Beauty Care: Danessa Myricks Journey Colorfix Metallic Review & Swatches

Journey

Danessa Myricks Journey Colorfix Metallic ($18.00 for 0.34 oz.) is a brighter, light-medium purple with warm, pink undertones and cooler, fine pearl. It had semi-opaque, buildable color coverage with a smooth, spreadable texture that was blendable without too much effort as an eye and cheek product. It took on a pinker, less purple, look when applied at sheerer coverage, though–it was truer to purple when I used as a lip product as it ended up a more opaque application.

The consistency was smooth, spreadable, and more blendable than I expected, thankfully. It was quick to dry down, but I was able to soften and manipulate the edges with leftover product on my brushes. It stayed on nicely for 10 hours as an eye and cheek product. As a lip product, I found it difficult to achieve really even coverage, and the finish, after it dried down, emphasized my lip texture; it wore well for five and a half hours, left a stain behind, but was somewhat drying over time.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes

View Swatches View All Dupes

Juvia's Place Makeda (P, ) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
Sydney Grace Fierce (P, $6.00) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
LORAC Meditation (LE, $19.00) is cooler (90% similar).
Too Faced Wham Bam (LE, $16.00) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
Coloured Raine Truth (LE, $6.99) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
Sydney Grace Once in a Lifetime (LE, $6.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
Sydney Grace The Drive (PiP, $6.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
ColourPop Chick Lit (LE, $4.50) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (85% similar).
Huda Beauty Amethyst #6 (LE, ) is more shimmery, cooler (85% similar).
Sydney Grace Deliverer (P, $6.00) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (85% similar).

View Swatches

Formula Overview

$18.00/0.34 oz. - $52.94 Per Ounce

The formula is a cream product that is supposed to be "highly pigmented," "smudge proof," "waterproof, and "rapid drying." They're multi-purpose products that can be used on the eyes, lips, and cheeks (though note: the Foil finish includes plastic, or PET, glitter, which is technically not considered eye safe via FDA).

The key takeaway with this formula is that they really do mean "rapid drying" -- it is both a pro and a con, but you have to work quickly and efficiently when using this product on the skin where one might want to diffuse, spread, or blend out edges. While the brand is consumer-friendly, this product is particularly favored by makeup artists, and I did feel like there was a learning curve with them.

Some shades dry a little faster than others, and once they dry down, they are pretty smudge proof as marketed, so they don't want to be moved. Attempts to blend them out after they set often resulted in the product lifting off the skin. They are also, typically, quite pigmented, so one should exercise caution when applying to cheeks initially. I found that some of the more sparkly shades were sheerer.

The consistency was thin, lightweight, and a runnier cream, which meant that it was easy to squeeze out more product than desired from the tube for the uninitiated. After a few uses, I was able to dial in the pressure I needed to squeeze out the product and was consistently able to get what I needed from there.

Eyes

Depending on the intensity of the shade relative to your skin tone and whether you wanted a sheerer or more opaque end result, fingertips or synthetic brushes would be the primary tools. I found that I often preferred to put a little product on the back of my hand and then used either my fingertips (for more all-over application) or a brush (for more precise or opaque application). For precision and ease of use (as my fingertips are a little large compared to my eye size), I liked fluffy, synthetic brushes to diffuse the edges or sheer out the product.

Some of the Foil shades in particular tended to a little thicker and tackier when applied, and I wasn't always able to maneuver them evenly. They seemed to work better as an accent, like on the inner tear duct or on the middle of the lid.

The majority of shades were very pigmented, fairly blendable, and long-wearing, while most shades lasted 10 hours without fading, creasing, or flaking. I did feel like my eyelids got a little drier from wearing several of these shades for multiple days in a row.

Lips

They applied a lot better to lips than I anticipated, as I often find that multi-purpose products do well on one or two areas but rarely all of them. The product applied well with a fingertip or a lip brush, though for speed, I liked using a fingertip. The majority of the shades applied evenly, didn't emphasize my lip texture/lip lines, and were comfortable enough to wear.

The dry down was noticeable, but the product had light tackiness, though I didn't have issues with the color lift up. Despite having more of a liquid lipstick kind of dry down, it still felt lighter-weight and was flexible, which is what made it more comfortable to wear. I didn't see marks left on my glass, and they easily lasted through a cup of coffee. Most shades seemed to wear for six hours or longer on me.

The more sparkly shades with less opacity tended to be least even and felt tackier, and if I pressed and rubbed my lips together, it seemed like some product moved a bit.

Cheeks

As cheek application is often sheerer, rather than full coverage, applying the more pigmented shades to cheeks took some getting used it as one has to work quickly and start with way less than you need. I preferred using more feathery, duo-fiber brushes for really vivid shades to diffuse and apply product on cheeks better, but fingertips worked for getting an initial placement and then a clean brush was lovely for the blending portion.

The wear time on cheeks was comparable with eyes (so around 10 hours of good wear).

Editor's note: I don't know why I didn't make this connection previously (at some point, I was aware they were multi-use), as I bought these as cream eyeshadows for review. If I had to go back and do swatches of each shade on cheeks and lips, I might never, ever review (based on the volume of other products I have in the queue), so while I tested each shade for application, pigmentation, longevity, etc. for all three purposes, you will only find a skin swatch.

Browse all of our Danessa Myricks Colorfix Metallic swatches.

Ingredients

Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Isononyl Isononanate, C30-45 Alkyl Methicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Silica, Mica, Paraffin, Dimethicone, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, (+/-): Silver (CI 77820), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510), Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289), Blue 1 (CI 42090), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163), Red 6 (CI 15850), Yellow 10 Lake (CI 47005), Red 27 (CI 45410).

Disclaimer: Ingredient lists are as available by the brand (or retailer) at the time of publishing. Please always check product packaging, if it exists, for the ingredient list applicable to the product you're purchasing, or the brand or retailer's website for the most up-to-date ingredient list.