Estee Lauder Magic Smoky Powder Shadow Stick

I recently fell in love with the ease of applying eyeshadow using a jumbo pencil, especially the new complex shimmery ones.  So when I saw the new Estee Lauder Magic Smoky Powder Shadow Stick in all its gorgeous hues, I was really excited to give them a try.

The new Estee Lauder Magic Smoky Powder Shadow Sticks are an innovative pressed powder in a jumbo pencil form.  Unlike gel-pencils or even kohl, these powder shadow sticks do not glide across the lids as easily nor smudge out as quickly.  In terms of lasting power, they perform true to powder eyeshadows in general, meaning if you usually require a primer to keep things in place then you should expect to do likewise with these.  Where they excel, is the convenience of being able to apply the shadows directly to the lids or lash line without a brush, and the ability to layer 1 or more shades to create your custom smoky eye look.

There are 8 shades in a variety of matte, satin and shimmer finishes.  Unfortunately, I am missing 1 of the shades, and can only show you 7 of them.  Here are the swatches for your reference:

From left to right, the shades are:

• 01 Burnt Black – matte black that feels slightly dry in texture and was somewhat soft in pigmentation though it was sufficient to smoke out the outer corners of my eyes and line my lower lash line without trouble.  I did experience some fallout from this shade when applied to my lower lash line though.
• 02 Indigo Smoke – sooty blue with a satin finish.  This was the most disappointing shade in my opinion because it looked so vibrant and promising in the stick.  The pigment just would not adhere to my skin and lids, and the texture was so dry I could not even line my eyes without breaking off several times.  And even when I managed to get enough product on my lids, I found it impossible to blend out nicely.
• 03 Cool Ash – my favourite of the bunch!  This is a sooty grey with golden shimmers that turns the entire shade almost khaki.  Goes on effortlessly, and is perfect for brightening up the inner corner of the eyes when creating a dark smoky eye.
• 04 Slow Burn – bronze with some pink and champagne shimmers, another favourite!  Easy to work with, smooth to apply, and good level of pigmentation to swipe and go.
• 06 Scorched Gold – light shimmery gold.  Another easy to use shade.  The colour is slightly sheer, which makes this one perfect for layering over one of the others (especially Slow Burn), however if you are trying to use this on its own all over the lids, you may have to layer it up.
• 07 Pink Charcoal – light pink with a sooty undertone and some silver shimmers.  I was a little surprised by this shade as it is not the babydoll pink I had expected which is a good thing!
• 08 Charred Plum – dark plum with some sparse pink and silver shimmers.  This one was categorised as one of the “satin” shades in the line-up, and similar to Indigo Smoke, was drier in texture than the other “shimmer” shades.  However, it is far superior to Indigo Smoke in terms of pigmentation as the swatch above clearly shows.

Here are a few eye looks to give you an idea of how these powder shadow sticks perform in reality.

I was a little ambitious with this eye look, incorporating as many as 5 powder shadow sticks here.  I started with Pink Charcoal over 3/4 of my lid, and then added Charred Plum to the outer corner extending along most of the lower lash line.  I then layered on some Scorched Gold on the middle of my lid for extra dimension, and added Cool Ash to the inner corner of my lower lash line.  Lastly, I tried to line my upper lash line with Burnt Black, but evidently failed to get a smooth line going.

And the full look in context…

For the next eye look, I kept things much simpler, creating a bronzed eye look.

For this eye look I first applied Scorched Gold all over my lid, blending up to the crease.  Thereafter I layered on Slow Burn on the outer half of my lid, and then blended some Burnt Black to the outer wing to darken.  Lined my lower lash line with Slow Burn, with Cool ash on the inner corner.

And the full look in context…

And a last look featuring Indigo Smoke…

As I had mentioned earlier, I found Indigo Smoke to be difficult to blend out properly.  No matter how much I applied, the moment I tried to blend it out, it pretty much disappears.  I attempted to layer on more towards the back to create the gradient effect for a smoky eye, but I simply couldn’t blend them properly.  In the end, I added on some Burnt Black along the outer wing to darken.  As both Indigo Smoke and Burnt Black are devoid of shimmers, I rimmed my inner corner (both upper and lower) with Cool Ash to create make things a bit more interesting.

Overall, I really welcome new additions to the jumbo eyeshadow pencil format for the ease of use and convenience.  My favourite shades are Cool Ash and Slow Burn, and have been reaching for these 2 quite often ever since I received them.  The only thing I would have to point out is that these tend to crumble easily if you apply too much pressure (remember they are after all pressed powder!).  I didn’t experience any crumbling when applying on my lids, but it happened when I was watching on my arm.  As they are not twist-up, you may want to carry a sharpener with you if you tend to be heavy-handed.

Estee Lauder Magic Smoky Powder Shadow Sticks retail for SGD30 each, and are available at all Estee Lauder counters now.  How do you feel about eyeshadow pencils?

_{This post featured products that were kindly provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}