Product Review: Klara Eyeshadows

Klara Cosmetics is an Australian brand of makeup that I hadn't heard of before September -- and indeed if I happen to mention them, most people go, "Huh?" Although they've recently become available at Coles in the last couple of months, the in-store range is limited, and you're best buying online or at any beauty salons that stock their products. What stood out to me was the eye shadow, and I was able to get my paws on them at the Beautiful You convention.

Klara boasts an impressive collection of individual shadows (plus one six-pan neutral palette) with a variety of different finishes: matte, shimmer, rose gold shimmer and diamond. Prices range between $18 and $22 per shadow, depending on the finish -- I was able to buy a build-your-own 6-pan palette for a flat price of $90 at the convention, so I immediately scored a decent saving!

From the incredible range of 28 matte shadows, 30 shimmer shadows, 4 rose gold shimmer shadows and 6 diamond shimmer shadows, I picked six from the shimmer range: #7 "Gold Rush", #10 "Sparkling Acid Green", #15 "Metallic Azure", #16 "Ultra Violet", #17 "Flaming Crimson", and #30 "Blue Lagoon".

First off, let's just look at these shadows in-pan:

Eat your heart out, Urban Decay! Don't they look amazing? These promise colour the same way a kitten promises fuzzy feelings.

Gold Rush is a metallic yellow gold. It is soft to the touch and applies easily. It blends well with other shadows, and lasted on me for about six hours before it started to fade. The colour was still visible as it did so, but it was more muted.

Sparkling Acid Green is a metallic light green, and it reminds me strongly of Dragon from the Urban Decay Vice 3 palette -- not that I actually own the Vice 3 palette, but I've seen it used enough that I think there's a strong similarity. It lasted seven hours on me before fading, and creased around the ten or twelve hour mark.

Metallic Azure is a shimmery light royal blue. When applied, it looks just like it does in the pan, and it blends particularly well with Ultra Violet and Blue Lagoon. It lasted eight hours before starting to fade, and started creasing a little after ten or eleven hours.

Ultra Violet is a deep purple. Its colour is a little sheerer when blended out but otherwise it's true to pan. When mixed with Metallic Azure, it produces an absolutely beautiful, slightly iridescent mixed shade. This lasts for about seven or eight hours before starting to fade.

Flaming Crimson is a metallic, slightly pinkish red. It's actually been one of the more difficult colours to work with! I've used this on my lid as well as along my lower lashline (in separate looks, of course). It lasted for six hours before fading, and creased after about nine hours.

Blue Lagoon is a metallic, almost icy blue -- a true Tahitian lagoon colour. This was the first colour I swatched when I was at the stand and I fell in love. It seems a little more green in the pan -- to me anyway -- but I always think I see an icy blue when I put it on my lid. I personally love this for my inner corner. It lasted for eight hours on me before fading, and ten to twelve hours before creasing.

Wanna see some swatches? Of course you do!

As you can see, the colours swatches are absolutely gorgeous -- and they were all just one swipe, without primer underneath! (Because let's be real, it never occurs to me to actually use it.) Of course, it'll take a little more packing with a brush, but you can easily see that Klara's promise of 100% pigmentation is definitely kept. Here are a few pictures of me wearing the shadows, although I honestly think the lighting doesn't do it justice.

Gold Rush on my lid, with a medium-dark matte brown shade on my outer corner and crease.

Blue Lagoon on my inner corner, Metallic Azure on the rest of my lid, and Ultra Violet mixed with the Metallic Azure on the outer corner of my eye and on its own in my crease.

It's a favourite look of mine.

I can't say how well the matte or diamond shimmer shadows swatch, as I kind of hovered around and stuck with the lovely large display of regular shimmers. In my mind, they are on the expensive side but are well worth the money spent -- plus they'll last you a really long time. By comparison, MAC single shadows are $33 each, so buying from this brand is something to consider! I've popped into a couple of Coles stores to see the available range and they only seem to stock dark neutral colours, so if you're after a bit of colour then you're best either ordering online or seeing if there's a beauty salon or stockist in your area that sells them.

Klara offers free shipping within Australia for orders over $75, as well as for Klara VIP members -- it starts at around $17 for New Zealand (which I don't think is too bad) and nearly the $40 mark for shipping to the US. However, if you sign up for their newsletter you can get a 15% off coupon for your first online order, so it's possible to make your money back.

Padawan Product Rating: A+

What do you think of these shadows? Which of these shades is your favourite? Let me know in the comments!

Sarah xo