I picked up some Milani Baked Eyeshadows when I was in New York City last March, and a year later I'm getting around to reviewing them. I clearly deserve a medal! Or not.
Milani Cosmetics are not readily available in Canada but can be purchased through the Milani website.
The two eyeshadows I picked up are Milani's Marble Baked Eyeshadows. They cost me about $6 USD each. I'd read a fair bit about Milani Cosmetics over the last few years and had been wanting to try something but I'm hesitant to buy something without being able to try it first. Milani's Baked Eyeshadows have been highly praised by Temptalia, so even though I couldn't test these in the store, I grabbed some.
The Milani Baked Eyeshadows are described by the company as:
Captivating eyeshadow powder that features multiple infusion of colors baked on Italian terracotta tiles. Complimentary shades swirled together to create one unique color dimension. All of these gorgeous combinations are designed to be used Wet or Dry.
*Baked makeup products differ from regular (typically made by pressing the product into a pan or container) product because they're liquid makeup baked to solid on terracotta tiles. This results in a marbled finish and a texture that is creamier and smoother than regular makeup products. Baked makeup products tend to have less talc and more pigment.
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| Milani Intermix Baked Eyeshadow |
Intermix is marbled blend of rose, rust, cream, and gold in the pan. It's got a frosted finish. When applied, it's a warm golden-brown with a touch of rose. When applied wet, it's a touch more brown.
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| Milani Intermix Baked Eyeshadow |
You've got to love how pretty baked makeup looks. They make me think of planets, swirled with cloud cover. It's a shame that it often doesn't translate as nuanced once applied. That's the case of these Milani eyeshadows. Not that they're not super-pretty once applied, just that they don't quite match up.
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| Milani Intermix Baked Eyeshadow |
Oh, I should note that the dual-ended brush-sponge applicator that they come with is scratchy and awkward to use. I just toss these.
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| Milani Intermix Baked Eyeshadow swatched, dry. |
Application-wise, these go on smoothly and creamily. There is quite a bit of powder kicked up when I worked my brush across the pan. In the photos above, the powder around the outside of the container is simply just product that had shaken free, pre-application. So you can imagine how much came loose when I dragged a brush across it.
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| Dry |
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| Wet |
You can see the slight difference between the colour when it was applied dry and when it was applied wet. The colour is soft and shimmery and very, very wearable. You can see all the colours, the rose, the rust, the cream and the gold blended into one. It's a warm brown, with a tinge of pink and a layer of gold shimmer.
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| Milani Fusion Baked Eyeshadow |
Fusion, in the pan, is a mix of orange, purple, plum, and gold and when applied dry it's a light, warm bronze. Applied wet, it's a little bit richer in tone.
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| Milani Fusion Baked Eyeshadow |
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| Milani Fusion Baked Eyeshadow |
Fusion looks like it'd be cooler-toned than Intermix, with its lavender and purple and golden-orange but once applied, it's a warm bronze. It's actually quite similar to Intermix (I had trouble telling the photos apart!).
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| Milani Fusion Baked Eyeshadow swatched, dry. |
Fusion is less shimmery than Intermix. It's also very pretty, very creamy and very wearable.
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| Milani Fusion Baked Eyeshadow - applied dry |
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| Milani Fusion Baked Eyeshadow - applied wet |
Fusion applied wet has a touch more shimmer than it does applied dry. Wet, they both lasted all day, and dry, there was some creasing after about 7 hours, so thumbs up for both.
Both of these shades are so pretty and so bronzy that they make me think of summertime. I just wish they were as exciting once applied as they are in the pans. But for a drugstore brand, they're excellent quality and very reasonably priced.
Grade: A
