This Subtly Metallic Liquid Eyeshadow Is My New Everyday Makeup Staple

My eyes have always been my favorite area on which to experiment with makeup — while I've never really been able to fully master a perfect cat-eye flick, gimme allllll the shadows, stain pots, tints, and mascaras on the map. And now, when our eyes are the only prominent thing that can be seen on our faces besides a mask, jazzing up our lids is especially important. The eyes are the windows to the soul, n'est-ce pas?

I've been particularly interested in playing around with shadow formulations right now (think: liquid powder, cream, and matte pencil). So when I got my hands on the new Ilia Liquid Powder Chromatic Eye Tint ($28), let's just say I was stoked to try the range of eight high-pigment-yet-subtle colors. The shades range from a high-octane copper gold to a sheer champagne to a muted sage green — they all glide on like a cream and set like a powder, meaning each is super buildable depending on the look you want. Plus, the water-based, 99 percent natural formula is made with smoothing horse chestnut flower and honokiol, an antioxidant-rich extract from magnolia bark.

What I love about these is that the formula A) doesn't feel cakey, B) doesn't crease into every single eyelid line like most metallic shadows, and C) is super versatile. They're like three colors in one depending on how much you layer on. For example, in the above photo, from left to right, I'm wearing Mythic, Hatch, and Sheen. When I applied Mythic, the peachy rose gold, I just blended one swipe across my lids with my finger for a low-key sparkle. I wanted a bit more of a smoky vibe for the next look, so I used an eyeshadow brush to apply the cool green Hatch and added a bit of brown liner, and for Sheen, I really went for a high-impact punch of gold, so I applied several coats using the wand itself. Needless to say, I'm obsessed.