Review & Swatches: Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencils in 11, 12, and 13


When Etude House first released the Play 101 Pencils, I really wanted them to create a bigger (but still smaller than the sticks) version like other cream eyeshadow sticks on the market. My wish came true and the Etude House Play 101 Blending Sticks were released! I prefer this size over the smaller/thinner pencils for the eyes and face since they're quicker to use. The colors I chose were 11, 12, and 13 and they all have the "jewel" finish. They individually contain 1.1 grams / 0.04 ounces each (for colors #1-14) and retail for around ~$7-$10 depending on where you buy they from.


The Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencil in #11 PK002 is a warm rose gold with gold shimmer. In certain lights, it does look a bit more orange since the gold and rosey tones mix together. 



#11 is pigmented, but doesn't look that vibrant compared to the other two colors because of my medium skin tone. In person, it does look more obvious but I mostly reach for this color when I want a more toned down / quick and easy look. I also like to use this shade to line my eyes since it's dark enough to define them but light enough to brighten them as well.

I feel like this would work great for those with light to medium skin tones on the eyes, but it would also look beautiful on the face for those with deeper skin tones. I have some blushes and highlighters in this color


The Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencil in #12 BR405 is a a warm coppery bronze color with gold and bronze shimmers. 


This shade is a 100% me color and was even featured in my recent September favorites post. It reminds me of Urban Decay Smog (eyeliner and powder eyeshadow) and Burberry Pale Copper, which are two of my favorite go to products / shades. It's such a perfect every day single product item as well.


The Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencil in #13 RD301 is a burgundy shade with red and purple shimmers. This shade doesn't lean too red though and so it still works great alone and won't make you look tired. 


#13 is such a perfect fall color for my skin tone. There's something about it that still leans to the neutral wearable side as well and so I've been wearing it a lot just by itself. It's less purple than MAC Cosmetic's Eyeshadow in Cranberry and brighter than the Etude House Look At My Eyes Eyeshadow in RD302.



L to R - 11 / 12 / 13

All three of these colors have the same finish and they're all consistent, which makes me pretty happy and confident that other colors with the jewel finish are amazing. I'm also happy that the formula is pretty close to the (I think reformulated) Play 101 Pencils - which is creamy and blendable. There's also a very slight tackiness to them right after application which makes it great as a base to bump up powder eyeshadows. 

The jewel finish is described as having a "twinkling effect" and from what I see, it's metallic when built up but shimmery when blended out. It's never too shimmery though since the shimmers are pretty fine. Because of this, I can see anyone pulling off this texture. 

In terms of wear, I did find some slight creasing without a primer but this SoCal heat has been too much lately and has made almost all of my makeup crease and break down faster than normal. It does last as long as all the other high end cream eyeshadow sticks I've tried though!

Final thoughts: I'm 100% a fan of these Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencils and plan on buying even more in all the finishes. I'm quite intrigued with the Velvet finish as well since it sounds like it would be beautiful on the lips. I highly recommend trying out any of the Jewel finish Blending Pencils because these three are amazing. They're pigmented and easy to blend and so they create such a quick and easy eye look. I'm even leaning towards declaring these cream eyeshadow sticks as my favorite over the Burberry and Charlotte Tilbury ones because they're more affordable with an amazing formula. 

How do you feel about cream eyeshadow sticks? Have you tried the Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencils?
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