stronger hold" the brand says it would result in.
Make Up For Ever Artist Color Shadow ($17.00 for 0.08 oz.) is a large range with over 100 shades, and there were winners and losers throughout the five finishes the range is divided into. I really enjoyed some shades, and I found others more challenging to use. I really did not like that the brand kept names but often changed colors or finishes to the point where I think it causes confusion. They didn’t seem to last quite as well on bare skin as before (particularly the shimmery shades), but they were easier to work with over various eyeshadow primers (previously, I often experienced better application over bare skin than some primers).
I think that the formula lost some of its uniqueness in the reformulation as most of the shades became a bit denser and slightly less pigmented as a result, as they were not as yielding to brushes, and the richness of the original formula definitely was a big reason why I was so impressed the first time around. The other factor that was in play for me, personally, is simply that a lot of brands have since rolled out more dimethicone-heavy formulations, so upon going through both the original Artist Shadow and the reformulated Artist Color Shadow ranges, I was just less blown away.
I spent a lot of time going back-and-forth between the two formulas, and I largely preferred the updated matte formula as it is a lot less powdery and more velvety, so they work more readily on bare skin whereas the mattes of the prior range I felt needed primer to apply best. I did not fully review and rate all the individual shades of the original formula, so it’s hard to compare solely by rating. The other formulas seemed to depend more on the shade, though the updated Satins and Iridescents were definitely firmer across the board.
The original Artist Shadow formula had a creamier, slightly softer, and thicker feel for finishes like Metallic, Iridescent, and Satin, while I felt the original Diamond finish was denser/thicker (heavier almost) and the Matte finish was more powdery but similar in softness and pigmentation (I did not find the original Mattes to be ultra pigmented across the board–semi-opaque to opaque, buildable, which you can see in my original swatches here). By and large, I found the formula to be easy to work with and did not have to spend a lot of time blending or fussing with the shades on the lid.
