Claudio Riaz Eye Shade 15

Earlier this year I started getting acquainted with Claudio Riaz makeup. The counter at Barneys NY is a fun playground, incredibly tempting with its colors and textures, not to mention the brush display. Last month I went back there with my friend Charlestongirl of Best Things In Beauty. You should have seen the two of us swatching and squeeing with delight at every new Claudio Riaz discovery. It took some serious restraint not to leave the counter with one of everything. You can see the gorgeous highlighter my friend picked here. There's more of that in our futures.

Eye Shade No. 15, a rich almost blackened hunter green, won me over immediately. It has a bluish undertone, making it quite unique among other deep green eye shadows. The texture is phenomenal: smoother and easier to blend than Shu Uemura 595. The finish of this Claudio Riaz eye shadow has more sheen than the bottom tier shade of Le Metier de Beaute's Penelope Kaleidoscope Eye Kit (and it's also a bit more blue. Quality is very similar). Since the latter was a limited edition, if you're kicking yourself on missing that gorgeous green,  Claudio Riaz is giving you a suitable substitute. The other LMdB eye shadow in the swatch photo above is Black Jade; I put it here merely to show how much bluer and darker is Eye Shade No. 15.

Bottom Line: big, huge, giant love.

Claudio Riaz Eye Shade 15 ($28) is avilavle from Barneys in store and online, as well as directly from claudioriaz.com.