Most recently, I had the pleasure of swatching Too Faced’s Perfect Eyes Waterproof eyeliner ($18, available at Sephora).

These eyeliners are ultra-creamy, melt-into-liquid as you mark with them (then they dry down). The formula reminds me of YSL’s new waterproof liner, and Armani’s.

Perfect Peacock is a sensational shimmery peacock-blue. Perfect Purple is a shimmery blue-purple plum with tiny purple and gold sparkles. I really loved shimmery midnight-blue-purple, ultra-blackened indigo Perfect Black Orchid. Perfect Storm is shimmery blue-charcoal-grey with tiny silver sparkles. I used to have a pair of jeans this color, and suddenly I miss them.

I described the first four shades as shimmery, and they’re not super metallic, but their finish is different from the final two. Perfect Brown is matte chocolate brown. And I was impressed by how black Perfect Black is.

So which new eyeliner should you choose, with all the new options out there? I recognize I have a problem, but with the different color palettes offered by each brand, I find myself wanting at least one of each.

But at long last they’ve added an all-matte palette to their lineup (in the same family that includes the Natural and Naked eyeshadow palettes, as well as the not-yet-swatched-by-me Smokey Eye and Romantic palettes).

These palettes are $36 each, and contain nine shadows (plus a set of instructions). They’re designed with large pans of a “base” color, plus two complementary accent colors — so each row represents a look (“day,” “classic,” “fashion,” etc.).

In the very neutral Natural and Naked palettes, I didn’t feel the need to follow the rules, but the Matte palette really provides three distinct color stories, so I think it would be harder to mix and match.

Tufted Suede is buff (peach-beige nude). Chinchilla is chocolate milk taupe (very slightly purple). Coffee Bean is slightly chalky dark, cool brown. Velveteen Bunny is bright white. Pebbles is blue-grey, and it swatched just a bit unevenly. London Fog is navy, and it’s just a bit chalky. Fresh Linen is pale, pale, pink off-white. Vintage Violet is soft, dusky lavender. Midnight is sheerish charcoal-blue-grey.

What do you think? Is this the palette you’ve been waiting for?

Well Too Faced has come out with a new eye palette (which I can’t help thinking of as “version 2.0″). The “Naked Eye Soft & Sexy Eye Shadow Collection” is cooler, softer, and a little less frosty. I just wish Too Faced wouldn’t name things in a way that’s clearly designed to confuse me.

In the Buff is matte white. Birthday Suit is satin mauve-beige. Pink Cheeks is a satin pale pink. Pillow Talk is satin sand. Satin Sheets is a shimmery/frosty pale-pink/oyster-gold duochrome. Lap Dance is a shimmery/frosty purple-grey (iced violet). Like a Virgin is a matte taupe. Unmentionables is a shimmery gunmetal taupe. Stiletto is matte black, not exceptionally pigmented.

The Naked palette is available at Sephora for $35.

It’s pure coincidence that Katie offered to swatch and compare primers in a week that I was using the giveaway question to ask about primers — but what a great coincidence! Here are her swatches and review:

Sephora Eye Primer: I don’t particularly like the brush applicator because you can’t tell how much product you’re getting. I really dislike that it comes in such an unnatural color because it shows through the shadows and changes how they look. This primer really grabs onto the shadow when you first apply, but doesn’t hold onto it for long. Rating: C

MAC Prep + Prime Eye in Light: Comes in a pot, which allows you to control how much product you’re getting. It looks yellow on my arm, but on the eye that helps cover any bluish discoloration from veins. There are several other colors for people with darker skintones. I can actually use this as a concealer and an eye primer. Bonus: lasts forever! Mine is over a year old and still extremely creamy. Didn’t hold onto the color as well as the last two primers, but also didn’t affect the shadow texture very much. Rating: B

Urban Decay Primer Potion: I like that it’s nearly transparent and seems to blend into my skin; however I don’t like how hard it is to blend shadows when I use this primer. Dealbreaker: the cute packaging is completely dysfunctional. The doe foot applicator is pretty useless for your eyelid and doesn’t get nearly all the product out of the tube. Some choose to cut their packages open and scoop out the product, but I don’t think it’s worth the trouble. Rating: B

Too Faced Shadow Insurance: Transparent and blends into the skin very well. Comes in a nice squeeze tube that allows you to control how much product you’re getting. I find it’s easy to blend shadows over this within a minute or two of applying. Changed the texture of the shadows slightly, but kept colors vibrant. Rating: A

No Primer: Clearly, using any of these primers makes color more vibrant and longer-lasting than no primer at all.

As if they could read my mind, Too Faced followed up with four Natural Eyeshadow Duos, borrowing some shades from the palette and creating some new ones.

Expresso (darker and cooler than Sexpresso in the Natural palette) and Peach Fuzz are both new, both matte. Peach Fuzz has some gold sparkle, but it’s not excessive by any means.

Heaven (matte), Erotica (matte with gold sparkle), Silk Teddy (frost), Cocoa Puff (matte with few gold sparkles), and Honey Pot (frost) were all shades in the Natural palette. Teddy Bear (matte) is new.

The Too Faced Eyeshadow Duos are $17 each.

When my Sephora finally got stock and I was able to see it in person, I was surprised. The palette is much smaller than its picture makes it look. Maybe Too Faced connoisseurs knew what to expect.

The texture of the eyeshadows is fantastic: they are really soft and pigmented and excellent… But. (There had to be a but.) Silk Teddy, Push Up, and Honey Pot are too over-the-top frosty/shimmery for me. And Nude Beach has large, chunky, fallout-prone glitter. It’s enough to keep me from buying the palette.

The matte shadows (Heaven, Velvet Revolver, Sexpresso, Erotica, and even Cocoa Puff) are magnificent. Erotica is essentially the best shade in Lancome’s Nude Elegance quad. I really wish these came in a palette together.

The Natural Eye Palette is $34, available in stores and online.

Sidenote: It seems like Urban Decay is positioning their product as tinted primer — they call it “Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin.” Too Faced calls its product “Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow, infused with Shadow Insurance Primer.” I’m so curious how much primer is actually in each.

Urban Decay’s Primer Potion comes in the same “genie” bottle as the original version (on the internet this bottle shape is notorious for preventing you from reaching half the product it contains. There are literally hundreds of tutorials on youtube and beyond, on cutting the bottle open to liberate the remaining product). Like original UDPP, Sin is $17 and has a doe’s foot applicator — though you could use this applicator to transfer product to your fingertips or a flat, synthetic brush. I’m not sure you can really see it in these pictures, but Sin is pink, very much like the UD shadow of the same name. Incidentally, Urban Decay has also released some new cream eyeshadows, but these do not claim to contain (or be) primer.

Too Faced’s Lockdown Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows offer a larger color selection. These are $18.50 each and have a squeeze tube applicator with a very narrow tip, so you won’t lose too much product. I swatched them once sheerly (with a sponge-tip applicator) and again heavily (with my finger) to best show you the colors.

Bondage is a champagne color that does contain some sparkle. The sparkle became more apparent in the light swatch, but I wondered if that was the work of the sponge tip, soaking up the “liquid” of the shadow. The glitter made Too Faced feel like a younger brand. Bedroom Eyes is a warm, chocolate brown — it did look very similar to Dramarama in the light swatches, less so with fingertip application. Jailbait is pale ballerina pink; Prisoner of Love is cotton candy pink. Dramarama is a lovely, deep (warm) cocoa. I’m Guilty is mermaid blue.

Like yesterday’s swatches of Laura Mercier’s Metallic Cream Eye Colour, any of these products could be worn alone, or under powder eyeshadow.

Here is the Chanel Smoky Eye quad ($56), side by side with Too Faced’s Ooh & Aah ($17), Stila’s Backstage Beauty Eye Shadow Palette – The Red Carpet Look ($40), and a wide assortment of MAC shadows ($14.50 each).

According to Specktra, MAC will also be releasing a collection called “Chill” in December 2008, with four lovely, icy grey shadows… but who can wait that long?

For those interested in MAC shadow finishes:

• Black Tied – Velvet
• Carbon – Matte
• Chill – Satin
• Crystal Avalanche – Veluxe Pearl
• Electra – Frost
• Forgery – Lustre
• Gesso – Matte
• Idol Eyes – Lustre
• Knight Divine – Veluxe Pearl
• Nehru – Matte
• Print – Satin
• Scene – Satin
• Silver Ring – Veluxe Pearl
• Typographic – Matte²
• Vellum – Frost