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My Favorite Cream Shadow Formula!
As a cream shadow lover, I have sung the praises several times for my favorite shimmer cream eyeshadow, Charlotte Tilbury Eyes to Mesmerize. I own 3 or 4 of them. They are so creamy, hydrating, pigmented with just the right amount of shimmer.
I have been dreaming about two things:
- the day CT goes beyond gold and rose gold and introduces some silvery shades
- the day CT adds matte shadows to the Eyes to Mesmerize collection.
The New Matte Cream Shadows
Several weeks ago, I either got an email or saw an ad on Facebook from Charlotte Tilbury announcing the launch of several new matte shades on their website. I was psyched! There were two shades that especially interested me:
- Nude Cashmere: a pinky/peach that we used to call “flesh tone” back in the day that is quite similar to the Painterly MAC Paint Pot
- Smokey Taupe: a taupe shade that I found very appealing since it looks like a combo of beige and grey.
Flawless Beige, cafe au lait neutral, also looked nice.
Like the shimmer Eyes to Mesmerize, a small pot is priced at $34 – to me, a pricey purchase.
I decided to wait till the Sephora VIB sale so I could try to buy one at a discount. Then, I wasn’t able to find the Matte version at Sephora. Surprisingly, I either got an ad for CT in my FB feed on Saturday or I got an email. Whatever. It mentioned that Klarna, a pay-now-pay-later service like AfterPay, was offering 25% off on your first Klarna purchase. I was sold.
I decided to go with Nude Cashmere because I lost my pot of MAC Painterly, and it was probably 3 years old anyway. I also thought I would wear it more often than Smokey Taupe. I bought the matte shadow on the CT website, and I created a Klarna account so I could pay for it in 4 payments. I used Shopprunner so I got it delivered for free, though it took 4 days instead of 2. No biggie.
As you could probably guess, I took a quick set of photos immediately so I could try out the new matte shadow. Looks promising.
Buyer Beware!
After putting my finger in the jar to take some out, the feeling of the cream was stiff, almost hard. I couldn’t get enough out to apply it to my eyes. I got a brush and tried that. While I was able to get some cream shadow on the brush, it was still stiff, the opposite of creamy. I applied it over my usual, Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer. It was unspreadable. It would have been unblendable.
Here’s the swatch on my arm:
Where is it, you ask? Beats me. Obviously, I chose the wrong shade, but that’s only part of the problem.
Although it did cover the red-purple of my eyelids, the shadow looked dry, flat and dull. I thought it made me look sick. Ick.
I hadn’t known the the formula for the matte cream shadow is different from the shimmer cream shadow. Ugh, if I had known that, I probably would have passed. This afternoon, I discovered a Reddit thread discussing how bad the CT Matte Eyes to Mesmerize Shadows were. One woman wisely suggested that CT would have been better off giving it a different name since it’s a different formula. Now, the matte cream has tarnished the reputation of the shimmer cream shadow. Boo.
I am trying to return it. Even at 25% off, I don’t want this because I won’t use it. Unfortunately so far, I have been unsuccessful at arranging for a return. You can to go to the website to initiate the return by putting in your email address and “the order number”. One customer service rep in the Philippines told me to put in the “order number” from the sheet that came with my delivery. It didn’t work.
I called back again, listened to the long introduction, finally got another CS rep in the Philippines who told me I put in the wrong number, I should put in the P.O. number. This time, while the rep stayed on the phone, I put in the P.O. number and that didn’t work either. She tried to do it for me, and it didn’t work for her either. Error message.
The second CS rep said she would contact their tech department to find out what the problem is, and she would get back to me by email within 24 hours. No reply as yet.
To make a long story short, I wouldn’t buy this matte shadow if I were you. Nevertheless, the shimmer Eyes to Mesmerize is still my fave.
Well that’s a bummer! And this must be the issue with CT that you mentioned to me yesterday. I meant to ask you, what shimmery shadow were you wearing, because it looked beautiful on you! Good luck with the return, I hate it when companies make it so difficult 🙁
WOW, what a huge disappointment, Allison! It sounds like they need to rename it and reformulate it as well! Such a bummer!
Lola Seicento recently posted…L’OCCITANE FRIENDS & FAMILY 20% OFF SALE
Exactly!
Well that didnt go how I expected. lol. I’m sorry! Such a disappointment when you build it up in your head and then find out its a dud! I am currently trying a totally new brand of cosmetics of me called Phytosurgence. The cream blush is amazing and pigmented. but I got this weird highlighter powder/cream thing and I cannot for the life of me get anything off the pan. lol A brush doesn’t work, only my finger but they advertise it with their own brush! So I’m trying to figure out how to use it without their own brush
I think I remember the Phytosurgence cream blushes that you reviewed. It looked forgeous! Too bad about the highlighter. Weird that even their brush doesn’t help!
Oh no. You just saved me a fortune. I love these cream shadows but obviously I won’t be buying the matte now. I hope you get your money back.
Marcia recently posted…April Showers Beauty Spotlight Team
I’m glad I prevented you from trying the current CT matte formula, Marcia. Hopefully, they’ll reformulate it and let us know!