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Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint Review, Photos, Swatches

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint ($24.00 for 0.14 oz.) is medium-dark black with silver sparkle. MAC Blackground has a warmer base and smaller shimmer. Urban Decay Oil Slick is also a bit warmer (and a powder product). Buxom Black Lab is similar but has multi-colored sparkle.

It had so-so color payoff; it is more easily applied as a sheer wash of color (so then it turns into a dark gray), and if you attempt to build up the color, it doesn’t work out so well. It tended to bunch up and layer in odd ways so that it didn’t give you a smooth, even result. The texture was smoother than Steel, but it had a very dry, almost flaky texture once it dried down. The color came off in chunks throughout the day. I tested it twice just to be sure, but it was the same: splotchy color, fall out, and then light creasing after eight hours.

See more photos & swatches!

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

Estee Lauder Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel / Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint

28 Comments

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Ellen Avatar

Just terrible. Although I must admit, it’s fun seeing F and D reviews, in a “holy train wreck, Batman!” kind of way. If you can’t get something like this to work, Christine, there’s no hope for me!

Dominique Avatar

So beautiful on the hand and in the pan, but the formula is really very bad. Why did Estee Lauder ( and Tom Pecheux ! ) launch such a bad product ? Well..

blueraccoon Avatar

Christine, you can usually make *anything* look good but this just looks patchy and faded on your lid. I’m bummed; the color would be gorgeous if it were a better product.

Ani_BEE Avatar

This is how the Hard Candy liquid eyeshadows performed on me (in particular the flaking!)…

Really Estee Lauder you need to reformulate the base for this products as this is not a colour failure issue at all.

Genevieve Avatar

Wow- the flaking in that last picture is truly shameful! With so many good cream products out there this is definitely inexcusable – especially from EL- and a definite pass!

xamyx Avatar

All we have to do is look at the decline in quality of Bobbi Brown & MAC to see the direction EL is headed. Their M.O. is simply to put out hyped-up LE collections to generate sales, and it has been that way for years, but at least the product was quality. Even the permanent range has declined over the years. I have shadows from 20 years ago, and when I compare them to those purchased in the last couple of years, there is such an obvious difference.

blueraccoon Avatar

I actually think EL’s been putting out a lot of really good products lately. The whole Pure Color line–blushes, glosses, lipsticks, and the gelee eyeshadows–are really excellent. I have one Pure Color blush and I love it and will probably be buying more. This is a miss from them, and the sheer matte lipsticks are also a miss, but if you check Christine’s reviews they’ve been doing really well over the last couple years.

Gina Avatar

I don’t know, to me it looks like Bobbi Brown is doing really well. The only negative review I’ve seen from them was a recent eyeshadow palette. Everything else gets glowing reviews from Christine.

xamyx Avatar

I’m only going on what I’ve swatched in-store in terms of BB, and I’m just not impressed. As for EL, I picked up a few items here & there within the last 5 years, and compared to what I had in my stash from High School (I recently did a huge purge), the pigmentation & texture just weren’t the same. Also, given ELs history of sales tactics, and after watching the slow decline of MACs quality over the past few years, I see EL going the same route. There’s alot more competition out there, so I think they’re going to use the LE hype at the expense of quality to push their products. They used this M.O. in the past, and it pushed several brands off the market, while others were relegated to DS status. I have nothing against their tactics, as we do live in a free-market society, but as a consumer, I choose quality over hype.

Veronica Avatar

I seriously hope someone took you out for a drink this past weekend. I feel like you needed one after testing out such a long series of under-performing products.

Monica Brown Avatar

It disappoints me that Estee Lauder would release something of that quality! I expect better from them. And bums me out for future releases. They are supposed to have cream blushers coming out soon and I hope they are the Estee Lauder quality I love so much!

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