The Eyes Have It

The first time I discovered mineral eye shadows was a few years back at beauty supply stores when they were available in the loose format only. The concept of applying loose pigmented powder to my eyelids was very foreign to me, and even though I love mineral makeup, I still longed for a neatly pressed set of Mac pot shadows. Thankfully, mineral eyeshadows have been gradually popping up in pressed form and I became excited again to try them out and finally trade up to mineral shadows. 

• Josie Maran mineral shadows are shimmery yet pigmented soft tones. I am definitely a fan of these for summery nights or when I want something less dramatic. I recently purchased the Argan beautiful eyes in Purples (shown below). These shades are great for brown or hazel eyes. The beautiful Nudes palate also looks amazing. Josie Maran eyeshadows are offered on qvc.com and sephora.com for about $36.

• Jane Iredale shadows come in individual pots, duos, trios, and palate kits. What I appreciate about the Jane Iradale shadows are that many of them are matte, which is harder to find in the mineral eyeshadow world. I am gradually building a collection of individual pots, and also am eyeing the 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' Shadow kit to replace my Urban Decay Naked 2 palate. I was also happy to discover that select Nordstrom stores now carry Jane Iredale cosemetics, and of course at janeiredale.com. Shown are Jane Iredale single pots in Supernova (top) and Champagne ($19 each).

•  Bare minerals newly pressed shadow quads are worth mentioning if you are looking for a more mainstream/accessible mineral makeup brand. Their BareMinerals ready quad is $30, and offered in many different shades. Their quads are the most shimmery out of the brands I mentioned. I would be a little more excited about Bare Minerals shadows if they had more matte shadows, but I still enjoy the color options. Shown is bareMinerals Ready quad in The Truth available on sephora.com