For years, I’ve been begging Clean cosmetics brands to come out with pressed powder eye shadows.  No matter how gorgeous the colors are, I simply won’t mess with loose powder shadow formulas.  They are messy, hard to travel with, and it’s difficult for those of us who are not makeup artists to get just the right amount on the brush and onto the lid, no?  (Kjaer Weis makes beautiful pressed colors that I’ve used forever, but I’d love a few more options.)  Last year over the holidays, Rose Marie Swift, the founder of RMS Beauty, and I had lunch (she is one of the most fun people I’ve ever spent time with, by the way) and she let me in on a few things they were developing at the moment.  One of them was pressed powder eye shadows.  I wanted to kiss her.  And, now they’re here.

The thing that makes RMS Beauty Swift Shadows different from other pressed eye shadows is, well, everything.

• They contain wild-crafted Buriti Oil and organic Jojoba Oil, and they are physically pressed, not baked (this preserves the integrity and benefits of these natural, raw ingredients).  These oils combined with rich mineral pigments creates an almost cream-powder consistency that doesn’t dry out the eyelid like other powder shadows can.  (I have very sensitive eyes and eyelids, so I can attest to this wondrous benefit.)
• They don’t crease.  Yes, your heard it here.  Clean, crease-resistant powder eyeshadows now exist.  These babies wear all day long and into the night, and you don’t even need to do a touch up.  (Oily-eyelided girls: rejoice!)
• These shadows can be applied wet or dry.  There are a lot of wet-dry marketing claims out there when it comes to eye shadows, but this is real.  For sheer, buildable color, apply with a dry brush; for intense color, apply with a wet brush.  Easy.
• This formula is fool-proof, hence the name Swift Shadows.  I’m telling you, go ahead and finally try that smoky eye.  You cannot mess it up if you use these shadows.  The oil in the formula keeps the shadows from being “dusty”, so the shadow goes where you want it to go, not all over your cheeks and under your eyes.  I’ve even used them while in the car (not driving, of course); I just swiped them on, not at all precisely, and they still looked and worked really well.

Like RMS Beauty’s original Eye Polishes, these colors are all light-reflective, which I love.  They are not at all sparkly; just luminous, which makes people appear younger, in my opinion.  And, I swear, the difference in moisture is real.  You will feel the difference between these and your normal powder shadows by the end of your first day wearing them.  There are 18 individual colors in all, in 6 different “palettes”:

• Twilight Madness (grey / black)
• Sunset Beach (yellows / golds)
• Tempting Touch (beiges / tans)
• Tobacco Road (greens / browns)
• Garden Rose (pinks)
• Enchanted Moonlight (purples / burgundies)

And, if you don’t already have an eyeshadow brush that you love, Rose Marie developed a Powder Eye Shadow Brush just for this formula.  I LOVE it.  It deposits just the right amount of color and it’s a great size; big enough to do the whole eyelid, tight enough to work color into the crease.  And, it is cruelty-free and vegan, of course.

Here, I am wearing Tempting Touch TT-71 all over the eyelid, TT-73 in the crease and TT-76 next to my upper lashes.  I’m also wearing RMS Beauty “Un” Cover Up in 22 to disguise my dark circles and sun spots, Tinted “Un” Powder in 2-3 all over my face, Buriti Bronzer in the hollows of my cheeks, Living Luminizer on my cheek and brow bones, Lip2Cheek in Promise on my cheeks and Lip Shine in Honest on my lips.

I can’t wait for you to try these and tell me what you think!  They are available now at Follain.

What is your favorite color way / palette to use on your eyes?

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