Shadow Recruit — Is It Time To Enlist Clarins’ Ombre Iridescente Cream-to-Powder Eyeshadows?

Morphing textures and consistencies have been increasingly popular in the beauty realm —  from gel cleansers that foam when exposed to water, moisturizing face balms that seemingly melt to become lightweight oils, hair styling products that evolve from thick balms to dry powders, clay-to-cream facial cleansers, face masks that bubble, and so forth.  In the makeup realm, cream-to-powder eyeshadows have been all the rage for quite a while now, emerging as a solution for women who love the look of powder eyeshadows but want the longevity associated with cream formulations. During the hot and humid summer months, when most powder eyeshadows melt right off (even when using a top-notch eyelid primer), I tend to stick to long-wearing, water-proof cream shadows — whether they come in crayon-like eye pencil form or in tiny jars with screw-on lids. I know many women with oily skin find that cream shadows aren’t a great alternative for them, but given that my skin is typically on the dry side, these tend to be the best option for me when temperatures soar. I was happy to discover, then, that Clarins had dipped its metaphorical, perfectly polished toe into the cream eyeshadow waters with the launch of its Clarins Ombre Iridescente Cream-to-Powder Eyeshadow ($25 at Clarins counters and ClarinsUSA.com).

The idea behind these eyeshadows, then, is to create seamless products that go on eyelids like a second skin (or like a tattoo, if you will), and stay in place without creasing, running, smudging, or losing their luster, all while retaining some of that lush velvety finish and that easy-to-blend quality we associate with powder shadows. The Clarins Ombre Iridescente Cream-to-Powder Eyeshadows, then, blend iridescent soft-focus pigments with bamboo powder to give each shade a demure brilliance, a subtle metallic sheen, and an intriguing opalescence. And since Clarins always thinks about how to create makeup that’s actually good for the skin, these shadows feature moisturizing vitamin E and skin-loving botanicals like jojoba oil, which nourishes the skin without giving eyelids an oily feel and which helps the shadows maintain their vivacity, and musk rose extract, which revitalizes skin cells and keeps lids smooth and taut, preventing any pigments from sinking into fine lines. The Clarins Ombre Iridescente Cream-to-Powder Eyeshadows are available in seven shades: 04 Silver Ivory, 05 Silver Pink, 06 Silver Green, 07 Silver Plum, 08 Silver White, 09 Silver Rose, and 10 Silver Grey.

I had the chance to road test three of these shadows —08 Silver White, 09 Silver Rose, and 10 Silver Gray — and I thought all three were lovely. They are, however, quite subtle both in terms of the color saturation and in terms of iridescence. Typically, when I think of cream eyeshadows, I imagine power-packed, high-voltage, pigment-loaded, stop-you-in-your-tracks color saturation. These cream-to-powder eyeshadows, however, offer just a notch above a veil of luminous color. In fact, some shades (mainly the 08 Silver White hue) don’t even deliver full coverage until you’ve layered on quite a bit of product. Now, this isn’t necessarily a drawback, but it is helpful to know that the shadows are understated and the colors demure.

Another interesting note is that, on a strictly tactile level, these shadows don’t have a very creamy feel — if you were to run your finger over the surface of one of these densely packed shadows, you’d notice that they feel more like damp powder formulas than your typical cream formula with its thick, moist, malleable consistency. Imagine running your finger under a faucet and then rubbing it over one of your go-to powder shadows — that’s what these Clarins cream-to-powder eyeshadows feel like.

As for the iridescence factor, I’d say these shadows have a luminosity to them, but I wouldn’t necessarily qualify it as iridescent since they don’t seem to change color depending on how the light hits them or the angle at which you’re viewing them.  The product name, then, is slightly misleading. Are the shadows pearlescent? Sure. Iridescent? Not so much.

Also, and this is important: all the colors have a silver base, so don’t expect a lot of warm tones.

Now, moving on to the pros: these are easy to apply, stay put for hours, can be applied with fingers or brushes, and are great for everyday use.

Check out swatches of the Silver White, Silver Rose, and Silver Grey shades:

Next, let’s take a closer look at each shade. The 08 Silver White shade is positively angelic — it literally makes me think of snow angels, icicle ornaments, and the tiny soap flakes and specks of flitter floating inside snow globes. That said, the 08 Silver White shadow doesn’t offer full coverage so, if you’re looking to completely cover up any trace of your lid, you may want to add a powder shadow atop this one. It’s actually really easy to press on a powder shadow atop this cream-to-powder formula, so feel free to experiment!

Now check out my favorite of the three colors, the 09 Silver Rose shade. This cool pink shade gives your complexion a youthful feel, and there’s a certain joie de vivre that just emanates from it. Also, I found that this shade went onto skin more evenly and smoothly, requiring less blending and buffing, and that it offered slightly better coverage than some of the other hues.

Last but not least, check out the 10 Silver Grey hue. This shade is positively stunning, but it’s definitely more of a true silver than a gray shade and, moreover, it’s a pretty deep, stormy, dark sliver hue, nearly bordering on gunmetal. This is one of the most dramatic shades in the collection, and it offers probably the best coverage out of the bunch. Also, because it’s a darker shade, it’s easier to actually see some of those iridescent pigments in the formula.

All in all, these cream-to-powder shadows are a solid investment — particularly for women who like luminous eyeshadows that aren’t too edgy. That said, if you want an electrifying shadow or one that’s as iridescent as a scarob, then  you may want to try Urban Decay’s Moondust shadows and use a great primer prior to applying.

To give you a better fee for how the shadows come to life when on lids, here are some photos of me wearing the Clarins Ombre Iridescente in 09  Silver Rose:

In the next set of photos, I’m wearing the Clarins Ombre Iridescent in 08 Silver White, which I blended with a dark grey Caviar Stick along the crease, thereby creating that silvery shade you see below.

I’ve been playing with these shadows quite  a bit over the summer, and I must say that what they lack in boldness they truly make up for in longevity — even when temperatures have soared above 100 degrees here in Austin, these shadows haven’t clumped, smeared, or creased. Considering I myself felt like I was liquifying on some of those days, that’s practically miraculous!