Liquid eyeshadow

Liquid eyeshadow is colour carried in a fluid rather than pressed into a cake. The pigment and pearl are suspended in water, in oils that evaporate, or in both, together with polymers that form a film; swept onto the lid, the liquid part goes and the film stays, holding the colour in a thin, flexible layer. A patent of L’Oréal’s describes the long-wear shadows on the market that are not powders in just those terms: volatile solvents such as isododecane, and a large share of film formers — more than about five per cent — because those are what make a shadow last.^[1] One of Amorepacific’s describes its liquid eye make-up as a volatile oil with two film formers, one hard and one soft, which dry quickly into “a solid and flexible film layer” with little fallout.^[2]

The film is the whole difference from its neighbours. A cream shadow stays soft for longer and can be blended and moved; a pressed powder can be laid in veils and softened at any time. A liquid gives one even sweep of colour, very often metallic or glittering, and then sets where it lands. That makes it the most practical way to wear high shine that stays on the lid rather than drifting onto the cheek — and the least forgiving of a mistake made slowly.

Choose the finish first. Shimmer and metallic liquids carry fine pearl for a foiled, wet-looking lid. Glitter liquids hold larger reflective flakes in a clear or tinted gel. Duochrome and multichrome shades shift colour as the light moves, and matte liquids, fewer in number, set to flat colour that looks like powder once dry. Several of the mattes, and some metallics, are sold as liquid-to-powder: they go on wet and finish soft rather than shiny.

Then look at what the colour is carried in. Water-based formulas feel light and cool, dry quickly and usually come off with an ordinary cleanser. Long-wear formulas built on evaporating oils and a heavy load of film former are harder to shift, can feel tacky, and can dry the skin — drawbacks L’Oréal sets out in one of its own patents.^[3] The hours printed on the box are the makers’ claims. As a starting point, oily lids tend to suit the long-wear films and dry or crêpey lids the lighter, water-based shimmers.

Colour follows the rules for powder, with one difference: a metallic liquid reads brighter than the same shade pressed, because nothing dulls it, so a step deeper than your usual pan is often right. Bronze, copper and gold flatter most eye colours. On deep skin, sheer pale shimmers can turn chalky or grey, and rich golds, bronzes and multichromes show at their best.

Shake the tube if the maker says to, since pearl and glitter settle. Wipe most of the product off the applicator on the neck of the tube, then place one or two dots on the centre of the lid rather than drawing a stripe across it. Pat outward with a fingertip, whose warmth helps it spread, or with a small flat synthetic brush, and work quickly: the film begins to set within moments, and a liquid moved after it has started to dry lifts away in patches.

Keep the first layer thin. A second thin layer, laid once the first has dried, gives more colour than one thick one and is less likely to crease. Most liquids need no primer on a clean lid, though an oily lid does better with a light dusting of translucent powder first. Put the liquid down before any powder in the crease, or tap a shimmer over set powder as a topper; the tapered tip of many applicators also lines the upper lashes. To remove it, hold an oil-based remover or micellar water on the closed eye for a few seconds and lift, rather than rubbing: a film made to resist rubbing will win.

Liquid is one of the older forms of coloured eye make-up. In 1959 Coty added Liquid Eye Lights to its eye range: a liquid in iridescent colours, sold with a sable brush, that served as eyeliner, eyeshadow or mascara depending on how it was applied.^[4] In the 1960s eyes rather than lips became the focus of the face, and the houses sold colour for them in new forms. Estée Lauder’s was a Liquid Shadow Tint of 1967, in Moss, Fawn, Smoke, Azure, Turquoise and Ivory, launched with a range it called Water-Color Tintings.^[5] The names describe the effect the houses were after: a wash of transparent colour, painted on.

What changed later was the chemistry of staying put. The long-wear liquids now sold set by evaporation: their volatile solvents flash off and leave polymer and pigment behind, a design that L’Oréal’s patent credits with the long wear and blames for the tack and the difficult removal.^[6] Patents filed in the 2010s describe refinements in both directions: a water-based shadow that uses little film former and comes off with soap and water,^[6] and an evaporating oil that carries one hard and one soft film former, which together dry quickly into “a solid and flexible film layer” with little fallout.^[7] The fluid in a tube is more than sixty years old. A fluid that stays where it is put on a moving eyelid through a working day is the more recent achievement, and it is the one the long-wear labels are selling.