Black Shimmer Shadows - Gold & Red

The second in a series of posts on black glittery shadows. This one has blacks with gold & red shimmers.

Smoking - MAC

From the Smoking quad that came out with the Smoke Signals collection. Another velvet finish shadow like Black Tied, this isn't the darkest of black bases. As with Black Tied, to get the shimmers to show, this needs to be used wet. Using it dry & blending gets rid of nearly all of the shimmers.

Tijuana - Kat Von D


Tijuana has been in two of the Kat Von D palettes; Memento Mori & The Tattoo Chronicles palette.
Vivid gold shimmer that will show up if used dry but really pops when used wet. Nice, smooth texture that blends well & a good, solid black base.

Night Clubbing - NARS

Although this is classed as a gold shimmer, it takes on an olive-gold cast once applied.
Great black base that's really dark & the shimmers stand out well on this one. Looks good dry but great when used wet. This one makes a fantastic liner.

Gilt By Association - MAC

Another Mineralise shadow that came out with the Style Black collection. Gilt By Association is a little deceptive in the pan, it appears to have quite a dark base. On the skin, it isn't really black at all, more of a brown tone & not very dark at all. It does darken up nicely with a black base.
Loaded with golden glitter, it does have a bit of a tendency to be messy.

Cobra - Urban Decay

From the Black Palette. Cobra is quite similar to Night Clubbing but with a slightly lighter base. Although it does lean a little to the olive side, it doesn't do so quite as much as Night Clubbing.
Blends well & the shimmers pop with this one when used wet or dry.
A palette only deal, if you want this one, you'll need the Black Palette.

Black Ore Solar Bits - MAC

Very shimmery black with a nice, deep base. Where this falls down for me is with its texture. Not a regular pigment, the Solar Bits are even more chunky & clumpy than the chunkier pigments.
Fall-out city if you use this dry & a good, even layer is difficult to achieve. Used wet, it goes on far more smoothly & the glitter pops.
I tend to reach for others over this purely because it's so messy to work with.

The Family Crest pigment - MAC

From A Tartan Tale, this was a limited edition. Very much like Smoking in  appearance but easier to get the shimmer to show up because it's a pigment.
Subtle twinkle when used dry, more obvious shimmer when used wet but it's not an OTT glittery black.
Blends nicely & has a very smooth texture.

Smoking, Tijuana, Night Clubbing, Gilt By Association, Cobra, Black Ore, The Family Crest

For these swatches, the shades were applied to dry skin using a touch of MAC's water-based mixing medium to make the shimmers pop more. This was taken inside with the flash on.

Smoking, Tijuana, Night Clubbing, Gilt By Association, Cobra, Black Ore, The Family Crest

The above picture was taken outside to show how these look in daylight.

My top picks here would be Tijuana for a palette shade. Great pigmentation on both the base & the shimmers.
For a single, Black Ore is stunning when used wet, but the fall-out & gritty texture when used dry means it loses out to Night Clubbing. Although it's more olive-toned than a true gold, Night Clubbing is stunning. Applies & blends well & is long-lasting. It may be pricey but the NARS pans are huge, it'll last for ages.

Red Shimmers

Night Fever - Nars

As with all of the shimmery blacks in the Nightlife series, this has a really nice, deep black base.
The reddish shimmers here are smallish but they look really pretty when used dry. Used wet, the shimmers pop more.

Good blendability & pigmentation. 

Cholita - Kat Von D

From the purple-toned True Love palette. Cholita looks very plummy in the pan but it is a blackened base with reddish-plum shimmers. Not as out & out glittery as Night Fever. Blends well & works as a liner.

Beauty Marked - MAC

Another shimmery Velvet shadow from MAC. As with the others, this really does work best when used wet, the shimmers pop more. Used dry, it's a black that's lighter than Carbon with little to no shimmer staying on the eyes. There will be more fall-out using this one dry.

Night Fever, Cholita, Beauty Marked

Again, these were used wet with the water-based mixing medium & applied straight to bare skin. This is the picture taken with the flash on.

Night Fever, Cholita, Beauty Marked

Swatch picture taken outside in daylight.

Of the three, the winner for me is Night Fever because of its ability to retain shimmer when used dry. The base is also the darker of the three. Good, blendable texture & huge NARS pan size that will last & last.