Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eye Shadow ($25) is one of my favorite cream shadows. Intense and lustrous, this dewy cream eye shadow transforms into powder that creates a glaze of brilliant, shimmery color. It's crease-resistant and long-wearing.There I was, a few months ago, lusting after some gold and copper eye shadows I saw in a magazine. H4 had been swatched. I wanted it. When I want something, I'm relentless in searching for it. I looked online at first. I couldn't find it. Then I started prowling the Shiseido counters. Every time I went in a store with a Shiseido counter, I looked at every Hydro-Powder shade on display (testers) and asked someone to check the stock in case the H4 tester was missing. No one had it. No one at a Shiseido counter knew the shade. I had almost given up when I found H4 at Bloomingdale's at Tysons Corner Center. I think the sales associate (someone I didn't know) was surprised when I told him I wanted it within seconds of picking up the tester. It was worth the search.
H4 is called Spring Plum. This shade is not plum to my eyes. Maybe I should be worried about my vision. Not only that, the color swatches online make it look mauve pink. You be the judge; I swatched it.
On my arm at right is a heavy application at the top and a lighter, blended application below. I applied the cream with my fingertips (my bad - I was in a hurry, but I washed my hands before I touched it). I would describe the color as a rose-tinged copper. When applied heavily, the rose is more dominant than it is when applied lightly and blended. Either way, I can wear it. I don't look like an albino bunny in it. The shade is extremely flattering to my pale skin and blue eyes, and I think women with other skin/eye combinations will find it very pleasing.
Last night, I looked online, and now suddenly the shade is "everywhere." Go figure! No matter what it's called, it's gorgeous! I verified H4 today with the lovely ladies who represent Shiseido. They see a soft plum with some shine; I see another color. It's not new, so I have no idea why many counters don't display it. Browsers would pick up this beauty in a heartbeat.
You can find Shiseido at Sephora, Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, and other Shiseido counters, as well as online at the Shiseido Web site. See if you can find H4 more easily than I could.
Photo at top courtesy of Nordstrom
Love these. Have four of them - a gold, a platinum, a pinkish-gold, and a bronze - always feel dewy and fresh on my lids!!! Love Shiseido - wish Cle de Peau, their luxury line, would make some of these for those of us with dry lids.
ReplyDeleteHi Miss Brahms,
ReplyDeleteMe too, although CdP gives us so many fab powder shadows, I hate to think what I would spend if they did creams like these too. :)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have this shade, and it looks frosty greenish on me..there is a plum shade but it's not seen at all probably because I am much darker. It definitely looks different from your swatch. This really is such a strange colour :)
Hey there, Rads! Thank you for that feedback!
ReplyDeleteI know my swatch wasn't the greatest, but it really looks that color on me. You have to be right. This is probably a shade that morphs by skin color.
Oh I didn't mean that your swatch wasn't proper - I think that's just how the colour is. It looks very different from person to person. I wanted a colour like what is shown in your swatch :)
ReplyDeleteUnrelated, but I could not swatch Rouge Coco shines because they just don't show up on my hand..just so sheer. Didn't pick up any!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rads! I knew that. It was sweet of you to come back and say so, though. xo
ReplyDeleteI just find this fascinating about the color. It's our second mystery. The first was why I couldn't find it!
Wow!
ReplyDeleteRads, some of them are extremely sheer on my arm, but combined with my lips, they are actually quite colorful. I suspect, though, that these shades are another example of color differences on skin types. Because I'm so pale, most anything will show up! :)
Have you see the blue quad - Lagons? I got that, so I didn't feel all that bad about not buying the Shines :D
ReplyDelete*seen..not see!
ReplyDeleteMy friend Amy featured that at Café Makeup. I don't have it. Blues aren't really my "thing," but they look fabulous on women with darker skin. You love?
ReplyDeleteI thought it would look a bit too bright on me, but it doesn't - I am quite dark, so that helps :) Only the darkest blue shade is really pigmented, though. The rest are a little difficult to get on the brush.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great review, I'm fascinated by the new breed of cream to powder shadows, especially since I'm such a shadow fan to begin with. :-) I've read that some of the cream to powder shadows have a sponge-y feel to them, would you say that is the case with this one? (I'm curious to feel one that's actually like that) :-) The name "Hydro-Powder" is neat as well, and the color is very pretty. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie!
ReplyDeleteThis one looks like a "semi-solid" cream and glides off the "round rock" easily in a thin film. It doesn't feel spongy - to me.
Too funny. I saw this at the Macys Shiseido counter, swatched it, loved it but wanted to wait it out to make sure I wasn't having yet another impulse purchase. I found myself thinking about it and decided I had to have it but when I stopped by my trusty Nordstrom Shiseido makeup counter it was not there. Strange indeed. I will have to head back to the Macy counter now :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it weird, Trisha? I can't figure out why this shade is so hard to find.
ReplyDeleteI think they discontinued these. I can’t find them anywhere. I love H4 Spring Plum. I have gone thru so many of these. I have other colors too but H4 looks good on my skin tone. I get so many complements when I wear this shadow. I went on sephora’s website to order more and I couldn’t find it I’ve been searching for it online for 2 weeks now. I’m so upset that I didn’t check earlier. I hope they bring these back or someone comes up with a dupe.
ReplyDeleteThese are discontinued, but I did manage to get my hands on H3 Tiger Eye, a beautiful light coppery bronze. It makes blue and green eyes POP like nobody's business! It is so perfect for going out - dab this on and smudge some black liner along the lash line, an extra coat of mascara and you're good to go.
ReplyDelete