10 Favorite Eyeshadows That Are Discontinued or Hard to Find

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

A few months ago I wrote a post about my favorite eye shadows that were still available to purchase, today I have ten shadows that I adore but are discontinued or pretty much unobtainable at this point.

Some of these are old, some of these were limited edition, some are from overseas, and some of them are all of the above.

On top there's Laura Mercier Fire Glow. This was a limited edition shade from the Summer 2013 collection, called Folklore. It's a glittery copper that leans red orange.

In the middle I have the remnants of one of my first indie eye shadows, Fyrinnae Javan Rhino. It's a satiny aqua with light fuchsia sparkle. Essentially the eye shadow version of the (also discontinued) Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily nail polish. I only have a tiny bit left.

At the bottom we have Sigma Brown Eyed Girl. This single was from the first time around that Sigma made makeup, about 10 years ago. Back in my Makeup Alley days, this was a RAOK from a really kind user! The pan has broken numerous times and I've repressed it with alcohol, luckily it's stayed very buttery in texture. It's one of the most beautiful dark shimmery taupes ever. I love that it doesn't get overwhelmed by the base color, a lot of dark shimmers blend out to nothing but a disappointing streak of soot.

YSL Pure Chromatics No. 8. This has not one, but two of my favorite shadows that have gone the way of the dodo bird. I miss the YSL PC formula so much, I discovered them much too late, right as they were on their way out. It's dry and almost sandy, but it really shows the microglitter off to its greatest advantage. The peachy golden and oxidized copper are just gorgeous.

On the right I have two pigment pots, the top is L'Oreal Infallible in the shade Gleaming Bronze. An LE color. Compared to other golds & bronze shades in my collection, it leans more brassy, near olive/khaki.

Below that is the pot of WYCON Blooming Metal in Oro. WYCON is an Italian brand that hasn't really made it over the pond yet, in Italy you'll find stand alone WYCON stores. Unlike my other pressed pigment pots, I like how this one has a lot of binder ingredients and has a lot of slip.

The quint on the bottom features one of my favorite shadows from Natasha Denona. The Joya quint was limited edition during the 2017 holiday season, the shade is simply called Gold and I don't think it does it justice. It is a blindingly shiny yellow foil in a slightly darker goldenrod base that is barely discernible from the color of the sparkle.

These two shadows are also a throwback, they were from Fall 2016. On the left we have BK805 and on the right is BK806. They both came from the Etude House Budapest Collection, one of my absolute favorites from that brand.

BK805 is a shimmery grey lavender with subtle light gold duochrome, and BK806 is a light warm grey putty color with pearl pink duochrome. Both are really, really subtle and don't photograph well at all. In person, they don't give a sparkle look as much as they both just look like they glow. I use both of them when I'm in a hurry and only have time to swipe on a bit of shadow, they have a lot of dimension for a single shadow.

Indirect lighting.

Under direct sunshine.

Left to right: Etude House BK805, Etude House BK806, Natasha Denona Gold, YSL Pure Chormatic 08, YSL Pure Chromatic 08, L'Oreal Infallible Gleaming Bronze, WYCON Metal Bloom Oro, Sigma Brown Eyed Girl, Laura Mercier Fire Glow, Fyrinnae Javan Rhino

Unfortunately, there's not a clear way to obtain any of these if they happen to catch your eye. Your best bet would be to watch eBay or a site like Poshmark, Glambot.

Edited: there's now a Part II to this post, with my most favorite discontinued eyeshadows. In other words, I lied to you by omission.

What's your favorite discontinued/hard to find eye shadows? Can you think of any dupes for any of the shadows in this post?

Products featured were purchased by me. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.