Thursday, February 25, 2016

Clarins Spring Collection 2016 - Ombre Iridescente Review


Good morning friends!

It is absolutely hellish outside today. It's a little strange walking on thick ice, trying not to fall, while being lashed with rain, listening to the thunder roll. Yes, I live in Canada, but this is some weird weather even for us!

For review this week are the Ombre Iridescente from the Clarins 2016 Spring collection. I'll be reviewing other pieces from the collection next week so stay tuned!


First off, it has to be said, the Ombre Iridescente are stunning guys. Creamy, but intensely pigmented. Sadly, I'm missing Silver Plum but from testing them out, the other three in the collection are just as good.


It's hard to tell in this photo because of the lighting, but how adorable is it that the lids of these shadows correspond to the colour inside? I love it when that happens! And you know, metallic lids! The packaging is sturdy, easy to open, but closes firmly - there's nothing worst than faulty packaging on a cream product!

In artificial light. Left to right Silver Green 06, Silver Ivory 04, Silver Pink 05

In natural light. Left to right Silver Green 06, Silver Ivory 04, Silver Pink 05

I find these shadows, although described as a cream, are not really your traditional cream shadow. They are quite creamy in texture, yes, but they basically apply and feel like any regular shadow - maybe more like the texture of a Make Up For Ever or Urban Decay shadow. I find they apply and blend beautifully with fingers, but also work quite well with a brush.


Silver Ivory 04 is a gorgeous shimmery light taupe shade. Looking through my collection, Urban Decay's Verve is probably the most similar shade but Silver Ivory is a lot more warm. And for me, because it's so warm, it's a very easy shade to wear. I applied it all over the lid and popped a bit of a neutral brown matte shade in the crease and I was good to go for the day. I had no problem with the shade creasing during the day - it wore quite well. For the record, I always wear an eyeshadow base, and in this case, it was the Urban Decay Primer Potion.

I wore Silver Pink 05 in a similar way as Silver Ivory - all over the lid with a warm brown in the crease. It was so easy to blend and looked beautiful on the lid. For those of you who do not like rosy shades on your eyes, I'd suggest skipping on this one. It's quite pink and without an inner corner highlight, darker crease shade and a bit of eyeliner, it can make you look a bit tired. To be fair, I wore this one when I was ill, and it probably wasn't the right shade to wear on a day where your nose is red from using a full box of kleenex. I've been really into rosy shades lately so I was particularly excited to try this one and it ended up being my favorite.

I wanted to wear Silver Green 06 in a different way than the two others to see how versatile these Ombre Iridescente shadows could be. I applied Urban Decay's Pistol (a greyish shade) shade all over my lid and dabbed Silver Green in the middle of my lid and inner corner. Again, I had the Urban Decay primer potion underneath this concoction. It looked beautiful. I'm really not one for green shadows since I have blue eyes, but I loved this. It gave a bit of a twist to a smokey eye! However, this did not wear well on me and I experienced creasing towards the inner corner by the end of the day. I don't think layering this shadow on top of another gave it a good surface to set. Maybe this product is more of a cream formula than I thought? I suspect anyone with non-oily eyelids will not have a problem with this.

Overall, I think these are worth the price. At C$25, it doesn't break the bank and you get a long wearing, easy to apply shadow. I know I don't have it to review, but I'm seriously lusting after Silver Plum and suspect it is probably the most versatile, one shadow and go, shade of the bunch. In case you'd like to see a another review, which includes Silver Plum, check out this one from Temptalia. Second to that, I'd suggest Silver Ivory 04, as it's beautiful on the lid, and quite versatile as well. Honestly, you can't go wrong with these. And if shimmery shades are not your thing, Clarins does offer the same shadow in a matte formula - I haven't tried them, but a quick Google search indicates them being reviewed quite well!

* I have received these products for consideration, but my opinions are always my own. I am not being compensated for this review and I always strive to review products with honesty.

1 comment: