Some of them are shimmery where they almost look like they are foiled. Some of them are glittery. Some of them are really dark. It all kind of depends on the look you are going for and how you apply them. Like "Wild" for instance is really dark and has glitter (which kind of looks like it doesn't belong in it) but that shadow I would either use for night or use really close to the lash line like a liner. Or you could use it as a brown smokey eye. "Angelic" I wanted to use as a highlighter shadow for near my brow and the inner corner of my eye, but it's way to sparkly for that. I used "Sweet" the other day very lightly on top of other shadows and it came out very soft and light. You do get a lot of play with the intensity depending on how heavy or light you apply. I haven't worn all of them yet.
If you like subtle shimmer...I'm not sure about some of them. I would suggest waiting for a sale. I bought all of these when they had a 70% off sale so each one was only 90 cents. I don't feel bad for having ones that I'm not too crazy about because they were so cheap.
I've recently became a minerals fan too. I bought all the e.l.f. minerals blushes and shadows, plus I'm using their foundation, concealer, mineral booster and even their fairly new blemish kit. Bare Minerals is a little too pricey for me so I think e.l.f. works just as nice. I have all the mineral lip glosses too.
Some of them yeah you could get away with just wearing the cream shadows. But ones like "sugar cookie" and maybe even "butter pecan" are a little too light. The purple color in the "eggplant" duo looks beautiful with the studio line "amethyst" single shadow on top of it.
Their stuff is so affordable that it gives you a chance to play and find what works for you (especially when you use their coupons).
Oh and I have to mention always wear a primer under all the shadows. They will crease. In the swatches I used the studio primer because I'm not really a fan of that one so I didn't mind wasting it. Normally I love the mineral line primer followed by the dollar line primer.