Drugstore Vs. Sephora Shadow stick wear test
I have a thing for cream eye shadow sticks. I think it’s the ease of them. Some days (and by some I mean most) I just want to swipe some color on my eyelids, pretend I’ve got my act together, and move on with my day. Enter the Laura Mercier caviar stick eye shadow. The caviar stick in Amethyst is like an old friend, always there waiting for me when I tire of the 40 shade eyeshadow pallet I fell for at the last Sephora sale.
I recently went on a hunt for a drugstore dupe that would perform as well as the LM caviar stick. The LM shadows ring in at $29 so I wanted to see if there was an inexpensive option that would compete with the caviar stick formulation. Enter E.L.F. no budge shadow stick for $5. Yep. that’ll work.
Below I compared the LM caviar stick in the color Amethyst and the ELF shadow stick in the color “magnetic pull”. When swatched on the arm these colors look completely different. The purpose of this review is less to find an exact color dupe and more to find an acceptable formulation dupe.
For prep I used the NARS smudge proof shadow base. If I don’t use an eye primer I look like the joker in about 20 minutes so it’s not optional for me. I’ve been blessed with the combination of not only hooded, but oily eyelids. Don’t be jealous.
Below I’ll break it down into categories for an easier comparison. For clarity, the LM was applied to my right eye and the E.L.F was applied to my left.
Color selection – The LM product wins this category by a landslide. Laura Mercier offers 31 shades E.L.F. offers 16. Another thing to note is the LM shade selection is more nuanced in that the shimmers have undertones of gold or silver and when applied many of the shades give the illusion that multiple colors were used.
Longevity – Both the LM and this color (magnetic pull) of the E.L.F. products are very long wearing. Neither product creased after 11 hours of wear. There was some normal fading, but it was quite minimal. For transparency, I want to say that I tried a few other colors of the E.L.F. product and they did not perform as well – so proceed with caution.
Application – They apply very similarly but the E.L.F is a little harder to work with. It is not as pigmented and blends away almost immediately causing you to have to apply more, blend again, and repeat that cycle. The LM offers a one swipe, smudge with the expertise of a 5 year old, and move along application.
Okay I know, get to the point Liz. The E.L.F. shadow sticks are nice. The application is a little more difficult and I’m suspicious that the colors don’t all perform the same. If you are not that into makeup but want to try a cream eyeshadow they would be a great place to start. The LM caviar sticks still win this contest for me, mainly because of the color range, and the nuance of the individual colors. In longevity and formulation these two are equals. Have you tried them? If so, let me know your thoughts!