Review: Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadows

Before I begin, I just want to apologize for my lack of commenting on your posts in the last week, as well as getting back to your comments! Things have been crazy at work and will probably continue to be crazy in the next two months. It has kind of taken over my life, but I am trying my best to stay on top of reading your blog posts. Thank you for your patience!

Today’s post is a review of the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow and Shimmer & Glow liquid eye shadows, which I purchased at the end of last year.

When the launch of this product was first announced, I was so excited about the whole premise of them. Once I saw the swatches from early reviews and realized how glittery they were, I figured I wouldn’t get much use out of them and promptly lost interest. Around October, I was at Shoppers Drug Mart waiting for a prescription to be filled, and saw these on display at the Beauty Boutique. After swatching them out of curiosity, I was officially in love.

I remember being a little confused because I could have sworn that Stila had already come out with a product called Magnificent Metals. Some quick Googling proved me to right, kind of. Stila had previously released foil finish eyeshadows in a pot called the Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow. While I see these still being sold online at several retailers (the official Stila website, Shoppers Drug Mart, Boots), Stila seems to be phasing these out.

I had originally bought a full-size of one of the shades during the VIB sale in November as a consolation prize for not being able to get my hands on the three-pack of minis, but in December, Sephora started carrying a set that contained three Glitter & Glow shadows and three Shimmer & Glow shadows, so I snagged that one up, too.

The Basics

I purchased 6 of the shades as minis in the Eye for Elegance set which came out during the holidays for $59. Although you can’t get the set any longer, all of the shades are available individually in full sizes. The full sizes of both the Glitter & Glow and Shimmer & Glow formula retail at $31 CAD for a 4.5 mL tube. The most common places to purchase these are Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart, Beauty Bay, and the Stila official website.

These are all made in the USA, and Stila sells 18 shades in the Glitter & Glow formula and 11 shades of the Shimmer & Glow formula.

Here’s an abbreviated description of the Glitter & Glow and Shimmer & Glow liquid eye shadows as per Sephora:

Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow: a long-wearing, sparkle eyeshadow with incredible luster and shimmer; lightweight, water-infused texture that glides on effortlessly and dries down smoothly. Gives maximum sparkle with minimal fallout.

Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow: Rich, beautiful color with a high shimmer sheen. and pearl-packed translucent base. Lightweight texture gives a refreshing feel and smooth color laydown. The non-tacky adhesive base means minimal fallout.

The Shimmer & Glow shadows are similar to the glitter formula, only as the name suggests, more shimmery and without any glitter.

The Packaging

These liquid eyeshadows come in a square tube with a gold cap, and the brand’s name in gold on one side of the tube. It’s a minor detail, but I love the packaging. They look really pretty sitting on the vanity! I noticed while taking photos that the band around the top of the tube is different between the two formulas – it’s gold for the Glitter & Glow and rose gold for the Shimmer & Glow.

The applicator is paddle-shaped instead of a doe-foot. Although I do apply these with a brush once in a while, I mainly use the applicator from the tube to lay down the eyeshadow, because I feel like it gives more opaque coverage compared to a brush. I have a pretty small lid space to work with, and I feel like the applicator can be a little too big for me if I’m not especially careful with my application.

 

The Formula

I’ll start off by saying that I don’t wear these with an eyeshadow primer, as they are in a liquid formula and I really don’t feel that a primer would help much. However, in hindsight I do wish that I had tried them with a glitter shadow primer to see if that would make a difference!

These liquid shadows have a thin consistency that allows you to spread it out easily and can be sheered out or built up. Most of them do pack quite a punch, with a few exceptions which you’ll read about below. I tend to prefer a very opaque coverage, and usually apply 2-3 layers. I’ve found that these layer quite well, so long as you let it dry between layers, otherwise you may accidentally wipe away the previous layer with your finger or brush. Even without a primer, these last all day on my eyes.

Despite its claims, the Glitter & Glow shadows do have a bit of fallout, although in general, it’s not as bad as a loose or powder shadow depending on the shade. The glitter also has a tendency to go all over the lid if you don’t apply it carefully enough -for example, if I blink before the shadow is dry, the glitter will go above my crease area and all over the lid. Luckily, this product dries down pretty quickly – I would say it’s fully dry after 5-10 seconds.

As much as I enjoy playing with the Glitter & Glow shadows, I think I prefer the Shimmer & Glow shadows. With the Shimmer & Glow formula, I don’t have to worry about fallout, and I don’t have to worry about glitter getting all over my lid if I sneeze right after applying it – they are so fuss-free! The Glitter & Glow shadows are beautiful, but I don’t have as many opportunities to wear them as they are definitely more in-your-face. With the Shimmer & Glow shadows, I can comfortably wear these to work or for going out – they just aren’t as glam as the glitter formula.

One thing I always worry about using these liquid eyeshadows (but moreso with the Glitter & Glow than the Shimmer & Glow is how to blend out the shades. I’ve tried using a brush to blend out the edges and it kind of just takes the product off, and also if you’re trying to blend out a Glitter & Glow shadow, the glitter flies everywhere. You also can’t really wait until the shadow is dried either, because they don’t really budge once they’ve dried. The best method I’ve found is to use my finger to lightly press at the edges to try and blend it out as best I can, and then if I’m still unhappy with how it looks, I go over it lightly with a powder transition shade.

Onwards to a review of each of the shades I own!

GLITTER & GLOW LIQUID EYE SHADOW

Rose Gold Retro

Rose Gold Retro is a rose gold base with silver shimmers. It’s the full-sized shade I bought when I couldn’t get my hands on the 3-pack of minis, which turned out just fine because this ended up being one of my favourite shades! It is so pigmented and bursting with glitter – I can see this working with a lot of fair to medium-deep skin tones.

 

Peachy Sheen

As gorgeous as this one looks in the tube, it’s awful applied. It is essentially silvery-gold glitters suspended in a clear gel, and is very sparse and patchy. I actually threw this out during my declutter at the beginning of the year (I took this photo prior to decluttering) because there was no chance I would ever wear this.

Smoldering Satin

I am in love with this taupey shade; now that I’m looking at photos, it looks a lot like a less chunky version of Peachy Sheen in the tube, but this performs so much better! The colour is so rich and reflective; however, Smoldering Satin is the worst of the bunch in terms of fallout. If I am not super, super careful with this, it gets all over my eyelids and under my eyes. Maybe I am just clumsy when I apply makeup?

Next to Notte

This is the prettiest cranberry shade, although I find this one a little difficult to use because it’s too dark to go all over the lid but too glittery to use as a deepening shade. It also applies pretty patchily; the base shade is not very pigmented, so the result is red glitters suspended in a transparent cranberry liquid eyeshadow.

 

SHIMMER & GLOW SHADOWS

The Shimmer  & Glow Shadows are different from the Glitter & Glow shadows in that they don’t contain…well, glitter. If anything, they have more of a foil finish. I don’t think these are as popular as the glitter formula, but I actually like these ones more because they are more wearable and easier to work with.

Grace

Grace is  a taupey-champagne shade, and is probably my favourite out of all seven of the Glitter/Shimmer & Glows that I own. I love the smooth texture of this, and how easy it is to apply and layer.

 

Kitten

Kitten is very similar to Grace, both in colour and in formula; however, Kitten is so very slightly more pink-toned. You can see the difference between the two when swatched, but it looks almost identical on the eyes. While I love both shades, I think the set could have definitely replaced either Grace or Kitten with something more distinct.

Twig

Twig is a red-based chestnut brown. This is a lot deeper than I thought it would be from looking at swatches online. It’s too dark to be an all-over lid shade, but not dark enough to deepen up the crease. I’ve found a way to use it,which is to ue it in the middle of the lid as a transitional shade between my lid colour and crease colour.

And finally, here are all of the shadows swatched (ugh sorry, I didn’t realize until now how awful the swatches are). As you can see, Grace and Kitten are very similar.

Stila Glitter & Glow and Shimmer & Glow: Rose Gold Retro, Peachy Sheen, Next to Notte, Smoldering Satin, Grace, Twig, Kitten

These are the few eye looks I’ve done with the Glitter & Glow and Shimmer and Glow shadows:

Stila Shimmer & Glow eye shadow in Kitten (all over lid) and Twig (middle of lid)

Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Shadow in Rose Gold (inner half of lid) – notice the fallout!

Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Smoldering Satin (inner half of lid)

Pros:

-Less fallout compared to powder eyeshadows
-Fairly easy application
-Pigmented formula that is easy to build up
-Very glittery and metallic finish

Cons:
-Expensive
-Fallout is not completely avoidable
-Applicator is a little too big for eyes with small lid space
-Quality is inconsistent between shades
-Can be difficult to blend

Overall, I think these are a lot of fun to play with. I don’t think I would purchase any more of the Glitter & Glow eye shadows just because I use them less often and it will take me longer to get through them, but I would love to own the shade Cloud in the Shimmer & Glow formula, which is a lavender-gold shade that looks gorgeous from swatches I’ve seen online! These are on the pricey side, and because I think it would probably take a while to get through one tube, I actually prefer the sets of the minis, where you get to try several shades in small sizes.