Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow Pencil Swatches, Review

 Top-bottom: 07 Black Ink (matte), 08 Espresso (matte), 09 Cafe Au Lait (matte), 10 Almond Cream (matte), 11 Sand Dunes (metallic), 12 Golden Bronze (metallic)

Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow in Black Ink

 Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow in Espresso

 Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow in Cafe Au Lait

 Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow in Sand Dunes

 Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow in Golden Bronze

 Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow in Almond Cream

(Media sample)

I was able to try some of Milani's new, limited edition offering for this month of May: the Milani Shadow Eyez 12-Hour Wear Eye Shadow Pencils.  They are your usual chubby shadow sticks that many different brands have - from NYX, to Urban Decay, to MAC and even Sephora.  The Milani Shadow Eyez that I've tried come in two finishes - matte and metallic.  When I first saw the mattes, I thought they would tug at the lids or be very hard to apply because of the matte texture.  I was very wrong!

The Milani Shadow Eyez eye shadow pencils in the matte formula are probably the best matte shadow pencils I've tried.  They are amazingly creamy, very opaque and amazingly pigmented!  Take a look at the swatches!

Swatches:

L-R: 07 Black Ink (matte), 08 Espresso (matte), 09 Cafe Au Lait (matte), 10 Almond Cream (matte), 11 Sand Dunes (metallic), 12 Golden Bronze (metallic)

 07 Black Ink (matte), 08 Espresso (matte), 09 Cafe Au Lait (matte)

 09 Cafe Au Lait (matte), 10 Almond Cream (matte), 11 Sand Dunes (metallic), 12 Golden Bronze (metallic)

As you can see, they look very creamy, very pigmented, and they apply like buttah on the lids.  They glide effortlessly on the skin and are quite dreamy.  I especially love the mattes, and I like that they come in neutral shades so I can use them on an everyday basis.

07 Black Ink (matte) is a beautiful matte black that is perfect to apply as a base for dark smokey looks, or you can aso use it to apply on the lower lashline with an angled liner brush.  I'd set it with a black powder shadow for maximum staying power.

08 Espresso (matte) is a beautiful matte dark chocolate brown for neutral looks.   09 Cafe Au Lait (matte) is a nice milk-chocolate shade.  10 Almond Cream (matte) is my favorite of all as it blends easily into my skintone for the perfect invisible base, but it evens skintone and hides unsightly veins.

The metallic ones are 11 Sand Dunes and 12 Golden Bronze.  While I like the mattes more, these put a really nice sheen on the lids to make it look more refreshed and awake.  They also make good eye shadow bases.

All in all, I am really impressed with these Milani Shadow Eyez pencils.  They are available this May at your local drugstore or Target.

(Media sample was provided by PR for consideration.  All opinions are mine.)