Milani Shadow Eyez 12 Hour Wear Eyeshadow Pencils Swatches and Review

Yet another new release from Milani this year: a line of long-wearing eyeshadow pencils in vibrant colors. They're called Shadow Eyez and the promise a creamy formula with crease-proof, water-resistant all day wear.

Ingredients and instructions
(click to enlarge)

Left to right:
Winter White, Brown Deluxe, Champagne Toast, Green Safari, Aquatic Style, Royal Purple

Milani Shadow Eyez Eyeshadow Pencil in 01 Winter White

Winter white is a sheer, bright white shimmer. It's a little chunkier shimmer-wise and a little more sheer than the other shades in the collection.

Milani Shadow Eyez Eyeshadow Pencil in 02 Brown Deluxe

Brown Deluxe is a gorgeous sparkling brown. It has a bronze-brown metallic base with a good amount of gold and copper shimmer on top.

Milani Shadow Eyez Eyeshadow Pencil on 03 Champagne Toast

Champagne Toast is a medium peach metallic base with heavy silvery-champagne shimmer. It can appear darker or lighter at different angles due to the way the reflective metallic shimmer sits on top of the base color.


Milani Shadow Eyez Eyeshadow Pencil in 04 Green Safari

Green Safari is the green I've been wishing for forever. It's a true green- not teal, not sea green, not aqua. It has a more yellow-toned base than any green shadow or liner pencil I own. It has a metallic finish that adds a nice reflective glow to the already bright color.

Milani Shadow Eyez Eyeshadow Pencil in 05 Aquatic Style

Aquatic Style is an aqua blue metallic. It has a darker blue base with a bit of green and the metallic shimmer is lighter and more cool toned.

Milani Shadow Eyez Eyeshadow Pencil in 06 Royal Purple

Another impressive color. It's a bold purple and the only matte shade in the collection. There is some blue shimmer in the color but it doesn't appear shimmery on the lids.


What I really like about these pencils is that you don't have to use them as eyeshadow, you can use them as eyeliner just as easily. I'm not much of a fan of cream shadows, but I do love a good waterproof liner...

Milani Shadow Eyez in Green Safari used as eyeliner

What I liked:

• I don't think I could have asked for a better color selection. The colors are bold, vibrant and shiny, there's a good mix of brights and neutrals, and every single one is gorgeous. The only thing this collection is missing is a grey or taupe smoky eye color and maybe a good orange, gold or red.
  
• Smooth, easy application. The pencil is soft and glides on without any skipping or tugging whether you're applying it to your entire eyelid or just using it as liner.
• Most of the colors are opaque in one coat.
  
• When I wore these as a lid color, I didn't experience any fading, creasing or flaking. They really do last all day.
• They make a good sticky base for sparkly pressed or loose eyeshadows. Good at holding shimmer and glitter in place.
  
• Cheap! MSRP is $5.99.
• Easy to remove. It recommends dual-phase eye makeup remover but they came off just fine with plain facial cleanser for me.
  
• They are water resistant, they won't run if they get wet. They're not completely waterproof, though, and will start to come off if you rub your eyes a lot.
• The packaging is attractive and I love the way the color of the pencil matches the product inside.
  

What I didn't like:

• The lids don't fit very well. They tend to fall off even when I thought I'd capped them tightly. You have to really jam them down onto the pencil, but I can see that leading to the cap splitting eventually. Be careful carrying them in your purse or makeup bag because they will come open at some point.
• Shadow Eyez? Really? That's the best name they could come up with? Eyezzzzzz. Urgh.
  
• They take a little longer to set than I'd like and they're kinda sticky, which could cause the shadow to come off in some spots if you blink too much while waiting for them to dry.
• Winter White and Royal Purple are the two sheerest colors. They will become opaque if you apply two coats, but it can be hard to apply a second coat without smudging or removing the first coat.
• Can look chunky and thick if you apply too much product/too many layers.
  
• They interfere with shadow blending too much for me to use them in the crease with a powder shadow on top. They really grab onto powder shadow, which makes them great as a base for other shadows on the lid, but create harsh lines if you try to blend them out. They're lid and liner only colors for me.
• You need a large-barrel sharpener for these. I'd prefer if they were twist-up pencils, that way they waste less product and are more convenient.

I like these a lot. I am not really into cream shadow, so I can't see myself using them for that purpose very often, but they rock as eyeliner. You wouldn't think that such a chubby/wide pencil would make a thin enough line for eyeliner, but they actually do! The bright color combined with the shiny metallic finish makes them really eye-catching. They're just as nice as the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils, but about a quarter of the price. Better/brighter color selection and slightly smoother application, too. These are really similar to the Milani Liquif'Eye eyeliner pencils I love, just a lot bigger.

Milani Shadow Eyez 12 Hour Wear Eyeshadow Pencils are a CVS exclusive and retail at $5.99 for each 0.1 oz / 2.8 g pencil.

(This was sent for review.)