For the Love of Taupe: Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Lavish Lilac

Time to 'fess up: not only do I fall very easily for every shade of taupe in sight (well, you know that!), but I've also become obsessed with cream eye shadow crayons. Because it's versatile, it's quick, it's easy... and so, so pretty. So it comes as a no surprise that I've recently fallen in love with Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Lavish Lilac ($17 for 0.10 oz/3 g), and I have an unnecessarily detailed review and shade comparison to show for it.

There's not much to say about the packaging apart from the fact that I really like Clinique's etheral floral boxes, and that the cap has a very nifty feature that I've just noticed; there's a little sponge glued on the inside so that the tip of your Chubby Stick doesn't smush if you accidentally forget to wind it all the way down. Pretty handy, right?

Now, onto performance - I will say this is not as amazing as my beloved Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks, but still very, very nice. It has a thinner but smooooth consistency, and thus sheerer pigmentation that's easily buildable. The lasting power is above average (6 hours on my quite oily lids) but not as apocalypse-proof as the Caviar Sticks, which don't entirely surrender even when rubbed with soapy water. You can absolutely extend the wear of the Chubby Sticks by layering an eyeshadow primer underneath, and/or a powder eyeshadow on top.

 The shade Lavish Lilac isn't in fact very lilacy - it's a medium rosey brown laced with exquisitely fine lilac, pink and silver shimmer. The shimmer makes it appear a bit more cool, purple-toned than other similar shades in my collection. Next to Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Grey Pearl, it's definitely less yellow and more mauvey, and when swatched next to a true lilac like Graftobian Luster Creme in Orchid Odyssey, you can see it's definitely a brown neutral shade as opposed to a violet. The arm swatch photo above was taken in natural daylight.

Compared to some purple taupe powder eyeshadows, swatched clockwise starting with the Clinique Chubby Stick in Lavish Lilac: Inglot Pearl no. 420 is more violet grey and less multidimensional, Wet'n'Wild eyelid shade from The Silent Treatment trio is similar, slightly cooler and again, a bit flatter, Barry M Dazzle Dust in Mushroom (pressed into this tiny pan by yours truly) is incrementally rosier and has a different, silver microglitter finish, and lastly Inglot Pearl no. 153 is slightly warmer and altogether different, strongly foiled/metallic texture. Swatched under a mix of cool daylight and warm studio lighting. For more taupe eyeshadow swatches from my collection, click here.

On my cool-toned skin, Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Lavish Lilac appears a lot more purpley; this is two layers of the shadow, finished off with some inner corner highlight and a thin line of Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On pencil in Rockstar, a warm brown aubergine. I'm wearing NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover (reviewed and swatched here), nail polish is Essie's No More Film from the previous post.

Overall, I enjoy playing with my new taupey Clinique acquisition and layering it under different powder eyeshadows to give them more dimension and lasting power. I've already got my cheeky mitts on another shade (shush!), this time on the complete other end of the color spectrum; but that's a subject for a different post altogether. Have you tried Clinique's Chubby Stick Shadow Tints for Eyes? What is your favorite taupe cream eyeshadow?