Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color Swatches & Review
If you haven’t heard about Paul & Joe yet, here’s a quick intro. They are a French fashion house that is very popular in Asia, especially in Japan. Their beauty spin-off in particular – Paul & Joe Beaute – has garnered a worldwide fan base after the brand went viral when they released their first limited edition collection inspired by cats, and they’ve been doing those ever since. Oftentimes, when a company gives so much attention to visuals, the product itself tends to be lacking. However, in my previous experience with Paul & Joe Beaute, they not only have gorgeous – and very high quality! – packaging, but the products themselves have been such a treat to use.
Today I wanted to share my thoughts on one of the brand’s latest releases for fall 2019: Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color ($23) limited edition glittery eyeshadow singles. There are currently eight shades available, which are conveniently numbered 01 through 08, and I got to try six of them:
- 01 En Pointe
- 03 Midnight Hour
- 04 Candied Chestnut
- 05 Café Brown
- 07 La Mer Claire
- 08 Métallisé
Beautiful packaging is the first thing you notice: the jars are frosted, and the caps are adorned with cameo florals that follow the lovely design of the outer box. The cap also has a little “window” so you can see exactly what color is inside. I thought that was pretty clever because sometimes the guessing game can be frustrating. I have that problem with half of my lipsticks, actually, haha! 🙂
When I initially saw that Sparkling Eye Color singles come in a pot, I assumed they would be cream eyeshadows, but they actually have this bouncy, spongy texture which is something between a gel, a cream, and a whipped mousse consistency. They feel kind of like Colourpop singles, but softer, if that makes sense. Paul & Joe poetically describes these as having a paw pad-like feel to the touch. The colors sheer out beautifully, but can also be built up to full opacity if that’s more your thing. Personally, I lean toward a more sheer or medium wash of color, so that’s how I’ve been wearing mine.
I tested all six shades over the span of a week to see how they perform and the answer is “it depends”. The good thing is that the longevity and coverage are pretty uniform across all six, and the performance was identical regardless of which color I used. When I apply them light-handed and don’t cake on the color too much, they stay on the lids all day without a primer just fine. However, when I layered the colors to achieve full opacity and the metallic sheen, that’s where things got tricky: they start creasing and settling into lines. But if I used an eyeshadow primer, this problem went away, so that’s something to keep in mind.
Sparkling Eye Color is easy to apply with your fingers or using a firm synthetic makeup brush. I prefer using my fingers and just gently pat on the color until I achieve the desired coverage.
Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color: single swipe arm swatches, no primer.
Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color 01 En Pointe (applied lightly)
Unedited to show what it actually looks like in person 🙂
Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color 03 Midnight Hour (built up to medium-full opacity)
I normally don’t wear blue eyeshadow but I love this one! P.S.: What?? Beauty bloggers have *pores*?? Madness!
BOTTOM LINE:
Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color eyeshadows are a breeze to apply with your fingers and work best when worn a little sheer, like a sparkly wash of color on the lids. They perform best over an eyeshadow primer but may crease if you skip that step, especially if you build them up to full-color opacity.
New Paul & Joe Beaute Sparkling Eye Color ($23) eyeshadow singles are available at Beauty Habit and on Amazon.
Do you use cream eyeshadows? How do you usually apply them? Share in the comments below!
