Clinique Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Color in Currant Affair Review and Swatches

I am rarely disappointed by beauty products.  I try to do my homework and read all the beauty bloggers reviews and such before I buy anything, but sometimes I get sucked in by the advertising for the product anyway.  Unfortunately, the Clinique Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Color seemed to be one of those for me.

This is a cream eyeshadow that claims to be long-lasting, cooling, and nourishing.

Clinique says:
Creamy, crease-resistant eye colour wears for 8 hours. Instantly cools thanks to a unique applicator. Nourishing ingredients coax fine lid lines into a blanket of smoothness. Antioxidants help protect eye-area skin.

Squeeze tube gently to release a small amount of colour. Use the cooling metal applicator to apply product directly onto lids. Quickly blend with fingertips before formula sets. Tip: A little goes a long way—start with a small amount and build with additional colour as desired.


The metal applicator tip is interesting looking and it does feel cool on the skin.  I like that it contains some beneficial antioxidants.

The problems I have is with  1) how sheer this shadow is, 2) how quickly it creases, and 3) the color itself.

Swatching it on the hand it looks totally different than on the eyelid.  A swatch makes it look kind of thick and quite metallic.

natural light

indoor light

flash

blended with ring finger

On the lid, the color is kind of difficult to build, and it seems like the more you apply the more quickly it creases without giving more color payoff.  I have applied this the way Clinique recommends (apply with tip, blend with fingers) and I just sheers it out way to much for my liking.  Applying it with a brush improves color performance, but it is still quite sheer.

This shadow also creases quite quickly on me, even though it claims to be crease resistant for 8 hours.  Primer doesn't seem to make a difference either.  After about 3 hours the shadow has started to move and is quite creasy after 4.  It is possible to re-blend the shadow with fingers, but that can sheer out the color even more.

Now maybe these are problems with the color I chose, which is also something I don't like.  Currant Affair looks like it would be a dark color, sort of a silvery plum.  It reads lighter on the eyes I think because of the silver shimmer, and it doesn't look plum or purple to me.  It has much more grey in it than I was expecting.  I was hoping for more purple since it swatches more plum than the other colors.  I wish I had tried it on my eyes to see what it really looks like rather than just swatching it.  I feel like this is not a particularly flattering color on me and just makes my eyes look tired.

I have a feeling this formula is better for a sheer wash of light color from the lashline to the brow, and the lighter colors seem like they would be appropriate for that kind of look.  Currant Affair is too dark to wear in that manner, but too light to give much impact.

I don't like doing reviews for products that I think are not so great, (especially for one like this that may have other colors that perform or look better (they have several that are light, shimmery colors that would brighten the eyes I think).) but I think honest reviews are important.

Have you tried any of the Clinique Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Colors?  What was your experience with them?