Estée Lauder Pure Color Stay-on Shadow Paint - New for Spring 2013

I showed you this display recently. It was my undoing. I adore cream eye shadows, and these nine new Estée Lauder Pure Color Stay-on Shadow Paints ($24) offer something for everyone - five for me. Maybe six. Who could avoid Extreme Emerald, the Pantone color of the year (below)? I may have to pop back over to get it. I'm already seeing emerald green make a splash in makeup collections, and I think it might be fun to collect the shade from different companies.

You can bet I selected the shades that a 60+ woman with pale coloring can wear. I'm conservative. I left the peacock shades for the younger gals - or those with chocolate skin, on whom this green and Bold Cobalt will look smashing.

Go from smoky to wildly intense with non-stop shadows lit with shimmer. Pure pigments in a creamy shadow. Light-emitting dimensional pearls create shimmer to the high-metallic finishes [not all of the colors are highly metallic]. Finger paint it onto lids. Glides on quickly, wears infinitely all day. Removes with Estée Lauder [or any brand] long-wear makeup remover.

I wish you could have seen me trying to get photos of these round wells of color. No matter that it was mid-day, and the sun was at its highest point of the day. It's winter, and the sun was shining brightly from the Southern sky. The half-moon shading on the shadows was annoying, so I resorted to my car's back window well. I highly recommend this trick to other photographers who don't want to hold each shadow up individually. Here are my five treasures, all lined up on my car like little soldiers. There was a lot of sunlight on them, which washed out the colors just a tad.

I placed them in numeric order from left to right.

• 01, Chained, which appears to be a dark flesh shade in the pot - oddly, it is not the shade shown as Chained on Estée Lauder's Web site
• 02, Halo, is the lightest in the collection, an ivory shade
• 03, Pink Zinc, a pastel pink - the color shown online is all wrong
• 04, Sinister, a shimmering greyed midnight blue
• 08, Steel, a stunning hybrid taupe-silver blend that is magnificent on the skin; it is not lavender as shown online

I took my swatch photos in the same order on my arm, top to bottom. I started applying the shades with a sponge-tipped applicator, but it wasn't working evenly because my sponges were absorbing the cream. Instead of going for a brush (it was so cold), I finished up at the bottom of my arm with my fingers to try to get even swatches. I am not thrilled with any of my swatch photos. They do not adequately portray the beauty of these shades - perhaps because I had to back off the camera to get all five in the photo frames.

Most of these shades are electric on the skin. They are stunning. I love them, but I look at the swatch photos and think ho-hum. Don't be tempted to do that too. Go look at these eye shadows in person!

Chained at the top of my arm shows definite color. I would describe it as a gentle copper. Halo is definitely the base shade in the bunch. It disappears into my skin when blended. Pink Zinc (third down) didn't show up very well, but it's an extremely wearable warm pink that's loaded with shimmer.

Sinister looks more grey than blue on my skin, but there is definitely a blue undertone to the metallic shade. Steel, at the bottom, is magnificent. It glows and will make your eyes the center of attention. The color is a blend that's almost hard to describe. When I hold the pot up to the light, I see pigments of silver, taupe, and khaki - perhaps a weathered steel that will flatter everyone.

I don't need to tell all of you makeup mavens that these shadows can be used as eye shadows, liners, or highlighters. I can't wait to try Steel as a liner. I can see in my mind's eye how cool it's going to look.

These Stay-on Shadow Paints are indeed stay-on eye shadows. The darker shades will not come off with cleanser and water. You must use a long-wear eye makeup remover to remove all traces of color without pulling on your lids. That's great for those who find cream eye shadows crease or disappear on their skin. These won't.

I purchased mine at Neiman Marcus. I've seen them at counters everywhere, and they are also available online. If you do shop online, put little to no trust into the swatch photos. They are misleading.

Photo of Extreme Emerald courtesy of Estée Lauder; other photos by Best Things in Beauty