So here it is. Behold, everyone, the newest taupe to my already burgeoning taupe eyeshadow collection. Edward Bess Storm.
Although the colour name is Storm, Edward Bess's rendering of this colour isn't exactly stormy (lame pun, I know). In fact, it's positively tame. The colour is neutral, and light - in fact, it's exactly the kind of eyeshadow colour you could wear to any office.
The eyeshadow packaging puzzled me a bit. I hadn't realized that Edward Bess had changed the packaging for his Ultra Luminous Eyeshadows, but unlike the other previous eyeshadows I swatched, Storm didn't have the brand name imprinted on the eyeshadow surface. And the eyeshadow pan was round, not square. And the material of the casing seemed different. Still, the packaging retained the chic black exterior, and comes in an expensive-looking box, and a luxe looking velvet pouch.
The eyeshadow itself seemed surprisingly light in terms of pigmentation. Granted, this is a lighter colour, not so much a taupe like MAC's Satin Taupe, but more like Bourjois's Brun Nylon. In other words, a light, beige-ish kind of taupe. I found this lack of pigmentation a little bit disappointing, because previously when I swatched Edward Bess's Luminious Eyeshadow range, I found the colours to be very pigmented. Perhaps these shades are meant to be sheer for Spring/Summer. Here's a swatch of the eyeshadow.
Here's an EOTD (Eye of the Day) with Storm on. Here I used it on my lid. To contour the look a little more, I paired it with the darker shade in another eyeshadow duo I've featured before, the L'Oreal's Sassy HIP Duo. The L'Oreal HIP shade is just a little bit in the contour area.
As you can see, it's a lighter, browner, beige-ier kind of taupe, perfect for conservative offices. It also has a hint of shimmer, although I do think Storm has more shimmer than the shades I previously swatched in the rest of the Edward Bess eyeshadows. Still, this is manageable shimmer, not OTT, and quite pretty, too.
I quite like this shade, and for me this is something wearable that I could definitely see getting heavy usage in my stash. It's just that if you were expecting a deep, dark taupe, this isn't it. Come to think of it, I should swatch this with some of the other taupes in my eyeshadow collection, and see if there are any similar taupes out there.
So, would I recommend this? Well, if you are NC/NW25 and above, I'm not sure if this shadow, being a light shade, will show up on you. It would probably be used as a base, or an all-over lid shade in that case, so if you want it for that reason, great, but if not, it may disappoint you. Also, if you are looking for a shadow with strong pigmentation, this may not be for you. But if you want a simple, wearable taupe, then this could be worth checking out.
(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)
