11 September 2008

Product Review: Physicians Formula Baked Collection® Wet/Dry Eye Shadow

Shimmer. I love shimmer. I started wearing makeup in the 80s, so it was all about the shimmer eye shadow. Usually in three bright, contrasting colours. As a fair skinned girl, bright colours tend to stand out on my skin like ink on paper, so makeup application without looking like a paint-by-numbers is tricky. The 90s were all about matte neutrals, and learning how to blend within an inch of your life. Now I'm loving the 00s, where mineral makeup is everywhere. Non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic and contact lens friendly, mineral eyeshadows are sheer which allows you to layer on the colour until you have the right intensity. I haven't looked for a mineral foundation yet (next on the list!) and haven't tried mineral lipsticks (the point is?...), but I'm all over eyeshadows and blushes.

Right now I'm loving the Physicians Formula Baked Collection® Wet/Dry Eye Shadow. The colour palettes are beautiful, and blend very well. It is great for soft colourwashes or more intense wet applications. I do find that mineral makeup sort of floats on your skin, and Baked Collection tends to crease a little after about 6 hours. A makeup fixer applied to the brush during the final blending controls this.



This collection is awesome for rockin' the smoky eye. The light colour is perfect for browbone coverage or inner eyelid, the medium tone is a good base for the lid, and the deep colour can be layered for slightly darker colour or applied wet for lining the lashes with intensity. When I took a weekend trip, I was able to use this for three separate looks without an eyeliner pencil.

The colours are baked into little bubble shapes that are separated enough to reach without mixing. The packaging is a little bulky though because of the domed lid. The palette includes a two-headed sponge applicator that is too really small to be useful. I wish the case had a mirror built into it like some of the other Physicians Formula eye shadows.

I've tried Sweets and Smokes collections. Sweets has a light peachy beige, a lilac and a beautiful deep brown, all with a very rosy-toned shimmer. The colours blend together surprisingly well despite their contrast. Smokes is a more traditional collection of pearl, dove grey and deep graphite, all with a white-toned shimmer. I might try Baked Berries next, which is a mix of very rich pinks and burgundys.

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