Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes E107

Sometimes no photo or swatch can do justice to a makeup product. You just don't see the true effect until it's on your own face. Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes E107 is one such item- all you can see above is a stripe of a brownish taupish color on my arm. Even the on-eye photos of the shadow applied to a real model on Ellis Faas website don't give much more than a general idea of what this cream eye shadow can do. It's even more unfortunate because this niche brand has a limited distribution in actual stores, so few can actually see it in person.

Ellis Faas is a top makeup artist whose line of luxury makeup products in sleek packaging is quite different from other brands. Her specialty is cream and liquid textures and colors that are naturally part of every human body. The idea is to make makeup that melds with the skin and becomes part of the wearer. Now, that weird stripe of taupe you see above might make more sense.

Creamy Eyes E107 is a cream eye shadow that dries almost instantly into a beautiful taupe with a delicate velvety sheen and full coverage. It's a basic color for a nearly nude look or as a backdrop and anchoring shade with a touch of bright and bold liner. Once applied and blended it's amazing to see how flattering this unassuming and modest shade can become.

Now, the challenge is learning to deal with the texture and applicator. The pen is beautiful and is the best container to preserve the integrity of the unique formula and protect it from oxidizing, drying and general spoilage), but it's not exactly user friendly. It takes about a minute of determined clicking the first time you use the pen until the color comes bursting out (see photo). Then you realize that a) this is way too much product for one use, and b) the plastic brush applicator is utter crap. While the good people at Ellis Faas are working on improving it and promising we'll see results soon we still need to make it work as is.

There's a learning curve to Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes. I've been practicing and experimenting quite a bit until I was comfortable with it and was satisfied with the result, so don't start on a Monday morning when you're already 10 minutes behind schedule and already cranky. Take your time. The first thing one needs to learn is how to control the amount of products that comes out. That becomes easy after a couple of tries. Then there's application- avoid the built in brush and use a real one: any good flat cream eye shadow brush will do. I'm using Chanel,  Smashbox, Laura Mercier and the Sephora Platinum brand cream shadow/concealer brushes .  I've also started working with natural bristle brushes for an even finer finish. Also, don't be afraid to get your fingers into the cream. I use my ring finger and a brush together and love the result- the color and finish are gorgeous and end up looking amazingly professional and polished. There's absolutely nothing like it.

Bottom Line: Excellent but not for beginners.

Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes E107 ($36) is available from ellisfaas.com and Bergdorf Goodman (in-store only). A press sample was sent to me by the company.

All photos are mine.