To be totally honest with you, Milani eyeshadow has been hit or miss for me over the past few years. It seems they have been tinkering with the formula, but I can finally say they got it right for the new Milani Gilded Mini Eyeshadow Palettes.
The Gilded Mini Eyeshadow Palettes come in five versions, mostly neutral-focused. They’re incredibly wearable, with an excellent balance of mattes and shimmers between the six shades. Despite being a “mini” palette, the potential is high with just one in your collection or travel bag.
Now, the Gilded Minis may look familiar… they actually look just like their Most Wanted Eyeshadow Palettes. The main difference is that the Gilded Minis are pressed pigments (versus pigment-rich shadows) for the most intense color payoff with minimal fallout. I find most pressed pigments to need less building up, making application a bit quicker while still delivering bold looks.
Milani Gilded Mini Eyeshadow Palette Swatches
Whisky Business – This is an all matte palette with warm neutrals. I think there’s something very stunning while understated about an all-matte eye look.
It’s All Rosé – A beautiful color palette for spring, you’re getting rosy shades that lean on the lighter side.
The Wine Down – The least neutral of the bunch, The Wine Down leans purple and mauve, though remains very easy to wear for every day looks.
Champagne Problems – One of my favorites, the Champagne Problems palette leans a bit darker with warm neutrals and a pop of bronzey gold and copper.
Call Me Old-Fashioned – This one’s for the smoky eye lover! Call Me Old-Fashioned is a cool toned palette with taupes, browns and a rich black.
As far as the formula goes, this is absolutely the best Milani has put out in a while. The mattes are so buttery and pigmented, and blend beautifully without sheering out too much.
The shimmers gave me a bit of a hard time at first, though I figured out the best way to apply is with your fingers. If you apply with a brush, you may end up with more shimmer than actual color. However, if you take your finger and “rough up” the top layer of the shadow, the shade becomes a lot more brush-friendly.
On that note, finger application can increase fallout, though it’s still pretty minimal, and more common with the shimmers. I also notice that the formula feels slightly different between palettes. Some of the palettes have softer and richer shades overall, like Champagne Problems and Call Me Old-Fashioned. Meanwhile, The Wine Down and Whisky Business are subtly stiffer, and may need building up for stronger color payoff. It’s All Rosé is somewhere in between.
I feel like mini palettes with 6-9 shades to be the perfect size to have a lot of options without having to over-think mixing and matching colors. Plus, they’re just so much easier to travel with, and the Gilded Mini palettes have already become go-tos in my beauty bag, as I’ve had a lot of weekend trips away recently.
The Milani Gilded Mini Eyeshadow Palettes are only $9.99, a deal for the quality and color combinations possible with each one.
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