SIX MAKEUP: GLITTERS AND SHIMMERS
For the introduction and masterpost, click here.
This post includes both glitters and lighter shimmers. If you have a question on which is which, you can look up product swatches or send me an ask.
Some of these products may be safer than others. The use of glitter in makeup is unregulated in the US and there's minimal oversight, but rules change depending on the country (I know the EU has stricter regulations but not sure on other countries). Some products listed have a glitter comprised of large plastic glitter chunks, while some have a shimmer just from mica and similar minerals; the mica-based won't be any different than most eyeshadows in terms of safety, but the chunkier glitters can be more complex. When buying a chunky glitter eyeshadow with chunky glitter note these good practices:
- Glitters comprised of hexagon-shaped pieces are generally safer.
- When using a loose glitter, use an eyeshadow glue and make sure that you use little enough that it's all safely stuck to your eyelids.
- and I wouldn't encourage use if you'll be wearing the makeup look outside in the rain.
- There's some additional safety information in the first reply on this thread, including application and removal info.
Some of these colors may glow under blacklight. I generally tried not to include ones that do, but I haven't personally used all of these and cannot always confirm what does or does not.
PASTES WITH GLITTER CHUNKS
These do not require a glue unless otherwise noted. They are a larger chunkier glitter.
Lemonhead Spacepaste ($22)
Colors: Starstruck or Gildebeast (Aragon), Viper or Jailbait (Boleyn), Silverlake or Discotech or Groupie (Seymour), Roosevelt (Cleves), Wonderland or Lovesick or Violet Hour or Wine Safari (Howard), Malibu or Bungalow (Parr), Silverlake or Discotech or Groupie (black alt/silver alt), Private School (teal alt), Dirty Penny (orange alt), Birthday Bitch (pink alt)
- Personal rec: I love this glitter! It dries quickly, stays well, has a lot of bang for your buck, and looks great. Because of the drying time and larger glitter chunks, there's a bit of a learning curve so I'd suggest playing around with it in advance of any cosplay events. You also need a good silicone applicator. I bought it on a good sale and I'd definitely encourage that as it's more pricey.
- These glitters are a hexagonal shape.
- These glitters were provided to most of the queens in the mainland North American and some UK productions for the last few casts. They seem to be the go-to glitters for most casts.
Lemonhead Spacejam ($26)
Colors: Rainbow Road (Aragon), White Rabbit or Interstella (Seymour), White Rabbit (black alt), Interstella (silver alt)
- These are the same brand as the one before, but a different formula.
- These glitters are mostly hexagonal, but some colors have some larger chunks in different shapes.
Designer Dust Co. Face Sprinkles ($10)
Colors: I know some of the queens themselves have used Lights Out micro (gold/Aragon), Emerald City Skyline (green/Boleyn), Mirror Mirror (silver/Seymour), Dorothy's Red Bottom (red/Cleves), Bubblegum Bae and Disco Pants (pink/Howard), Blue Fly Skies (blue/Parr). The company has also created folders of the different glitters they suggest for the queens: Aragon, Boleyn, Seymour, Cleves, Howard, Parr.
For alternate costumes, I'd look into silver although you could do black (black alt); silver and white (silver alt); Blue Fly Skies, Carolina Bae, Water Country Flakes (teal alt); C U Later, Electric Clementine, Hot Tamale, or general orange (orange alt); Baby Sparkles, Call You Mine, Erase Her, Piano Bar or general pinks (pink alt).
- Erin said: these are easier to apply (smaller chunks/less pasty) than Lemonhead and suggested that the company's glue and silicone applicators be used in tandem with the face sprinkles (more details below).
- These have a variety of glitter shapes.
- These glitters were given to many of the US and UK queens by the company themselves.
Slayfire Cosmetics ($7-14)
Colors: Golden Age (Aragon), Slither (Boleyn), Silver Tongue or Disco Dynasty (Seymour), Redrum (Cleves), Love Potion glitter gel (Howard), Majesty or Atlantis (Parr); Sabbath (black alt), Silver Tongue or Disco Dynasty (silver alt), Atlantis (teal alt), Rosebud (orange alt)
- Some have an option of both glitter gel and loose glitter. For the paste style that doesn't require glue, choose the glitter gel.
- Some of the North American actors have used these. They're a WOC-owned company and many of their colors will be particularly flattering on non-white skin tones.
CREAM/LIQUID GLITTERS/SHIMMERS
These do not require a glue unless otherwise noted. They generally do not include large glitter chunks.
ELF Liquid Glitter Eyeshadow ($6)
Colors: 24k Gold (Aragon), Bling Bling or Disco Queen (black/silver/Seymour, although I've seen several other queens use it as highlight), Ocean Eyes (Parr)
- Personal rec: Good color payoff. You need an eyeshadow base underneath.
- Many of the UK queens use this.
NYX Liquid Eyeshadow ($11)
Colors: Lemon Slayed or Glitzy Guava (Aragon), Kiwi Killa or Watermelon Wealth (Boleyn), Come Thru Coconut (Seymour), Raspberry Rave or Strawberry Stacked (Howard), Blueberry Bank (Parr), Come Thru Coconut (black alt/silver alt), Grapefruit Glow (pink alt)
- Many of the UK queens use this and seem to have great color payoff.
Nicka K Radiant Liquid Eyeshadow ($3)
Colors: Golden Gemma (Aragon), Marineblue Sparkle (teal alt)
Nicka K Roll On Shimmer ($4)
Colors: FRG002 (Aragon), FRG001 (Seymour), FRG005 (Howard), FRG008 (Parr), FRG001 (black alt/silver alt), FRG007 or FRG008 (teal alt)
MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot ($25)
Colors: Born to Beam (Aragon)
- This is my favorite product for Aragon.
Danessa Myricks Chrome Flakes ($26)
Colors: Fireball or Hot Lava (Aragon and orange alt)
- Several North American Aragons use this, as well as at least one orange alt.
r.e.m beauty lustrous liquid eyeshadow ($16)
Colors: Hot Lava (Aragon), Telescope (Seymour), Milky Way (Parr), Experiment (pink alt)
About Face Fractal Glitter Eye Paint ($16)
Colors: Apollo Empire (Aragon), Above Santorini (teal alt)
PRESSED GLITTERS/SHIMMERS
These don't require a glue.
With Love Glitter ($8)
Color: Gold Mine (Aragon), Tropical (Boleyn), Silver Sparks or Gunmetal (Seymour), Berry Red (Cleves), Hot Pink or Pink Lady (Howard), Blue Lagoon (Parr), Silver Sparks or Gunmetal (black alt/silver alt), Amor or Ocean Blue or Imperial (teal alt)
- The West End now primarily uses this brand.
With Love Pigments ($12)
Colors: Temptation (Boleyn), Fame or Cotton Candy (Howard), Blush or Fairy Dust (pink alt)
- The West End now primarily uses this brand. They are a smoother, more metallic finish than the glitters above from the same brand.
MAC Dazzleshadow Extreme ($24)
Colors: Kiss of Klimt (Aragon), Joie de Glitz (Boleyn), Discotheque (Seymour), Celebutante (Howard), Discotheque (black/silver alt)
MAC Dazzleshadow ($24)
Colors: It's All About Shine (Seymour), Last Dance (Howard highlight), It's All About Shine (black/silver alt), Last Dance (pink)
De’Lanci Multichrome Eyeshadow ($17)
Colors: Olive (Boleyn), Smurf (Parr), Siren Love (teal alt), Pluto or Rose Princess (pink alt)
LOOSE GLITTERS
Six originally used loose glitters, but has been phasing them out. They all require a glue for application (more info at the bottom of this post).
MAC Glitter ($13)
Colors: Very Pink (Howard)
- These glitters were given to the actors by Six. The production has used these and other MAC since effectively the first West End cast, but have started to phase them out in the last year or two.
MAC Pigment ($18-25)
Colors: Gold (Aragon), Rose (Howard), Copper Sparkle (orange alt), Kitschmas (pink alt)
- Same as the MAC glitter.
NYX Face & Body Glitter ($6.50)
Colors: Crystal (neutral/general), Gold (Aragon), Ice or silver (Seymour), Rose (Howard), Blue (Parr), Silver (black and silver alt), Teal (teal alt), Rose (pink alt)
NYX Metallic Glitter ($6.50)
Color: Beauty Beam (Howard highlight, pink alt), Darkside (Parr)
- Six has been phasing these out, but the pink is still commonly used as highlight and the blue still seems to be used by some UK Parrs.
Covar Beauty Loose Glitter ($4)
Colors: Goal Digger, Mardi Gras, Gold Rush (Aragon); Pixie (Boleyn); Bling Bling, Blackhole, Talent, Shady (Seymour/black alt/silver alt); Rebel Girl, Work B*tch, Life of the Party, Go Bestie, Like Totally, Queen Tingz (Howard); Pity Party (Parr); Pity Party, Lucky (teal alt); Winning, Maneater, Fifth Element (orange alt); Queen Tingz, Go Bestie, Amor Prohibido (pink alt)
- Some of the Broadway cast uses this brand.
Medusa's Makeup Glitter ($9)
Colors: Gold Digger (Aragon), Key Lime Pie or Radioactive or Flash Dance (Boleyn), Heavy Metal or Sputnik (Seymour/black/silver), Antoinette (Cleves), Space Cadet (Howard), Moon Walk or Ozone (Parr), Liberace or Xanadu (teal), Orange Crush (orange), Cosmopolitan (pink alt)
Nicka K 12-Color Glitter Palette ($7)
- the ESGL01 option is a 12-color palette with at least one great glitter color option for every costume, both principal and alternate.
- the ESGL02 option is a 12-color palette with good options for Aragon, Seymour, Howard, black alt, silver alt, pink alt.
NYX Glitter Palette ($25)
- This has good colors for a few queens and some fun ones beside.
Nicka K 5-Color Glitter Palette ($5)
Colors: Love Sparks (a few Howard + single Cleves + single orange alt); Starry Night (two Aragon options + two teal alt or Parr); Medallist (options for Aragon, Seymour, black alt, silver alt); Electro Pop (two Seymour options, two teal alt options, one Parr, and a possible Howard depending on your skin tone and material colors)
Designer Dust Co. Glue
- Erin suggested that this be used with the Designer Dust Co face sprinkles, although I suspect it could be used to similar effect with some of the others. She said this was helpful for easy removal as it allowed the eye look to be peeled off in one go.
NYX Glitter Primer
- Erin said this is what was provided to the actors by Six. Both US and UK usually use this with the MAC and NYX glitters.
Designer Dust Co. Silicone Applicators
- Erin suggested using these with the Designer Dust Co sprinkles. She said they can be used to smear the glitters on "like a spatula."
- She also mentioned the liner applicators specifically.