Shiseido Shimmering Eye Cream Color Ombre Crème Satinee: BR306 Leather, BR623 Shoyu, BR709 Patina and BR709 Sable
Shiseido is a brand that flies under my makeup radar. I have been looking for cream shadows to replace my beloved Makeup Forever Aqua Creams for 6 months (a rep told me that there is a chance that they will be discontinued); #14 Satin Brown and #15 Taupe have been mainstays in my kit for years. They have been my go to shadow bases when I am creating dramatic smoky eyes à la Kim Kardashian (love her, hate her, her makeup is always flawless). While searching Sephora online I ordered a few from Benefit. They just didn’t have the lasting power, ease of application and pigmentation of MUFE Aqua Creams. I decided to give Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color Ombre Crème Satinee a try.
Top: Makeup Forever 14 Satin Brown Aqua Cream, bottom Shiseido BR306 Leather
The closest color I have found to date to MUFE 14 Satin brown is BR306 Leather. The company describes this as a rich reddish brown. It is not as coppery as MUFE 14 and is deeper but it is close enough. I wear this on my lid and bring it up into the crease as a “foundation” to build on, to add depth and as a liner to rim under the eye. I apply Antiqued from MAC or Camille from Viseart Sultry Muse shadow palette over the cream. Once the powder is applied there really isn’t much of a difference, other than Leather is sheerer, slightly more shimmery and much easier to blend than MUFE 14.
Based on the description and the color in the pan, I thought that BR709 Patina would be a wonderful neutral taupe. The color is light-medium khaki with silver taupe undertones. The name is accurate; patina is almost a verdigris color. My search for a dupe for MUFE 15 continues.
Shiseido describes BR709 Sable as a luxurious taupe. It may be luxurious but it is decidedly a warm mid khaki green with gold shimmer undertones. If you love khaki and earth tones you should try Sable, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.
BR623 Shoyu was a great find. This is a really beautiful brownish black and is perfect to smoke out your shadows, as a liner, to accentuate the outer corner of the crease and is less stark then black.
The formulation of the Shiseido Shimmering eye creams are excellent. They glide on the eye, are long lasting with decent pigmentation. All are buildable and the shimmer is very slight. The texture is not as dry and the colors but the hues are not as pigmented as MUFE, however they do not cake or drag as the MUFE Aqua Cremes do after a few months.
It is confusing because the names on the bottom of the shadows don’t match the website or press product names (example Patina is called Taki on the box and Shoyu is called Hazy). All are $25 (6 grams) compared to $23 (5.95 grams) for MUFE Aqua Creams. The Shiseido packaging is quite sleek and slim, with a sculpted black cap. Like the Makeup Forever Aqua Creams they are crease resistant but alas not waterproof.
Verdict: if you are looking for a more sheer day to night time eye cream shadow you might prefer these over the Aqua Creams. For reference I am a Kat Von D Lock it Foundation medium 57 and a Nars Barcelona(warm medium to tan) The results may vary on your skin
Disclosure: I was given all four to review by the lovely people at Shiseido. Opinions my own
Available on Shiseido.com and sephora.com
–Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief