I caved! I couldn't resist Cloudy Afternoon when I saw it in person. I've been looking for a shade somewhere between a silver and a taupe for ages and this one is PERFECT. I figure I'll just deal with the itchy eyes as best I can; although I have it on today and so far there isn't a problem. I'm wondering if it's just certain colours that are a problem for me. BTW, I love how this looks with Hocus Pocus from Bloggers Obsessions- being a warmer grey, it's sort of a perfect complement to a brownish silver.
It may depend on the particular colors (I get that itchy eye thing with some of them too). I haven't really nailed it down yet, but I had the most culprits in Semi-Precious, which certainly had more chunky bits overall than the ones from G&I. The Naturally ones are even smoother and less frosty-based than G&I, and they've all been fine for me so far too.
One other thing that I suspected might have been the problem from Semi-Precious onwards, if not before, was wetting the brush before putting it in the pan. Perhaps with these more finely milled MES, they're becoming more easily tainted by direct moisture. I've stopped picking up any of them wet and just wet the brush afterwards instead. To tell the truth, the G&I ones honestly look better if you apply them dry and then mist your eyes after application anyhow. The Naturally ones I've got (Daylight, TF and In the Sun) have gone back to looking best applied wet, but I'm being fastidious and not putting a wet brush in the pan.
In any case, there's got to be an ingredient component too, since Dalliance Mega Metal is one of my biggest teary-eye perpetrators, but then again, I was putting a wet brush into those pans too.....can't hurt to be careful, I guess.
'Talking about Dalliance, Cloudy Afternoon reminds me of a softer, greyer Dalliance. It's really pretty, and perfect for people that couldn't quite pull off the olive undertones of Dalliance, but who still want a color in that vein.
