Finish: Lustre / Silvered violet with gold
I read many reviews on Idol Eyes before getting it myself and was very wary of trying it. If you own it or have read similar reviews, then you already know just what I’m talking about. Not only is this eyeshadow sheer and chalky, it is PACKED to the gills with glitter! Aggh! This is not one you can expect to apply to the lid by itself and it comes out looking okay; it just won’t work. For all the looks I created below with Idol Eyes, I had to mix it with an eyeshadow transformer (the one I used here is Jesse’s Girl). Once mixed with this, or any other mixing medium, it plays VERY nicely on the lid and with other colors, and there is no glitter fallout throughout the day. Tricky one to work with, yet very beautiful when it does work; I can’t decide if it stays or goes as it does make my blue eyes look AMAZING! What do you think of it?
Karah
Hi! Zabrena,
I was surprised to see you do a Spotlight on Idol Eyes, because you have said in the past you did not like it. That being said, I think you made IE look the best it can. Looks 2, 5, 6 are beautiful! I think another gray could work for these looks instead of IE. To me it almost looks scaly. Love the purple looks though! What grey would you use instead of Idol Eyes?
My Eyeshadow Consultant
Hi Karah!
Yes, me too! I HATED it for the longest time until I used it with the eyeshadow transformer; totally changes how well it shows 🙂
You’re right, another gray could easily be substituted for IE – I’d recommend something like Electra or even something like Seedy Pearl, even though it’s not a gray. Although SP is kinda scaly if you apply too much too. Electra! 🙂
Lisa
Although I’ll probably just try to find a substitute for it, the combos you came up with are awesome!
My Eyeshadow Consultant
Haha! Thanks, Lisa! I think a dupe would be the ticket!
Lisa
The more I look, the more I think the L’Oreal Infallible shadow, Liquid Diamond, might be a nice dupe.
My Eyeshadow Consultant
Ouu! I’ll have to look at that on my next drugstore trip! Thanks!
Joanna
Omg you’re so right!!! And it’s infinitely better to work with!
elizabeth stanley
Great looks! Although i dont have this one but i was wondering if Cut The Cake from the Too Faced Romantic eye palette could dupe for this? What do you think?
My Eyeshadow Consultant
Ahhh! Good catch, Elizabeth! I was thinking that myself when I was thinking of dupes based on Lisa’s response.
I definitely think Cut the Cake would be beautiful in place of IE in all these looks!
Karah
Hi Zabrena!
I forgot to ask you about look 5, and the Paint Pot.
How far up on the lid did you go with Half Wild? This maybe a silly question, but I’ve never used MAC’s Paint Pots before. Thanks! 🙂
My Eyeshadow Consultant
No prob!
I only applied Half Wild to the lid and kept it WAYYY below the crease, so basically only the true lid area.
Not a silly question at all! I had to watch a few videos before I started using paint pots too! 🙂
Hot Strawberry
I gave Idol Eyes a try because it’s such a pretty color and I really wanted to make it work. I tried it over MAC’s Frozen Violet paint pot, but it just looked like muddy Satin Taupe. It worked when I layered it over NYX’s jumbo eye pencil in Lavender, the color was beautiful and the eye pencil helped to make it more opaque. But it retains so much of the glitter that I just can’t pull off that look at 43 years old. Back it went. You’ve made some great looks with it, but I exchanged it for Folie. I think I’ll get more use out of that shade.
Zabrena
I completely agree with you!
If it weren’t so glitter obnoxious I’d really love it. 🙁
I agree you will really like and get MUCH more use out of Folie!
Anne
There are quite a few looks above I like with Idol Eyes, however, in reading this thread and other online reviews, I am hesitant in purchasing it. In one of your above posts, you mentioned Seedy Pearl or Electra as possible dupes. I recently was at a MAC store and swatched EI and Electra to see what the difference actually was. Electra is smoother and more silver/grey whereas IE was lighter and had a more lilac grey look to it. I’m wondering if SP lightly layered over Electra would provide the same look as IE? MAC was out of stock of IE or else I would have purchase it and didn’t think to try this out while at the store? What do you think?
Zabrena
Hi Anne!
You’re right, I don’t think IE is worth purchasing myself. It’s a big glittery mess! 🙁
I love its color, but despise its formula. You could definitely try layering Seedy Pearl over Electra and see if you get a similar effect, although SP may be too red leaning compared to IE’s blue lilac tint. Try mixing Electra with a blue purple; something like Beautiful Iris and see if that helps instead. If I ever find a dupe for IE without the glitter, I’ll be sure to scream it from the rooftops!
Anne
I will definitely try Beautiful Iris with Electra! I love all the looks above with the exception of 1 and 7.
Aaahhhh…experimentation….I think I know what I will be doing this weekend… 🙂
Thanks for your response and suggestion!
Hot Strawberry
I decided to give this one another try because I refuse to fail! I’ve experimented and here’s what worked. Apply NYX jumbo pencil in Milk first, then pat Idol Eyes on with your finger or a sponge tip applicator sprayed with Fix + or just wet with water. This technique kept it true to pan color and prevented it from transferring just the glitter part of the shadow to the lid. I used it with Tilt and it was quite pretty.
beautywithin
I love this shadow, it is so shiney and gorgeous! One of the makeup artist in MAC put this on me, it was pretty pretty pretty. I just couldn’t leave it. Look 7 is my fav but don’t have Satin Taupe. That shadow looks muddy on me.