I confess: I’m something of an eyeshadow novice. In fact, after eschewing the product for years in favor of my trusty old (and, admittedly, boring) black eyeliner/black mascara combo, I only started branching out into the world of shadows earlier this year. Sure, I’d swiped a wash of color on my lids from time to time, but I’m just now learning how to use multiple colors at once, accent the crease, blend up to the brow bone, and so on. I’ve actually never used a mineral eyeshadow before, so forgive me if any part of this review is marred by user error or plain old ignorance.

Lily Lolo is a UK-based brand of mineral makeup, and LB recently received a few adorable little pots of their loose powder eyeshadow for review. The shades I tried, both part of the new Summer Essential line, were Vanilla Shimmer (described as “a softly shimmering pinky-beige”) and Moonlight (“a rich, luxurious and glistening chocolate brown”). Vanilla Shimmer is recommended as a base color or for highlights, while Moonlight is intended to add depth or function as an eyeliner. I wouldn’t have chosen either of these colors for myself, as I tend to prefer shades that are dark and/or bold, but they both looked perfectly lovely in their pots and swatched on the back of my hand. These shadows are smooth and light as silk, and the shimmer is soft yet noticeable – sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to give them a thumbs down overall because they had virtually no staying power whatsoever! Now the website claims that these shadows have “strong colour pigment to give long lasting wear,” but my experience was exactly the opposite. The colors looked nice when I first brushed them on, but when I attempted to blend at all, they simply faded away. (I tried this on my hand as well, and they really do seem to vanish on me after just one or two swipes!) I was unable to create any sort of look with these shadows, which is too bad, because they really did look pretty in the pot. However, I didn’t use a primer or base, so I suppose that could make all the difference, or this could just be the nature of mineral shadows.

In conclusion, Lily Lolo seems like an intriguing new brand, and I would be interested in trying some of their other products, but these shadows were not my bag, baby. What do you think of mineral eyeshadows? Do you have any brands that you swear by?