Hi Guys & Dolls!

Earlier this year I received a press release about new Milani Powder Eyeshadows, and I was instantly excited: I was so amped for this release because for whatever reason I anticipated that these would be similar to the MAC sized (and MAC Dupe) shadows Milani used to sell in drugstores a few years ago. I majorly built these up in my head and the day they arrived it took a great deal of will power to not touch them until I had taken photos.

I was thrilled when I did!

These are exceptional quality: the mattes are not chalky, the pearls are smooth, and everything has great color payoff. I’ve already used several of these bad boys in tutorials (Click here and here). The Packaging on these is great-relitively easy to open and simple in design- some of my favorite packaging from a mass retail/drugstore cosmetic line. I highly recommend these, they are available now as a CVS exclusive, but should be available on the Milani website soon.

The Colorful Shadows

Tickled Pink

Warm pink with gold shimmer.

Comparable Shades: Very similar to an older Milani Shadow ”Illusion”, less warm compared to Ben Nye Apricot Pink.

Shocking Pink

Neon Pink, matte texture. One of those colors that looks bleached out in photos because it is so bright.

Comparable Shades: Lighter than MUFE #76, Less magenta compared to Sugarpill Dollipop

Olympian Blue

Neon Blue, Matte Texture. One of those colors that looks bleached out  in photos because it is so bright.

Comparable Shades: More Blue Compared to MAC Electric Eel, Less blue compared to MAC Atlantic Blue.

Purple Shock

Purple-Blue duo-chrome, pearl texture.

Comparable Shades: MAC Violet Pigment is similar, but lacking a duo-chome, MAC Stars & Rockets, Urban Decay Fishnet & Ben Nye Cosmic Violet are similar though more pink.

Gold Dust

Warm Yellow Gold, pearl texture. This one almost has an orange-pink like duo-chrome, kind of a dialed down Melon Pigment. It’s the least smooth of all the pearl texture shadows of this launch and the most powdery- however it’s still a great shadow!

Comparable Shades: This is a similar to many gold eyeshadows- Ben Nye Aztec Gold and MAC Goldmine are smoother, less warm, Urban Decay Honey is smoother & cooler, MAC Melon Pigment has a stronger duo-chrome.

Just Perfect

Deep Teal With a golden shimmer, pearl texture.

Comparable Shades- At first glance this is a dead ringer for MAC’s Teal Pigment (the pre-2010 formula) but when you swatch them side by side Just Perfect’s base is bluer, and teal has little micro glitter.  This is as close to the old Teal Pigment as you can get- snatch it up- it’s simply gorgeous!

 

Colorful Shadows With Flash, Swatched dry with Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base.

Colorful Shadows Without Flash

The Earthtones

Brown Stone

Medium Chocolate Brown, satin texture.

Comparable Shades: This is similar to many brown shadows, however I wasn’t able to find a dead-on dupe- it has a warm-yet ash appearance that is similar to MAC Mystery but it’s not that dark, it’s sort of a warm version of MAC Brun. This would be great as a brow shade for many different hair colors, much the way that Brun & Mystery are (hint- I used those 2 on 85% of clients, when brow powder is used) so this would be a great one for budding makeup artists to use in their kit.

Caramel Brown

Bronze Gold-Brown, pearl Texture.

Comparable Shades: This is another that has several similar color but no dead-ringer dupes-MAC Woodwinked is less brown, more gold, Urban Decay Smog and Wet ‘n Wild Comfort Zone  are browner.

Pearl

Barely there nude, pearl texture. I know that most of the time I come off like the pigmentatation-police; giving higher praise to product with the most color pay-off, but I have to tell you I have a real soft-spot for sheer highlight colors. Pearl is a highly useful color, and while we all ooh and ahh at the Olympian Blues & shocking pinks of the world- colors like Pearl are must-haves. Pearl is smooth and not too frosty so she makes a perfect brow bone or inner corner highlight, or all over wash for a simple makeup look.

Comparable Shades: MAC Phloof is pinker, more frosty, MAC Naked Lunch is more peach, Urban Decay Bootycall is more yellow, with more shimmer, Urban Decay Virgin is more frosted.  MAC Shroom is very close, in fact they might be dead ringers, but on my super pale skin it is difficult to tell.

French Vanilla

Off-white Cream, matte texture.

Comparable Shades: I don’t ahve anything that is a dead-ringer, most are too beige, too pink, too peach. MAC Blanc Type is pinker & whiter, MAC Brule is probably as close as I can get, but Brule is slightly more yellow based.

White Lie

White, matte texture.

Comparable Shades: Matte white eyeshadow pretty much all looks the same, so we’ll just just compare by pigmentation: MAC Gesso is Less pigmented, Sugapill Tako is more pigmented, and Wet ‘n’ Wild Pride is the most pigmented.

Pitch Black

Black, satin texture.

Comparable Shades-Again, I’ll rank a few based on color payoff/the richness of the black, from Lightest to deepest: MAC Carbon, Sugapill Bulletproof, Wet ‘n’ Wild Blue had Me at Hello, Pitch Black & Urban Decay Blackout.

Earthtone Shadows, No Flash.

The Bottom Line- These are great- I love that there is a mix of colors and textures-well done Milani! Now please give us more, more, more colors!

Price: $4.99 for 3.1 gm of product 

Where to buy: For now this is a CVS Exclusive, though it should be on the Milani Website soon!

What is your favorite brand for inexpensive Single Shadows?

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Disclosure: Some of the products shown were sent by PR; others were purchased myself. Complimentary products never receive preferential treatment; My Subscribers are my #1 priority so if I wouldn’t recommend it to my best friend, I won’t recommend it to you. This video/post contains opinions that are solely my own; I am not influenced by, nor do I represent any company.