Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Intense Eyeshadows in 5/Gold Blitz & 13/Black

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadows in 5/Gold Blitz (left) & 13/Black (right)

I've had these for a while now but used them a lot over Christmas (blacks and golds, what a surprise!)

What I particularly like about this "Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadow" formula is how creamy it feels;  its texture is like a powder-cream hybrid albeit in a loose (but extremely densely packed) powder.  It applies like a powder but feels like a cream.

I had read a lot about this but wasn't bothered in the past.  I had purchased a number of the cheaper alternatives from l'Oréal - the Color Infallible Eye Shadows - incidentally those are also Not Bad At All (and a fraction of the price of the Eyes To Kill (remember, Armani cosmetics is owned by the L'Oréal group).

This is an intensely pigmented formulation, and is wonderful for creating a really quick smokey eye.  It can be used either dry or wet (although to be honest, it's so unbelievably pigmented, that there's very little difference with the finish if you use it wet or dry).

This is a long wear formula: it promises "crease proof, flake proof, waterproof, sweat-proof" wear for 24 hours, and per Armani's claims it will "slide on, stay on, but wipe off in an instant".  It does last a long time (I haven't tested the 24-hour claim, but certainly it has lasted 12-hours-plus).  In terms of crease-resistance, I have found that it does fade and crease slightly on me (but then again everything does, whether with or without a primer) but it takes quite some time longer than other shadows (cream or powder) before it fades and creases.

It can be applied in a number of different ways, my preference is for using a dense flat brush.  A fluffy brush of course can be used for a more diffuse application and/or to blend-out into the socket.

Each shade is a duo-chrome.  Most of the shades are very shimmery, almost metallic; some are almost frosted looking.  I purchased the two which looked the "most monochrome".

13/Black

Black, swatched
Left: dry,  Middle: wet,  Right: liner brush

This is a very black black, it's extremely pigmented, wonderfully smooth and incredibly long lasting.  It's fabulous used either wet or dry, but as I've said before, there's very little difference.

What I particularly like about this shade is that it's not a shimmery/frosted duochrome (it's not a flat matte either, it has enough shimmer to be interesting but not disco-ball); the undertone of the black shade is a shimmery navy blue.

I use this for both eyeshadow and liner; when I'm in a hurry I'll use this with an angled liner brush to create the fastest cat-eye known to man.  It's obviously softer than a wet liner, but it's still sufficiently defined to look like liner.  Or I'll whack it on with a detailer brush and smudge it out instead and hey presto; the fastest work-day smokey eye known to man :-)

For this reason, it has become my go-to black of choice, although it's probably not the blackest black I own, it's not far off.

As a side note, I dropped mine this morning. Sunny side down.  It went everywhere.  I am still cross!  I will be replacing... it's most certainly an item I want to hand.

05/Gold Blitz

Gold Blitz, swatched
Left: dry,  Middle: wet,  Right: liner brush

I've since also purchased this formula in 5/Gold Blitz - whereas 13/Black is a very subtly very slightly shimmery matte, the 5/Gold Blitz is highly shimmery - almost metallic - but not frosted, which is good.  This is a warm bronzed gold shade with subtle red undertones.  I like this because it doesn't have an obvious duo-chrome (same as with the black shade above).  For this reason, a lot of people don't get excited about it!

Look here for more information on these shadows.  These are not cheap (around €25ish each *gulp*), and I'm not too particularly bothered about the more obvious duo-chromes or frosted shades, but I do love the two I have and rate them very highly.  The black shade in particular: if you want one product that is long-lasting, can be used as a liner as well as a shadow, is a very dark black shade, doesn't need a primer to showcase its pigmentation and can be applied any of a number of ways, this is your man...