The only real downside is that they can sometimes be pressed too firmly or too softly, so they’re too stiff or prone to being as messy as a loose eyeshadow but without the intensity/payoff of a loose eyeshadow.
— Christine
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
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!
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!
Since my eyeshadows are 99.9 % pressed, not loose, I don’t think I have much to dislike about most of them! Other than the occasional off pressed (too loose, too glittery, too stiff), these will always be my favorite and first choice in my own eyeshadow stash.
They are my favorite too! Don’t like them with chunks of glitter. I use eyeshadow as eyeliner and it works great!
Ease of use is the big one! I like to use my finger for glittery or shimmery shades and that’s just not possible with a loose shadow.
The few loose shadows that I have are such a pain to use because of the need for glitter glue, the risk of powder getting everywhere, etc.
Pressed eyeshadow, like every other beauty product, when done properly is perfect. I generally prefer pressed eyeshadows, particularly satin and soft shimmery ones. I don’t like loose eyeshadow at all.
I like how pressed shadows can be more easily handled (in palettes)- you just pop them open and bam, you can go between every color. With loose shadows, I have to carefully unscrew each individual shadow container, and to be careful I don’t accidentally drag and drop one powder into another. That said, I still prefer loose shadow for the color payoff and performance. Plus, in the indie scene, most of the super interesting duo- and multichromes are loose.