Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint Review, Photos, Swatches
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint ($24.00 for 0.14 oz.) is a steely gray with gold and silver sparkle. It’s like a silvered pewter with a lot of sparkle and shine. Chanel Epatant is warmer, greener. Inglot #454 is warmer, less sparkly. Maybelline Audacious Asphalt is grayer, darker.
I can’t tell you how utterly fascinating this color is, only to be supremely disappointed at the quality of the product as a whole. It sparkles, dazzles, shimmies and dances in the light. It is so brilliant on the skin when I swatched it. On the lid, it is a mess; spotty color payoff, uneven color and texture, and looks creased from the get-go. The application is gritty, chunky, and never looks smooth. It made my lids look heavy and wrinkled. The disappointment didn’t stop there, though, because the fall out from this as it flaked off my lid throughout the day was painful and messy. I tried finger-tips, sponge-tip applicators, a variety of brushes, and nothing worked even decently. The only good thing I can say about the product is the color and way it sparkles is beautiful, but you never really get to see or enjoy it because it just doesn’t work well in practice.
Steel
PPermanent. $24.00.
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel Stay-On Shadow Paint
Estee Lauder Steel / Sinister Stay-On Shadow Paint
Yikes. The last picture says it all.
In the heavy swatch it almost looks like Zoya Fei Fei in cream eyeshadow form. Really gorgeous color…to look at.
Oba Noba.. it looks so incredible in the heavy swatch. Could it at least be used as a liner?
Only if you want to cry all day. It’s so, so chunky and doesn’t stay in place at all!
LoL..okay, so no! 😀
LOL!!! I keep running into people who like these things and say that they work well. I keep looking at them and saying, “you are obviously quite high… well… so are you going to pass that or not?!” LOL
I actually dropped the pot of this onto tile and it broke, so I put it in a empty MAC pigment jar… and the whole time I was like, “Why am I bothering?”
Aww!! Hahah I can completely picture that in my head! LOL
Oh my, that doesn’t look good indeed. What a shame 🙁
welcome to crumble city! I can feel it in my contacts just looking at the look you created. I like the color but it is a fail formulation wise! I have a Shu Umeura eye color that is similar and also Mac Electra could be a close dupe. I find that BE shadows can create a nice foil effect as well and I am sure that they have a silver!
Well, I guess we can already see it’s not just a fluke for this color! How do brands release products that fail like this?
I was wondering that exact same thing!!
Such a pity, was really looking forward to seeing how these worked!
Maybe we can all just wear it on our arms… seems to work much better there!
That last picture is horrid! What a disappointment because EL usually makes such great products. The color kind of reminds me of Bobbi Brown’s antique gold or chrome patina.
Incredibly pretty in the pan but yes definitely a mess on the lids ( what a pity ! ), I think I’d better use my Illusions d’Ombre instead !
Ohhhh, it’s so lovely in the swatch but so so bad on the lid! Gee whiz, how did they let that get produced!
This is the exact experience I had with Sinister. It was so amazing when swatched, but within minutes it would start to flake off and irritate my eyes.
Actually, looking at your photo, I’m guessing that you had the same experience with Sinister.
Photo certainly doesn’t say that my experience with Sinister was good, LOL!
I have this and you’re so right. It looks lovely in the pot and even on the back of my hand. But on the eye the colour and shimmer just dont show up at all, it is such a disappointment…
The swatch looks STUNNING. so disappointed with how it wears on the eye. major bummer, I would’ve definitely picked this up!
I’m using EL Steel as an eyeliner. Yes, there is fallout, but it looks beautiful with blue eyes.
At $24, you shouldn’t have to deal with fall out, IMO! My eyes can’t take the traveling of the glitter, personally – too irritating 🙁
Is it an option to mix it with fix+?
Fix+ is glycerin and water, I doubt it would do anything.
People use eye drops to make cake liner stay on, maybe that would work.
The swatch is incredibly pretty, but the result is so bad it’s laughable… What were they thinking?
Could it be used as just a light wash of sparkle like in the swatch? From playing with it in the store I think that’s how the product is meant to be applied.
As long as you don’t mind fall out everywhere, as it lacks staying power, not just payoff! It’s worth noting that they say “pure pigment” in a creamy shadow, “go from smoky to wildly intense,” “maximized color impact,” and “magnified vibrancy, clarity and dimension.”
Wow, that last picture is worth 1000 words for sure.
I’m not all that wild about the colour/shine but I have to say that the other shade, Sinister, looks even worse in terms of application and wear. What a patchy, greasy-looking mess. And from how you’ve described Steel, it’s every bit as bad.
I had the EXACT same expereince with this product! I was so fooled by swatching on my hand as well and I originally purchased Chained and had little to no application and wear issues. I was extremely bummed because the swatch is such a gorgeous color and not too much sparkle, better than Maybelline Audacious Asphalt and nice addition to Chanel Epatant BUT the hunt continues for a similar color. Thanks for sharing and hopefully no one else will buy and be disappointed!
I actually work for EL and have had trouble with the metallic shades I’ve found if you work with them VERY quickly if you want them sheered out, or get on one good even coat for full coverage it doesn’t crease or flake off. Side note there is no using a brush with these things it just FAILS. It sucks because the non metallic shades preform really well!
So sad, the swatch is stunning.
How does this compare to Benefit’s “Skinny Jeans”?
I thought they were similar but more like similar in concept but the two look so different on – Skinny Jeans is so, so dark and not glittery.
Pity it doesn’t “Stay On”…I would have bought it if not for your review because I only swatch eyeshadows and I never test those testers on my own lids. Then I would’ve bought something which swatched great but doesn’t work where its supposed to…
Oh whaaaaaat! That’s just unbelievable! Glad I saw your review – I would’ve been tempted to try these. But MUFE’s Aqua Cream in “steel” is a pretty close match for this, though not so glittery. And the MUFE wears like a MOFO.
My goodness Estee Lauder! Get it together. It’s so pretty but its so bad!
i have 2 similar indelible cream shadows: immortal and holographic. immortal is more metallic, while holographic has a pink duochrome effect. super long lasting and pretty inexpensive at most of the loose minerals etailers.
Shame. It’s a beautiful color.
Oh God, that looks terrible on the eye lid!
I agree with you L. especially on the eyelid, although it’s a beautiful color. And by the way thank you for this informative, eye-opening review.
Whoa! That picture does really say it all. I have a few MUFE Aqua Creams that apply exactly like that. I bought them before trying them on my eyes. So, now I have a bunch of stuff I wouldn’t want to give away. I think that would be mean to do to someone, it is just that bad. I swatched the EL shadow and it was awesome. I am so glad I didn’t get it though.
*shudders* Goodness…I am starting to think they only tested 1 or 2 shades from this new collection and assumed that since they all had the same formula, they would all perform the same way :/
Yeesh! The staying power is pathetIc:/
What a Sinister experience! Embarrassing at this price point, it looks like what a one dollar no name brand would look like and it´s way more expensive than that. It does look terrible and it´s a shame bacause the swatch is gorgeous.
I’m so disappointed. I had high hopes for this until I scrolled down as saw the “F”. It looks beautiful in the packaging.
what an expensive piece of crap! garbage eyeshadow mess. I know 5$ eyeshadows that are almost perfect and this one is a 24$ joke.
Shame on Tom Pecheaux for approving this, if he did. I was super excited when I saw these in the store. They’re all too sheer and patchy. Another one bites the dust. It’s so hard to find good cream shadows.
I like when you show how bad the products actually look when they get a bad grade. Sometimes you give a product a D or an F and then show pictures of it looking really nice on you. It definitely helps to see how it really performs and not just see a failing grade next to a nice look.
Yeesh :s I absolutely love the way this looks in the pot, but everything else is just — ouch. What a disappointment!
I really don’t understand how products like this are released. I know some very cheap cosmetics aren’t as obsessed with quality, which tends to be expected given the price point. But did NO ONE test this product? It gets to the point that I feel like this is illegal false advertising!
Oh wow, this is a letdown. It looks like it would all clump in the crease of my eye the second I put it on. I’m glad I saw this review before I say it in a store and bought it since the color is exactly my style…