The 3 Little Brown Cream Eyeshadows

Once upon a time, there were three little brown cream eyeshadows.  The first one lived in plastic packaging from H & M, the second one lived in beautifully designed packaging from Shiseido, and the last little cream eyeshadow lived in luxurious frosted glass packaging from Charlotte Tilsbury. Which one survived being given a bad review by the big, bad beauty reviewer?

I thought it would be fun to compare three brown eyeshadows that I have been using interchangeably the last few months.  They are at three different price brackets and even though they are similar in colour, they each have their distinct characteristics.

PRICE

H & M Color Essence Eye Cream in Sirocco – $6.99 USD (house built of straw)

Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color in BR306 – $25.00 USD (house built of sticks)  

Charlotte Tilsbury Eyes to Mesmorize in Mona Lisa – $32.00 USD (house built of bricks)

COLOUR & FINISH

Charlotte Tilsbury (left), Shiseido (middle), H & M (right)

H & M – bronzy-brown, least shimmery of the three, has more of a metallic finish

Shisheido – warm-toned brown, micro-shimmer running through it, medium shimmer

Charlotte Tilsbury – warm-toned brown, high shine, definitely the glossiest one

TEXTURE 

H & M – the website describes it as a moussy texture, I feel it is more gel-like, than moussy

Shiseido – gel-like texture

Charlotte Tilsbury – very, very moussy

APPLICATION

You can use a brush or fingers to apply all three.  I usually just use my fingers to apply them roughly to the lid and blend out of the edges with the brush.  I find it is easier to grasp the amount of product you need with H &M and Shiseido shadows because it is a gel texture.  You just dab and grab as much as you need.  With the Charlotte Tilsbury one which is moussy texture, sometimes you a dab a little and you might already get too much or vice versa.

PIGMENTATION

Out of the three, the Charlotte Tilsbury one is the definitely the most pigmented.  With the H & M one, I usually apply two layers.  The Shiseido one kind of sits in the middle.

COLOUR SELECTION

H & M – comes in 6 shades, all the shades are pretty  neutral

Shiseido – 22 shades, multitude of colours

Charlotte Tilsbury – 6 shades, mostly  neutral with a green and blue shade

LONGEVITY

Out of the three, Shiseido and H & M are more similar in terms of longevity.  They both will last a good 6-8 hours with minimal creasing.  Maybe due to the moussy texture of the Charlotte Tilsbury one, it creases a bit more, and by 8 hours, the oil starts peeping through on the eyelid and the colour has started fading.  Although, on the Charlotte Tilsbury’s website, it never states it is a super long-wearing formula.

VERDICT:  I enjoy all three of them  but my all-around favourite is probably the Shiseido one.  I do use the H & M one quit a bit daily because application is easy and it lasts quite long on the lids.  If you want great colour saturation, choose the Charlotte Tilsbury one.  For me, it just didn’t last that long and the application was a bit fussy.

I have also done a full review of the Shiseido one here.