You should see my eyeshadow collection. Really. It's hideous. There are dozens of variations on champagne shimmer shadow, half used tubes of charcoal cream shadow, scores of barely touched trios...it is a travesty. Nevermind how many pans of Stila Cloud I've broken over the years, leaving Cloud colored specks hither and thither, a coating of shimmery dust on everything I own. (Seriously? Why does Cloud break so easily? I feel like I'm buying a new one every month.)

Why so many shadows? For years I've been on the hunt for "the perfect ______." Insert whatever you want there; highlighter, liner, crease shade, base, the list goes on.

Finally, in the midst of all the rubble, I think I've finally found my Holy Grail smokey eye shade. It's deep, but wearable. Smooth. Blendable. Tame, but still interesting. Long lasting. Tiny. And it comes with a mirror.

It's Becca Eye Color Powder in Velour.


That's it on the far right over there in a gift set from last year's holiday collection; the swatches on Sephora and Bergdorf's websites just didn't do it justice (neither does the photo, really, but it was the best I could do).

Velour is a soft charcoal, nearly black but not as harsh, with the tiniest touch of navy blue shimmer. It's very subtle, really - nowhere near as shimmery as the aforementioned Cloud. Just little chips of sapphire glimmering in the pan.

It's also supremely blendable, so if you only want to carry around one shadow to create your smokey eye, this is the one. (You really DON'T need a palette full of shadows for this look, even though cosmetic companies like to market it that way.) Just start at the lashline and blend, blend, blend into the crease, adding more shadow at the outer corners. Velour is also amazing applied wet at the lashline for a more intense look.

Runners up in the Holy Grail smokey shadows category: NARS Thunderball and Laura Mercier Deep Night.

What are your favorites?