I'm wearing these again this morning...love them! I applied them without any base, so it'll be a true test....I usually always use tfsi, even with paint pots etc. I used my fingertip on the upper lid to apply superwatt, then applied a little coil on the centre of the lid and blended a little. On the lower lash line I used coil with a brush. The texture was a bit surprising when I dipped the brush into the product! I kind of expected it to be like a moussy kind of thing because of how spongey it felt to the touch, but it was more like pressed pigment...not that I have any pressed pigments, but it just kind of seemed like compacted particles of pigment. I don't have any of the chanel illusion d'ombres or the l'oreal products, but I do have one of the ETK. I can't really compare the textures off hand, but I think as far as colour range goes, these seem a lot more adventurous than the ETK range. I personally did not find there were more than three or four ETK that would work for my skintone and makeup style, whereas I could probably easily see myself wearing all but the super pale one...I guess cost is the other issue...I only have one ETK for a reason! Incidentally, how do the l'oreal products compare to the ETK formula? Reason I ask is that they're the same company so I was wondering if they share formulas too? I'm glad the release of these is staggered between bay/nordstrom and the rest of the mac stores. Hopefully that will give me some time to get a few more colours.