Ever wondered how much mediums really matter? Here are some swatches of shadow… I’m a believer, how ’bout you? :P
Remember: all images can be clicked on to be enlarged!
Dry / wet with just water / wet with half-water-half-glycerine medium.
What really sticks out for me when I use shadows wet vs. dry is the fact that they become way more intense. When you add glycerine, the water-glycerine-shadow mixture is thicker/”gooier” than just water and shadow, and gives an even darker, more intense colour, concentrating more pigment in one area. Another benefit? The wear time increases, too!
Now that I think of it, you could probably manage to do an entire eye with one shadow just by switching mediums. Hmmm… I may try this sometime!
The effect of water vs. glycerine on the shadow itself
This is Smashbox Smoke, for the record. It’s a grey shadow with a fairly matte finish, but a touch of fine shimmer interspersed throughout. The shimmer is more obvious if you enlarge the photo! It’s enough to make the matte finish a little less “blah,” but not enough to be very obvious. I like it, but wouldn’t encourage you to hunt it down or anything — it’s just grey; nothing special.
