Cosme Decorte AQMW Eye Glow Gem

I blame Citrine for these Cosme Decorte AQMW Eye Glow Gems :P Two of the colors she reviewed were so mesmerizing I couldn't resist picking them up despite my best effort to avoid powder-cream hybrids. Not only they tend to dry up before I could even take pictures of them, when I actually get around to using them, they'd crease on me =.=

Anyway, two of the colors she reviewed was GR780 and GY081 from the permanent lineup, and I got them along with the limited editions BL981 and PU181 from the 2017 fall/winter release.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Now that I think about it, the last powder-cream hybrid purchase Citrine inspired was Aritaum Shine Fix Eyes, and I ended up liking them and reached for them often enough to have gone back for more colors, twice! This gave me some hope for these Eye Glow Gems.

I've seen Cosme Decorte around for years but was never tempted enough to indulge, partly because for a high-end brand sold in department stores, the name AQMW ("Absolute Quality Miracle Wonder") is just plain goofy. Hyperbole much? When anything or anyone (ahem!) claiming itself or themselves to be a "miracle wonder," my first impulse is to run in the opposite direction. Perhaps that's the reason they re-branded themselves simply as Decorte. Having launched internationally and making a splash in the UK with Kate Moss's backing and all, people will start wondering what AQMW stands for and will undoubtedly snicker once they learn the truth (welcome to the internet?). 

And for a high end brand, the packaging for these Eye Glow Gems are unfortunately plastic and cheap-looking. That said, I still like it better than the new Decorte's gold packaging that's plastic, cheap-looking, and gaudy. Urgh. 

The formula is decent. It has good pigmentation with zero fall-outs, but I wish it wouldn't crease on me after 1-2 hours. That plus the price point deterred me from going back for more colors, and most of the 10 shades look like they're on the light side anyway, highlighters, lid washes, etc., so I think I'm not missing out on much. The new Decorte expanded this Eye Glow Gems line to a whopping 30 shades in 3 categories, Accent, Medium, and Glitter colors, but even then they added only several more medium/darker colors and the rest are still on the light side. Oh well, I can always fall back on Aritaum for those highlighters and lid washes, which surprisingly has better staying power on my lids than these.

- BL981: shimmer, medium intensity. A denim blue with mostly periwinkle and some turquoise shimmers, which make for a beautiful and interesting blue. Too bad it's not dark enough to line with, so I layer it over a navy eyeliner instead.

- GR780: shimmer, medium intensity. A golden khaki with mostly gold and some pale blue-green shimmers. Again, not dark enough to line with so I layer it over an olive eyeliner or wear it as a medium shade below my crease.

- GY081: metallic, high intensity. A gorgeous and complex purplish taupe with mostly pink and some multi-colored shimmers. I wear this color by itself as a medium color below the crease. Let's just say I took a chance with these Eye Glow Gems solely because of it. If Three Flash Performance Eye Liner Pencils 02 Eye Believe and 07 Eye Doll had a love child, this would be it. I'm doing my best to resist getting a backup despite my current jar is already drying out and the eye shadow itself creases on me. It's just that gorgeous.

- PU181: shimmer, high intensity. Wine with mostly violet and some periwinkle shimmers.

Top row: BL981 and GR780
Bottom row: GY081 and PU181

Close ups for your please, click to zoom.