Name: Colorful Mono Eyeshadow in Marie and Aspen Summit
Brand: Sephora
Size: 0.07oz
Price: €11,50
From Sephora’s website:
Sephora Mono Eyeshadow has the perfect, high-payoff combination of brilliant color, an easy-blending formula, and endless versatility that will revolutionize your eye-makeup outlook and deliver show-stopping effects. This expert formula comes in three fabulous finishes: matte, glittering, and metallic shimmer
What I liked:
– wide selection of shades available
– easy to blend
– good color payoff
– the price
– long-lasting if used with a primer
What I didn’t like:
– doesn’t last all day without a primer
– short shelf life
Last year, I had the chance to try Sephora Colorful Pearl Mono Eyeshadows through a swap but I found them sheer and overall average so I never purchased them. But now that those have been discounted and replaced with a new formula, I was willing to give them another try and bought two of them. So, is the new formula really better?
These new eyeshadows are available in more than 80 different shades, from natural to blacks to brights, in 3 different finishes: matte, glitter and metallic shimmer. With such a wide selection of shades, it’s impossible not to find one that you like and the price won’t be setting you back too much.
Marie is a brown shade with rosey undertone and a slightly metallic shimmer finish. I’m not a huge fan of neutral shades, but this one is really pretty and doesn’t make me look washed out, which is what some natural shades tend to do cos of my pale skin.
Aspen Summit is a white shade with a subtle hint of silver and a shimmer finish. This is one of the most pigmented white shades I have come across and I like that. White shades tend to be very sheer which is good since they are usually used as highlighters, but I like that I can actually get the color to show quite well with just a few swipes if I want to use it on the lid.
Both shades have a soft texture that is easy to blend without any fall out problems. They are medium-pigmented and I only need two or three swipes to get a good color payoff. A great improvement from the old formula considering those were so sheer I had to apply lots of layers for the color to even show up!
Like most eyeshadows, these are better used with a primer if you want the colors to last all day without creasing, especially if you have oily lids. Without, they’ll only last a few hours before disappearing and you’ll have to apply again.
I guess most of you will be happy to know these eyeshadows are paraben-free. As for me, I don’t have any problems with parabens so even if these shadows contained them, I would’ve still been happy about it. Instead, the preservatives in these eyeshadows are Sorbic Acid and Phenoxyethanol which are weak and don’t work as well as parabens.
Phenoxyethanol, just like parabens, has potential safety issues too, although the small amount used in cosmetics is generally considered to be safe. In any case, my problem is that these shadows have a shelf life of only 6 months (as opposed to 2 or 3 years of most eyeshadows), so if you’re the type of girl that uses the same eyeshadow every day, this is worth getting.
But if like me, you have lots of eyeshadows that it’s rare for you to even hit pan on those you use more often after two years, well, you may want to look for something that won’t go bad so soon. It’s difficult for powders to harbour bacteria anyway, unless you use them wet, so I guess you could use them a bit longer than 6 months as long as you’re careful.
Summary
Overall, the newly reformulated Sephora Colorful Mono Eyeshadows are much better than the old ones. They are soft to the touch, medium-pigmented and last all day if used with a primer. However, they have a short shelf-life.
Rating: 3.5/5
Disclaimer: the item was purchased by me for both personal and review purposes. The review is based on my own personal and honest experience with the product. For more information, please see my disclaimer.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I ordered one of the glitter Mono shadows back before they were reformulated and was really unhappy with it. It was all gritty and scratchy with hardly and colour payoff. And the glitter didn’t stick well, even with primer– I would have been better off just buying cosmetic glitter and dabbing it over a *nice* shadow.
So…I’m glad to hear the new formulas are better! Though the shelf life I’m kinda “ehhh” about. I’d rather just use loose shadow with a practically infinite shelf life :/
.-= Cathryn´s last blog ..Tatcha Blotting Papers =-.
Cathryn, I agree with you about the old formula, it was crap! The texture was horrible and the color payoff very poor. Mine was a shimmery shadows and I’m sorry to hear the glitter ones weren’t better either.
I really like this new formula, it’s smoother, has a good color payoff and is overall better. If it hadn’t been for the short shelf life, I’ve would probably rated them higher, but as it is I think they’re a waste of money, unless you use them daily. There are lots of other shadows that work just as well and last a lot longer and I’d rather get those instead.
That really sucks with the shelf life. I was thinking of getting a few eye shadows as well, so I guess maybe I should buy some basic colors that I know I would use daily so my money won’t go to waste. Thanks for the review Gio, I hope you’re doing well!
.-= Dee´s last blog ..Spring of Purple =-.
I like the Marie eyeshadow color and the swatch looks pretty good too.
.-= Tavia´s last blog ..CLINIQUE Brandied Bronze Makeup Collection for Summer 2010 =-.
These swatches looks actually very great! Love both shades!
.-= Anastacia´s last blog ..Make Up Tutorial : Midnight Silver + Finished Products =-.
Dee, you’re welcome and thanks, I’m fine and I hope you are too.
These eyeshadows are nice but the short shelf life is a problem for me. If you’re gonna get a few, take your time to play with them at the counter so you know you’ll be getting something you’ll love and use often or your money will be wasted. I got these a few months ago so they are almost out of date now and as you can see they’re practically new.
Tavia, Marie is beautiful, isn’t it? I usually don’t like browns very much but I do like this one, it’s so pretty.
Anastacia, they’re very pretty, aren’t they?
Great review! The brownish plum sounds gorgeous.
Are you sure about powder products having a shelf life? I don’t think blushes/eyeshadows etc contain enough H20 to degrade much over time.
I have a eyeshadows from 10 years ago that work just as well and smells fine. Cosmetics companies do like to milk you for every cent, so I wouldn’t be surprised that they’d put a “shelf life” on an eyeshadow, LOL. Sneaky b**stards. 
Karin, that’s a pretty color, perfect for everyday looks.
All products here in Europe need to have a shel-life symbol on the packaging and these eyeshadows had 6 months stamped on them. It is true that powder products rarely harbour bacteria as for them to develop the enviroment needs to be moist while powders are dry. I do think that these eyeshadows can be used for more than 6 months if one is careful.
However, if someone likes to use their eyeshadows wet to improve the color payoff or just shares their makeup with someone else, then the chances of bacteria and fungi would end up on the powder causing infections, hence why preservatives are used. To prevent their growth and, if for some reason, bacteria do grow, preservatives killed. Because these eyeshadows contain very weak preservatives, their effectiveness may be compromised or just vanished after 6 months.
But again, that’s mainly a concern for those that share makeup or use it wet. I’d just thought I’d mention it just in case, you never know.