Archived Post

Sephora Night Owl, Rio, Desert Rose, Swan Songs Colorful Eyeshadows Reviews, Photos, Swatches

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow

This spring, Sephora added five new Lustre Matte finish eyeshadows to their Color Eyeshadow range. I have four of the five here that I’ve tested (I don’t have Berry Crush at this time). This is a really nice finish for someone who likes the idea of mattes but often finds them troublesome to apply and/or blend, as these are easier to blend and use, but they aren’t too shimmery.

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow ($13.00 for 0.07 oz.) is described as a “royal blue purple.” It’s a cool-toned, muted, medium-dark purple with a satin sheen. It had fairly good color payoff, though it was buildable to opaque color. The texture was soft, silky, and easy to blend, and it lasted well for eight hours before showing signs of fading. Makeup Geek Duchess (P, $5.99) is warmer, more muted. Disney by Sephora Mystical Wonder (LE) is lighter, more shimmery. See comparison swatches of all shades or view them side-by-side on The Dupe List.

Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow ($13.00 for 0.07 oz.) is described as a “soft orange.” It’s a muted, medium orange with a satin sheen. It had good pigmentation, and the texture, while silky and smooth, was a little powdery, so this was a shade that I felt like I kept patting on and not getting the intensity as seen in the pan. The color wore well for seven and a half hours before looking faded around the edges. Over a primer, it was less problematic in that regard. NARS Ramatuelle #3 (LE, $24.00) is more muted, more shimmery. MAC Coral (P, $15.00) is darker. MAC Ablaze (LE, $15.00) is darker. Dior Pareo (P, $29.00) is brighter. Make Up For Ever #5 (P, $20.00) is darker. See comparison swatches of all shades or view them side-by-side on The Dupe List.

Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow ($13.00 for 0.07 oz.) is described as a “warm light rose.” It’s a soft, light peach with warm undertones and a satiny sheen. There’s just a hint of pink, and it’s more noticeable if you had a true peach next to it. The color payoff was fantastic–rich and opaque–while the texture was soft and blendable. I didn’t notice any fading until after the eighth hour of wear. MAC Warm Breeze (P, $15.00) is lighter. Too Faced Spike the Punch (LE, $16.00) is a smidgen lighter. Wet ‘n’ Wild Newport Nights #2 (LE) is more matte. MAC Bare Minimum (LE, $15.00) is darker. See comparison swatches of all shades or view them side-by-side on The Dupe List.

Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow ($13.00 for 0.07 oz.) is described as a “pale shell pink.” It’s a pink-tinged white with a mostly matte finish. I didn’t get much of a satiny sheen with this shade like I did with the other three. It had good color payoff, and the texture was soft without being powdery. This shade wore well for almost eight hours before showing signs of fading along the edges. Laura Mercier Vanilla Nuts (P, $23.00) is very similar. MAC Ever Ivory(P, $21.00) is more beige. MAC Flounce (P, $15.00) is darker. Urban Decay Strange (P, $18.00) is warmer. Too Faced Powdered Sugar (LE, $16.00) is similar. Tom Ford Beauty In the Pink #1 (LE) is warmer. Marc Jacobs Beauty The Tease #3 (P) is similar. theBalm Matt Chung (LE, $16.00) is cooler-toned. See comparison swatches of all shades or view them side-by-side on The Dupe List.

Night Owl (93)

DCDiscontinued. $10.00.
B+
B+
9
Product
9
Pigmentation
9
Texture
8
Longevity
5
Application
89%
Total

Rio (91)

DCDiscontinued. $10.00.
B-
B-
8
Product
9
Pigmentation
7.5
Texture
7.5
Longevity
4
Application
80%
Total

Desert Rose (90)

DCDiscontinued. $10.00.
A
A
9.5
Product
10
Pigmentation
10
Texture
8
Longevity
5
Application
94%
Total

Swan Song (89)

DCDiscontinued. $10.00.
A
A
9.5
Product
10
Pigmentation
10
Texture
7.5
Longevity
5
Application
93%
Total

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Night Owl (93) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Rio (91) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Desert Rose (90) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow

Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow
Sephora Swan Song (89) Colorful Eyeshadow

44 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Mariella Avatar

I love some of Sephora’s new makeup products – their jumbo shadow and skinny liner pencils are superb and the prices are so good. Ditto their eye shadows (and they give you a bit of a “deal” if you buy 3, I think – you get a free palette for depotting; I’d still prefer “pro pan” type shadows but it’s better than nothing). They have really improved their stuff to the point where their pencils are now my “HG” choices. I think I might be adding Swan Song and Night Owl to my list of things I want to get!

LU Avatar

Sephora Swan Song looks like it could be a nice cool highlighter, would you agree Christine? I’ve been searching for a nice matte-satin to use for cool looks instead of my go everything highlighter, Sephora Disney Cinderella a wish eyeshadow.

Leticia Avatar

What a nice surprise these eyeshadows are! I really like them, especially Night Owl. Your description of the finish makes me think it is perfect for my taste. I’ll be sure to look for these on my next visit to Sephora. I really hadn’t considered before to buy any makeup from the Sephora line, but these babies are right up my alley. New addition to my wishlist :D!

SandraJT Avatar

I picked up just one Sephora eyeshadow a few days ago in Red Wine, which is a matte, as well as one of their waterproof gel liners. Bought them as an afterthought. I’m really glad I did because they’re both amazing. A swatch of the eyeliner still shows remnants 3 days later – it truly is waterproof, and bulletproof, and the matte shadow is beautiful. It’s crazily pigmented even on bare skin with no primer, it’s got a beautiful texture, it’s really easy to apply, blend & play with & doesn’t fade for many hours.

After seeing your swatches, I’ll definitely be checking out this new formula as well. Loving Rio! Sephora has some great stuff under their brand!

koolchicken Avatar

I’m so glad to see they’re adding more colors to their line, I love the Sephora eyeshadows. The colors are great, they don’t crease, and they stay all day- at least on me. I also love how they just pop out of the package so easily now. I pop them out, put them in a palette, and toss the packaging as soon as I get them. I have a couple huge palettes with just their eyeshadows. I know I’ll be adding Swan Song and Desert Rose to that collection sooner rather than later.

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!