Sephora Colorful Shadow & Liners in Let It Snow and Fresh Limeade Review & Swatches

Continuing from last week, I have yet another review of Sephora 12-hour long-wear makeup to share with you today. If you use eyeshadow pencils regularly, you know it is important that the formula be blendable and budge-proof. These Colorful Shadow & Liners didn’t quite live up to my (rather high) expectations but there might just be a way to work around it. How so, let’s check it out!

Sephora Colorful Shadow & Liner is a jumbo eyeshadow pencil that you can apply as a stand-alone eyeshadow, an eyeshadow base, or an eyeliner. The pencil requires sharpening and you’ll need a sharpener that fits its chubby size. I wouldn’t worry too much about losing product during sharpening, though, because it takes a while to dull the tip. I have used mine for more than a week now and I still don’t feel the need to sharpen them. The formula is so pigmented and you only need just a tiny bit for a good color payoff!

In general, these pencils are creamy to the touch and richly saturated with bright pigments. They glide on the skin smoothly but I experienced a little bit of tugging at the eyelid during blending with my fingertip (that’s how I normally blend my cream eyeshadow). When I used a small eye brush to blend, I didn’t experience any tugging as much. They set almost immediately to a dry matte finish so there’s not much room to blend. You kind of have to do one eye at a time and blend as soon as you apply it on the lid. The waterproof formula also requires a good oil-based cleanser to take it off at the end of the day.

The two colors that I have are 32 Let It Snow and 37 Fresh Limeade:

Let It Snow

Let It Snow is an opaque, ultra-creamy, intensely-pigmented matte white that basically just glides on the skin, although I find that it glides better on bare skin than over an eye primer which tends to dry out the formula making it a little harder to blend to a smooth finish. Mixing it with a silicone-y medium such as MAC Fast Response Eye Cream (review) helps with the blending (and smudging) tremendously. My experience has not been satisfactory wearing this shade on its own, though, as it creases within an hour so I’d reserve this shade as a base color only. Topping with powder eyeshadows does seem to increase its wear time as well as intensify the eyeshadow color payoff.

Its creaminess and jumbo size also makes it a bit harder to apply as an eyeliner as it would always leave white residue on my lashes. You are better off applying it on the lash line using a small eyeliner brush for precision application. Let It Snow unfortunately does not stay well on the waterline. It fades within an hour on me, even after I mattify the area first.

Fresh Limeade

While Fresh Limeade, a semi-opaque, lime green with a matte finish, may not have the same level of pigmentation and creaminess as Let It Snow, I have to say that it performs better in terms of blendability and longevity. It is much easier to smudge out to an even finish and doesn’t seem to set as quickly allowing you time to blend. Worn alone, it stays crease-free for 3-4 hours and from there starts to fade slightly. The longevity is much improved when applied over an eye primer.

It doesn’t catch on my lashes when used as an eyeliner but just like Let It Snow, it doesn’t have a great staying power when worn on the waterline as it would slide off within an hour or so. Applying it just along the lower lash line, though, does seem to stay put for a good 5-6 hours.

The super simple look

Here’s a simple two-product look I created on each eye. I applied Fresh Limeade on the left and Let It Snow on the right as an eyeshadow color and lower lash liner. The second product is a basic brown eyeliner along the shape of my eyes to give them a definition. Falsies are totally optional but I do think that they add a bit of a nice twist to the overall look. :)

What’s the most important aspect for you when it comes to eyeshadow pencils? How do you improve the staying power and blendability?

Purchase

Disclosure: Sephora Colorful Shadow & Liners in Fresh Limeade and Let It Snow were provided by Sephora for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.