The all-time liquid eyeshadows you can purchase

  • Liquid eyeshadow is the ideal one-and-done production — high bear on, minimal effort.
  • Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow comes in a wide assortment of colors and finishes that stay put even when you're dancing the nighttime away (or falling asleep on your morning commute).
  • Other favorites include the Revlon PhotoReady Eye Art, Glossier Lidstar, Milk Makeup Heart Pigment, and Smith & Cult Glitterbaby Metallic-Shift Eyeshadow.

Liquid eyeshadow is intimidating. Powder and cream formulas are more than intuitive — use them with brushes, fingers, or some combination of the two — and bam, y'all accept an eyeshadow look. But virtually liquid eyeshadows have a doe-pes applicator or brush already attached, and while that might be appealing, it's also a piffling scary. Eyeshadow is all about control, isn't information technology?

In reality, a skilful liquid eyeshadow is that Holy Grail beauty production that gives you a complete eye-look in ii-seconds flat. Swipe it over your lids, tap out the edges with a fingertip, and, viola, instant glamour and definition.

I reach for liquid eyeshadows on two occasions: when I desire a subtle eye-look with piffling to no effort or when I want something high-bear upon with petty to no endeavor. If a liquid eyeshadow requires a ton of finagling, information technology's because either the formula or the applicator isn't quite right for your needs. I've sourced five pinnacle picks in a variety of finishes to help y'all build your collection — researched and tested.

Hither are the best liquid eyeshadows you can buy:

  • Best glittery liquid eyeshadow: Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow
  • Best drugstore liquid eyeshadow: Revlon PhotoReady Eye Fine art
  • Best sheer liquid eyeshadow: Glossier Lidstar
  • Best hybrid cream/liquid eyeshadow: Milk Makeup Heart Pigment
  • Best smoky liquid eyeshadow: Smith & Cult Glitterbaby Metallic-Shift Eyeshadow

The best glittery liquid eyeshadow

Stila

Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow gives you a disco-worthy glitter eye (minus the fallout) in one swipe. Really, just one.

Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow is New Year's Eve in a tube (well, more than like a rectangle). I swear, this eyeshadow brings the political party.

Stila'southward have on a liquid shadow is special because it's just solid, opaque, budge-proof glitter. Finally, a way to wear glitter without half of it ending up on your cheeks past the end of the nighttime. I wore Stila throughout the holiday flavour and received many compliments on my makeup.

Plus, yous won't detect flecks of this stuff on your clothing for years to come subsequently wearing them just in one case. And trust me, y'all'll want to clothing this a lot more than just one time. It is gorgeous and unmarried-handedly turned me into a "glitter person."

Available in 17 shades, you take a ton of options. Go along in mind that all of them are high-glam. These are not your subtle, everyday shadows unless you're the type to wearable glitter to the function; in that case, please keep doing you.

These stunning shadows take garnered rave reviews at Glamour and Attraction, not to mention countless beauty gurus on YouTube.

Pros: Scrap-free glitter, long-lasting, easy to apply

Cons: Can be tough to thoroughly wash off

The best drugstore liquid eyeshadow

Walmart

Easy on the budget, Revlon PhotoReady Eye Fine art is the combo liquid eyeshadow and glitter of your dreams. Layer the liquid glitter on meridian of the metallic cream shadow for a highly pigmented wait.

Stock up on some Revlon PhotoReady Centre Art to become a healthy dose of glitter in your life without the painful price tag. For less than $x you go two shadows — a pigmented metallic foam on one side and a glitter on the other.

Reviewers love the color payoff and the amount of shimmer you get for the price tag, though some note that the product takes a while to dry on the lids, then you'll have to be careful not to smudge information technology before information technology locks into place. If you're non a regular glitter user, this is a great choice to choice up for those rare occasions when you want to go all out.

The customization attribute is also cool; the glitter is designed to layer on superlative of the metal liquid shadow, so you can utilise it as a liner for sparkly dimension or lay it all over the hat for a super shimmery look. These shadows come highly recommended by Teen Vogue, Allure, and 74% of customers on Ulta'south website.

Pros: Double-sided glitter and liquid shadow, affordable, piece of cake to utilize

Cons: Takes a while to dry, some reviewers experienced glitter peeling

The all-time sheer liquid eyeshadow

Glossier

Glossier Lidstar gives you lot a sheer withal buildable launder of shimmery color that volition take you glowing like the '90s pop star you truly are within.

Sometimes, you really but need to channel that moment in "Ever After." You lot know, when Drew Barrymore rolls up to the ball looking like a model in the prom-night spread from a Delia's itemize?

Glossier Lidstar is the answer to all of my "missed out on the fun parts of the '90s because I was younger than ten-years-old" prayers. It'southward a sheer wash of color (an "eye glow," if you will) that distributes subtle shimmer with the wave of the applicator. I employ the doe-foot to sweep the colour liberally beyond my eyelid, then blend with my fingertips.

All vi of the shades are very sheer, but you tin build them up equally long as yous requite the formula a few seconds to dry between coats. Otherwise, you risk erasing some of the color you've already laid downwardly. Choosing just one favorite is incommunicable — like choosing a favorite child, I'd imagine — just I'm fractional to Fawn (smoky taupe) and Lily (sheer lilac).

Another reason I dear these and so much? They pair together beautifully. As Attraction points out, you can utilize only one Lidstar for a really uncomplicated look, or combine ii or three. They dry downwardly and stay put, so make sure you blend quickly then you lot don't get clumps of shadow stuck where you don't want them.

Pros: Sheer, buildable, piece of cake to combine

Cons: Darker shades can be a little patchy

The all-time hybrid cream/liquid eyeshadow

Milk Makeup

The Milk Makeup Eye Pigment is a liquid-meets-foam, high-affect shadow that comes in a clasp tube and doesn't move until you're ready to wash it off.

I dear the Milk Makeup Centre Pigment for the exact opposite reason that I honey the Glossier Lidstar — because of just how not subtle it is. This is more similar a thick foam in a tube than a truthful liquid, but it's more slippery than cream shadows in jar or pencil course tend to be. The tiniest dot of the product creates a solid wall of metallic color across your entire eyelid in nigh half-a-2d. One time it dries, it's not moving until you lot attack information technology with makeup remover.

The color selection is stunning (I'm partial to lavender Jam Room and bronze Gig). Because you but have a few seconds to play before the eyeshadow locks into identify, I recommend squeezing a tiny bit onto the dorsum of your hand and applying to the eyelids with fingertips or a flat brush for maximum control over where the product ends up.

There's no built-in applicator so these can be a lilliputian unwieldy to employ to targeted areas of your eye. Keep a few cotton fiber swabs soaked with makeup remover on hand to clean up any mistakes, for more precise awarding. Just for staying ability and pigmentation (without chunks of glitter) yous tin can't beat the Milk Makeup Eye Pigments. Editors at Byrdie and Glamour hold.

Pros: Long-lasting, metallic, beautiful colors

Cons: Dries down super fast and tin be difficult to piece of work with

Best smoky liquid eyeshadow

Smith & Cult

Smith & Cult Glitterbaby Metallic-Shift Eyeshadow takes the guesswork out of creating a complex, multidimensional smoky heart.

I try a lot of makeup, and information technology's pretty rare that something brand-new becomes an instant fave. Just that's exactly what happened when I got my easily on the newly-launched Smith & Cult Glitterbaby Metal-Shift Eyeshadow.

This is one of the almost truly innovative eyeshadows I've tried in a while. Straight out of the tube they await like typical metallic glitters, but every bit you blend they become smoky and multidimensional. Each color contains blackness micronized pigments that activate when you rub the product in, creating a look that appears complex but is really super simple to achieve.

Currently available in 12 unique shades, Glitterbaby boasts a "pucker-proof finish." The paddle-shaped applicator comes to a gentle point, enabling a more than precise application. "[T]here's admittedly no creasing, no transferring, and no lamentable fading throughout the 24-hour interval," Cosmopolitan editor Brooke Shunatona wrote.

I actually did detect a tiny chip of creasing after a few hours, but it was minimal and actually added an appealing grunginess to my eye wait.

Pros: Easy to use, creates a smoky eye with one shadow, long-lasting

Cons: May crease a bit

Features Insider Picks Guides INSIDER