Darling Girl Santy's Sneaky Sleigh Liquid Stardust - Swatch and Review

I Purchased This

I'm very excited to post this review on Darling Girl's Liquid Stardusts. I purchased this during their Black Friday sale after waiting patiently for it to go on sale. The Liquid Stardusts are Darling Girl's take on the LORAC Liquid Lustres. In essence, these are glitter topcoats that you apply over your cream or powder eyeshadows.

I purchased the shade Santy's Sneaky Sleigh, a milky white base with a pink duo chrome glitter suspended in a slightly pink tinted liquid. You may also notice a slight green duo chrome but it's not apparent when you're wearing it. Since the liquid is only mildly tinted, it shouldn't really change the eyeshadow you're wearing with it. However I did notice that over time, the pink tinge went away in the liquid.

Just an FYI: I have the previous packaging for the Liquid Stardusts, they have new packaging.

Where to Purchase: 

Price: $7.50 for 4mL of product

Do they test on animals?: The company does not test on animals.

Click thru to read the rest of my review and see swatches!

Packaging:

Like I said, I have the old bottle which is a glass bottle with a squeeze dropper. There's a circular product label with a clear square sticker denoting the shade name (my sticker says there's 5mL of product but I double checked and it should say 4 mL). I have noticed that the name is starting to wear off from the sticker after only a few uses. 

The glass bottle isn't very large, maybe about 2 inches high (not including the dropper). Before you balk it's actually got a similar amount of product to the LORAC Liquid Lustres (4mL as opposed to 5mL) but for half the price. The glass packaging for the LORAC Liquid Lustres is a bit tricky since it's double walled which makes it seem like it's a lot bigger than it actually is.

The new Chromaglows do come in this type of packaging and I highly recommend that you squeeze out the liquid from the dropper before storing, otherwise the dropper can get clogged. 

Application:

Before using, shake it up thoroughly to disperse the glitter throughout the mixture. You need a very tiny amount, I usually just dab the end of the dropper onto my hand instead of squeezing a drop out. Make sure the drop is opaque with glitter, it shouldn't be looking clear (which is an indicator that you need to shake the bottle to disperse the glitter).

You can apply it with your finger or a brush though I personally prefer applying it with a flat shader brush. The brush helps absorb some of the liquid so your eyeshadow doesn't get too wet and start to break down. The brush makes for a very even application too. 

Swatch:

I swatched it by itself and over a black base (NYX Black Bean).

Obviously by itself it's nothing special but it truly pops over a dark base. The pink glitter also doesn't feel gritty so it's easy to apply and doesn't feel uncomfortable.

Product Description:

Darling Girl describes this as a "long-lasting, shimmering top coat can be applied over eye shadow or worn alone on eyes and cheeks for luminous, sparkle and shine."

The Liquid Stardust contains glitter suspended in a water based medium. The glitter is very fine, it doesn't feel chunky or gritty when you're using it. The glitter will settle over time so shake it up (make sure the lid is screwed on tight!) to evenly distribute the glitter. Since the liquid is tinted pink, it may slightly alter the look of warmer eyeshadows.

I should mention that I have a slight allergy to some liquid liners/liquid eye products that sometimes causes a brief warming or burning sensation on my eyes. That being said, I noticed a slight warming sensation (no burning) on my eyelid with the Liquid Stardust that went away after a few seconds. It's not enough of a deterrent to prevent me from using the product but I thought it might be worth mentioning if you're like me and have experienced an issue with other liquid eye products.

I wear contacts and I had no issue wearing this on top of my eyeshadow with my contacts.

Wear Time/Longevity:

I was curious whether wearing the Liquid Stardust on top of my eyeshadow would affect the wear. I know a common complaint about the LORAC Liquid Lustres is that the liquid can sometimes make eyeshadows crease so I thought I'd see how this performed. In general, the glitter stays stuck to my eyeshadow even through some rubbing with my fingers. The liquid medium does help the glitter stick to your eyes.

After testing my eyeshadows with primer, I noticed that the Liquid Stardust didn't have an effect on the wear time. Although I noticed a subtle amount of glitter fallout at the end of the day, the liquid in the Liquid Stardust helps the majority of the glitter stick.

Color Recommendations:

When picking colors to use with the Liquid Stardust, I highly recommend using it with darker eyeshadows or eyeshadows that are not especially shimmery. The glitter stands out the best when over a dark base or more satin colors; lighter shimmery eyeshadows tend to reflect a lot of light already so it's more difficult to see the sparkles from the Liquid Stardust.

Conclusion:

The Liquid Stardust is such a unique product among the indie beauty world. Not many companies venture beyond the usual loose eyeshadow/lipstick niche so to have a glitter topcoat like this is something to be happy about. I don't have the LORAC Liquid Lustre so I can't compare it to but I'm pleasantly happy with the Liquid Stardust. The Liquid Stardust doesn't seem to be affecting my eyeshadows' wear time so it's something I feel comfortable wearing without fear of creasing.

Rating: A

Are you a fan of high color or shine with your eyeshadows? Or do you usually prefer more satin and matte colors?