You know, I kind of hate it when a product is very popular with many people, but doesn’t sit well with me. It often makes me wonder what’s wrong with me. Am I too picky? Is my skin weird? What is WRONG?!
And then I realise that well, nothing is. Quite often, it comes down to differing preferences, or just weird skin!
Which brings me to the By Terry Ombre Blackstar cream eyeshadow sticks. You should know by now that I’ve got a thing for cream eyeshadow sticks. They’re so incredibly portable and easy to use, with lovely shimmer and texture, that I wonder why I don’t use these and only these for eyeshadow all day, everyday!
And then I realise why – not everyone gets it right. I’ve tried some that have gotten it horribly wrong, and I have my favourites (Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown, if you’re wondering – I have multiples from both brands!) But the By Terry Ombre Blackstar pens come highly rated. I’d be hard-pressed to find someone out there who doesn’t like these, and I was pressed to try this. “Try it!” the sirens cooed “You will love it! It’s smooth, it’s creamy, it’s got beautiful colour!”
So I tried it. And you know what sirens do in the myths? They lure you to the rocks so you crash and burn. Ah yep, that was me, crashing and burning while the sirens cackled overhead 😛
Thing is, I can’t fault the texture. The By Terry Ombre Blackstar cream shadows are indeed sublime in texture.
I bought 2 shades – Jungle (a deep olive green – not as bright as the swatch above) and Bronze Moon, a shimmery bronze. Jungle has less shimmer in it and is fairly deep.
You can wear both colours on their own, or blended, or as a base for powder eyeshadows, where they act like a primer and colour enhancer. Worn as a base, I find the colours lasting hours, and they truly do make an excellent base. Jungle in fact, can act as a base for a very sultry smokey eye look, as it is different – few people do smokey eye looks with green shadow, so this makes it very interesting.
I often wear them on their own however, or blended together, like I do in my 3 second eyeshadow look. Ok, maybe not 3 seconds, but definitely under a minute to get perfect looking eyeshadow. Bronze Moon is a very popular shade, if you look up the online reviews, and it is very nice, because it isn’t too orange.
When I swatch them on the back of my hand, they set very quickly and don’t budge after a while. I thought it was very promising.
However, for some strange reason, when I wear them on my eyes (since that’s where eyeshadow goes, not on my hand) they tend to move, and fade after a few hours. It’s very strange because I haven’t come across anyone else having a similar problem, and I don’t even have oily lids!
I smushed my Jungle hence the weird shape. It originally arrives looking like Bronze Moon does
On my eyes, Jungle on its own is a rather dull green and I find that it has a tendency to travel as the day wears on and the colour fades and creases a little. Ditto Bronze Moon. Now, it might be worth noting at this point that I do not have a problem with either Laura Mercier or Bobbi Brown’s eyeshadow pens, which stay put all day long. In fact, I don’t have a problem with shadow at the best of times (I don’t wear a primer)
When I blended Bronze Moon with a colour from Bobbi Brown, I noticed immediately how Bronze Moon faded and shifted, while the Bobbi Brown shade stayed put. I think it’s because the By Terry Ombre Blackstar has a creamier texture while both LM and BB are slightly drier. I also find the By Terry softer which might make it prone to breaking. Notice how I managed to smush one of mine.
When I touch up using a powder shadow over the cream base, it is very nice. But I do think it’s far too expensive for me to use as a base product. I’ll be sticking to what I know works for now.
IN A NUTSHELL
The By Terry Ombre Blackstar cream eyeshadow sticks have a beautiful creamy texture and glides on skin very smoothly. The shimmer shades are fine and shimmery without looking glittery. While these come highly raved for texture and longevity, and have a wide selection of colours, I’m afraid I’m not a fan. For me, the Ombre Blackstars tend to travel, crease and fade as the day wears on. I think it might be because of the creamy texture. I’m afraid these fell quite short for me.
PROS: Easy to use, Wearable colours, Sets to be budge-proof on my hand but not on my eyes, Makes a beautiful base to intensify powder eyeshadows, Blends easily with fingers
CONS: Pricey, Too creamy for me so it tends to travel, crease and/or fade over time
WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone who enjoys using cream eyeshadow sticks
PRICE: RM186 | US$44 | £29
AVAILABILITY: Kens Apothecary, Sephora (MY), Cult Beauty, Space NK, Net-A-Porter
Have you tried these By Terry Ombre Blackstar shadows? Do you like using cream eyeshadow sticks?
I always resort to cream eyeshadow sticks when I’m short of time, or when I want something that stays put all day long. I wanted so much to love these, the way so many people do, but I guess we were just not meant to be. Ah well, money saved… till the next siren’s song 😛
Paris B
I just had this in my cart and decided to hold off. One of my go tos is the Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop in three shakes. Laura Mercier ones travel on my and I use a lot of the Bobbi Brown shades for a base. Too bad this migrates because its such a pretty shade. But with that price point maybe it’ll be happy sitting in my cart for a bit longer until I can test one out.
I didn’t try the MJ but I”ll take a look next time I’m at Sephora 🙂 Sorry to hear the LM and BB ones aren’t for you but I suppose that’s why we have so many different brands 😀 This one’s certainly just too expensive to fail IMO
See if these crease on you they’ll crease on me. The Laura Mercier ones crease on me. The Bobbi Brown ones crease too. Same with the NARS ones. I find most of these more expensive ones crease on my oily lids. I’ve had better success with cheaper ones for some reason haha. I refuse to pay a lot of money for a shadow pencil now, I’ve learned my lesson.
Aww sorry to hear the ones I like crease on you too Tracy. I didn’t like the NARS one at all 😛 Which cheaper options do you like? I’m toying with the idea of trying some Korean ones now – some come highly rated 😀
I have Misty Rock and Brown Perfection. Misty Rock has lots of shimmers, and I thought I applied it wrong initially, because it moved a lot, and creased and faded. I looked up reviews, and seems like I was the only one. Brown Perfection fared so much better. Stayed on and lasted without creasing (without primer) but it did fade a little. Definitely overhyped, and overpriced!
Prefer my LM and BB. I just bought a couple of Burberry ones, can’t wait to test them out!
Can’t wait to see how Burberry works out for you. I’m very happy with both LM and BB so I suppose that makes me super picky. Glad we just have 2 each eh? Although that’s probably 2 too many LOL
I’ve heard good things about these but not enough to shell out at that price!
Right now I’m happy with Kiko’s shadow liners, so I’ll stick with them.
I’m dying to try Kiko shadow liners! But it’s so hard to get hold of them because it’s not easily available online is it?
Yeah, I don’t think they’re easy to get online internationally. They started an online presence in the US and I took advantage of a sale on their less popular colors. The popular colors don’t seem to go on sale 😛
Ah you’re now in the US! I’ve heard so much about Kiko pencils I’m dying to get them. I think I’ll resort to ebay soon LOL!
Lol, they’re so reasonably-priced that ebay wouldn’t be a bad option!
Oooh how I lurvee eyeshadow sticks! LM is my fav, have in almost every shade! I also like the Marc Jacobs sticks-not as dry as LM and a couple of colours are quite unique. I too got suck into getting the byTerry sticks. But when I went to take a look, I noticed the colours are same ol same ol. Nothing unique and I have the shades in other brands. I bought one anyway coz I am such a sucker and I dont find it to be life-changing or anything. I still like LM for the variety of shades and the texture. Cheaper as well to do the exact same thing.
Having taken a look at a lot of the brands, I think the colour selection from LM is the best. Somehow they have a good mix of colours and I’m in danger of matching your collection too! LOL! I haven’t tried MJ’s – reckon it’s worth trying? 😉 Glad to know you felt the same about By Terry. Like you, I just had to see what the hype was bout – sucker la tu 😛