The first thing that stood out to me was how this was packaged. It arrived in an unassuming cardboard box, but as soon as I opened it, I felt like was opening a beautifully wrapped gift. Inside the box, the palette was wrapped with confetti and tissue paper, then sealed with a sticker and a sprig of dried lavender.
As for the product itself, the Eye Steppes are small, stackable eye shadow palettes. Each contains a mirror and five shades, divided amongst three levels. The levels swivel out like a staircase and can also be taken apart. Then, they can be mixed and matched and recombined with other Eye Steppes and also with Jane Iredale's My Steppes, which contain lip glosses, blushes, and bronzers.
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| Jane Iredale Eye Steppes in goWarm |
The eye shadows are lovely. The palettes are coordinated for either your eye color (Blue, Brown, Green) or your skin tone (Cool, Warm), but I'm a firm believer that anyone can wear any of the colors. My skin is cool toned, but I chose goWarm because warm neutrals tend to be my favorite eye shadow colours. I wanted something I'd get a lot of use out of and I'm not disappointed in the least! The shades are all nicely pigmented and apply beautifully. In terms of intensity, wear, and amount of fallout, these definitely benefit from having some kind of primer or base underneath, but they're certainly wearable without one as well.
goWarm contains one shimmery colour, one matte with glitter, and three satin shades. I have plenty of eye shadows in my collection, but I really don't have anything comparable to the three satins. In my experience, most natural eye shadows tend to be either full on shimmery or completely matte, so the softer, satin finish of these is pretty unique.
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| Jane Iredale goWarm: (L to R) Beach, Sunshine, Steamy, Mojito, Sandals |
Sunshine is a pale gold satin with a soft sheen. Beautiful on the lid.
Steamy is a warm corally-salmon color and is a standout for me, as the bright pop of colour in an otherwise very basic neutral palette. It's still subtle enough for work and everyday wear, but great for adding that little extra interest to your eye look. You can keep it at full intensity or blend it out for a softer effect. I love using it on the outer half of the lid and bringing it up into the crease.
Mojito is a medium brown with the same beautiful satin finish as Sunshine and Steamy. It blends like a dream and is gorgeous in the crease. Probably my favorite shade in the palette.
Sandals is a matte warm chestnut brown with gold sparkles. Great as an eyeliner, in the crease, or even on the lid for a smokier look. Definitely has some glitter, but it's still not super in your face visible once it's on the eye.
The Bottom Line
As far as I'm concerned, the only deterrent from rushing out and buying multiples of this product is the price. At $56US/$68CAD, Jane Iredale's Eye Steppes are definitely a high-end, luxury item. That said, my Zuzu Luxe pressed eye shadows retail for $15.25, so five of them would end up costing even more. I'm definitely impressed with the quality here and pressed eye shadows with completely clean ingredients aren't the easiest thing to find, so if you have the money, I do think they're worth the price. They apply beautifully, wear well, and I do find the satin finish of Sunshine, Steamy and Mojito to be fairly unique in a market saturated with predominantly shimmery eye shadows. I could see myself splurging on another Eye Steppes one day (goCool, I'm looking at you), and if Jane Iredale were to ever extend this formula into blushes and bronzers, I'd definitely be interested in checking them out!
Ingredients: Mica (CI 77019), Boron Nitride, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Pinus Strobus (Pine) Bark Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77489, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI 77288)
Have you tried anything from Jane Iredale? What are your favorite products from the line?
Disclaimer: Product provided for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review in return for free product, nor was I compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.
Looks fab! I really prefer the colours in this set over the goBrown.
ReplyDeleteMe too! This was my favorite of the bunch :)
ReplyDeleteNice post! I really want to try goGreen and goBlue too. I almost bought both when Dermstore had a 20% off thing going on, but I uncharacteristically showed some restraint!
ReplyDeleteWord on them extending this formula to their other pressed shadows and blushes! Then I would buy their whole line.
That's impressive restraint! I'll have to keep my eye out for sales like that too :)
ReplyDeletethe swatches look great! and i love that they don't contain silicones. Not sure whether I've seen them in any of the local stores though. :(
ReplyDelete