Meet my old pal Milani and the Everyday Eyes eyeshadow palette in ‘Bare Necessities’, that’s been fulfilling my neutral beauty goals, all summer long. Cruelty-free makeup Monday continues!
Milani Cosmetics and I have a very strained friendship – and it’s totally my fault. Sure, while I love and adore Milani…I somehow forget to give her the attention she so deserves and lose sight of all the great times we share together. Today, I’m taking a stand to rectify the situation and declare that Milani, yes, is one of my favorite drugstore beauty brands. The end. If this was 1997, we would totally have matching BFF necklaces and braid each other’s hair while talking about Saved by the Bell and eating Oreos.
But instead, it’s 2016. So, we giggle over coffee and YouTube videos while doing our makeup every morning and she sends me off looking glowing and refreshed to face the day.
With such full faith in Milani, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to finally pick up one of the stunning ‘Everyday Eyes’ eyeshadow palettes that beauty gurus everywhere have raved about. I guess it was the misguided belief that I already had enough neutral palettes. *pfft* (That’s just silly talk, isn’t it?)
The Milani Everyday Eyes eyeshadow palette collection features neutral palettes that are gold, flashy and very tempting when you waltz pass them at the beauty counter. To rekindle our friendship, I picked up Milani’s “Bare Necessities” palette, which simply has all the bare necessity eyeshadows you need. Pretty great, right? But does it measure up to Milani’s legacy of quality cruelty-free makeup at an affordable drugstore price? And are we still drugstore beauty BFFs? Let’s find out.
Milani’s Everyday Eyes eyeshadow collection features 6 palettes that are all exquisite. As tempting as it was to snatch them all up right on the spot, I selected palette #2: Bare Necessities because it seemed like the most “basic” of them all. Included are 6 eyeshadows, from left to right:
Shimmering Champagne: I love this shade. In a pinch, it’s beautiful worn brushed all over the lid on its own.
Cool-Tone Matte Brown: A standout that I regularly use in my crease and as a blending shade, even when using other palettes. It’s great.
Shimmering Rich Gold: This shade is really gorgeous and I’m surprised I haven’t used it more. This fall I imagine I’ll get more into rich golds like this but for now I just admire it’s beauty while working around it.
Satin Medium Brown: This is my go-to everyday brown eyeshadow at the moment. It’s so simple! For those mornings when you’re maybe running a little late – or are just feeling standard – it’s perfection.
Sparkling White Highlight: Another go-to favorite. (Except who am I kidding, they all are!) While this is a “highlight” per say, I’ve actually really enjoyed using this across my lid with the deep brown in my outer crease. It’s a soft, yet edgy, looks that’s is pretty perfect for summer. Also of note, the staying power is tremendous for a shadow with so much shimmer to it.
Matte Deep Brown: Oh, hello! This is totally my new favorite eyebrow filling shadow. That alone makes it worth at least $9.99, but it’s also a terrific shade to work in your crease with every other little gem in this palette. Or, you could go a bit more dramatic and use this across your lid and blend out with the softer-brown. You know, ideas!
How pigmented are the Milani eyeshadows?
As you can see from the swatches above, the shadows are quite beautiful and have a strong amount of pigment to them. Generally speaking, they are consistent. My only note is that the champagne does have a bit more “fall out” than the other shades, which is not exactly a problem but something to be aware of.
How do the Milani ‘Bare Necessities’ shadows hold up with/without an primer?
Out of habit, I pretty much always wear an eyeshadow primer. The one I’ve been particularly loving right now is from Lorac and it locks things in place nicely all day. So, with that — I ran into absolutely zero problems and the shadows are just as vivid in the evening as they are when I apply them in the morning. Without a primer, they do stay put — but the pigmentation does wear down a bit. Overall, I would suggest using a primer as a rule with eyeshadow though. If you’re in need of a cruelty-free drugstore recommendation, Wet n’ Wild makes a terrific eyeshadow primer that’s only a couple bucks.
How does this $9.99 Milani Everyday Eyes eyeshadow palette measure up to higher end neutral palettes?
I’m not making this up when I say I rotate between this and the Lorac Pro palette evenly. It’s that impressive! Of course, I also have the Urban Decay Naked palettes and I would say Milani does a really decent job of matching up to that quality. The texture/consistency of the Milani eyeshadows actually reminds me of Urban Decay quite a bit.
Where can I find Milani products?
I thought I could answer this generally by saying CVS and Walgreens, but as it turns out not every location of those stores carry Milani. Such as, I went to my favorite CVS (who used to carry Milani) only discover they replaced Milani with Elf products. To make it easy on us, the kind peeps at Milani have a store locator so you can quickly look up exactly what drugstore locations near you carry the line. Of course, there’s always the option to shop directly from Milani’s website!
Are these shadows vegan-friendly?
Yep! The Milani Everyday Eyes palettes are 100% vegan and cruelty-free. Thank goodness.
Overall, yay or nay?
A big, resounding Yay. Like I said, I’ve been a neglectful friend of Milani because I’ve known for some time now how terrific their products are but have been reaching for my more pricier bits instead. The Bare Necessities eyeshadow palette was a nice refresher on the great quality of Milani makeup, at an affordable price. I’m always a bit on the fence when it comes to drugstore products simply because you can’t test and try them out in advance, but I’m happy to say these palettes are a true winner!
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Milani Everyday Eyes ‘Bare Necessities Eyeshadow Palette ($9.99)
As always, stay stylish and keep chasing your dreams!
XOXO
Kelly
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