The Body Shop Baked Eye Colours!

Yaaay! Finally, I took my beloved baked eyeshadows from the Body Shop out in the sunlight, did the tedious swatches, and after 197 photo frames I settled down to the following pics.

But first, here's a couple of things to consider before looking at each shade separately:

* As with most baked makeup products, these eyeshadows are pressed on a clay pan and baked to lose their moisture, then they're shaped to a domed surface and glued to the plastic container- thus their dry texture, which means they hold shimmer with less fall-out than the regular pressed eyeshadows.

* These cost €15 each- a little steep for the Body Shop standards, but at least you're getting two shades in one compact. They hold 2 gr of product, which is fairly acceptable considering they're pigment-only, as the heavy moisture has been evaporated at the baking process.

* Since these ones have a different formulation than the regular eyeshadows, they can't perform the same. This is why they appear to have mediocre pigmentation! I say: if you use them wisely, the impact you get is far more interesting than what you'd achieve with normal pressed eyeshadows!

* So, what's the best way to apply them? I personally use my fingers to pat the product on my eyelids, a flat eyeshadow brush would work the same. They can be used wet for maximum pigmentation, though I've found I get the same results with a creamy/sticky base underneath. If you have time in your hands, layer the light shade over the dark one and do this process twice (a little trick I learned from the makeup artist of YSL back in December): trust me, you'll be amazed by the final outcome!

* Here's something inexplicable I've noticed: provided that I've applied a sticky base underneath and used the two shades of each compact layered, the result I get on my eyes photographs sooo much nicely than any combination I've tried with regular eyeshadows! Can't explain why it happens, but it's true!

* And a final warning: take really good care not to drop them on the floor: these babies brake in pieces so easily! :(

***All swatches are dry, taken under sunlight. The third swatch on the right is made by the two shades layered together***

Copper consists of an orangey copper shade with a flat warm brown. I imagine both shades to make blue eyes "pop"; brown eyed girls like me need a little fake tan or bronzer to pull off such warm shades! Compared to the rest baked duos of this range, this one has a lower amount of shimmer.

See the grey eyeshadow crumble on the right of the pan? This is why you have to take care not to drop these little buggers by accident... Moonstone is my most worn duo from the bunch, purely because of the light ivory shade: I loathe those light coloured eyeshadows that leave a white cast on my eyelids, so I'm glad this shade doesn't follow that pattern: it rather offers a soft glittery finish that lets your skin show through, if that makes sense! It also works brilliantly as a finishing touch to any eyeshadow look to give it some sparkle. They golden grey shade on the right is fairly glittery, as well.

This green-to-blue-to-grey combo from Jade baked duo is ever so flattering on brown eyes! The swatches may seem a bit poor, but fear not: it's because this is the first eyeshadow I got a year ago. I guess if I had scraped off the top layer before doing the swatches, you would have a better idea of what Jade looks like.

Quartz, oh Quartz... I could let the swatches do the talking, but from fear my camera hasn't picked up all their glory, I'm forced to repeat myself: if you're considering of buying only one of these baked eyeshadows from the Body Shop, get this one! The burgundy shade has that beautiful pink sparkle running through it, and when it's combined with the light pink on the left, it makes for the most gorgeous purple shade I've ever seen!!!

Now, Starlight has quite an ordinary combo going on: a sparkly silver with a sparkly black. And that's that. Not that original, if you ask me! Right after the Copper duo, Starlight is my least worn eyeshadow.

Sapphire is my one of my most loved eyeshadows! It makes brown eyes "pop" and it really shows up as true blue- even under the bars' dim lighting! The swatches don't do it justice, blame my crappy camera :(

Surprisingy, Amethyst is a tricky duo to pull off. The swatches may look nice, but on my eyes I get a flat, so cooled-toned colour that almost verges to blue! It also pales up my face like no other, no idea why. It probably needs a warm purple base underneath to soften it a bit.

As if you couldn't tell by now, I'm a fan of baked eyeshadows and I'm glad I've come up with some gorgeous shades in the Body Shop range! My only criticism is that I would prefer these to have a bigger section with the dark veiny shades than the lighter ones.

Now that I think of it, I should make a FOTD for you to see how amazing these eyeshadows look in photos!
Oh, and in case you're wondering, I paid these myself ;)

What are your thoughts on these eyeshadows from the Body Shop?
Are you a fan of baked makeup products?

Evi   xx