Makeup Geek foiled eyeshadows - review and swatches

Man, I am SO excited to tell you guys all about these products. If you've been looking at my indie powder eyeshadow swatches and thinking, "I love those, but I don't have the time/skill to be messing around with loose eyeshadow" I have good news!

Makeup Geek have released a series of foiled, pressed eyeshadows that have colour payoff like the loose indies, but are even easier to use than mainstream pressed shadows. No, really!

A good friend was kind enough to score me five of these beautiful shadows for my birthday, as well as the world's sparkliest Z-palette to keep them in. From left to right, we have Mesmerised (a rose gold that leans burnished copper), Caitlin Rose (an irridescent purple), Showtime (rusty brown with a copper shine to it), Houdini (a black based green/blue duochrome) and Centre Stage (actually comes out slightly more navy than it appears here)

Being the skeptical person I am, I was pretty damn skeptical of Makeup Geek's claim that "just one swipe" would pick up enough product to do your whole eye, but as you can see from the swatches below, it's actually true. The swatches below are "just one swipe" with my finger straight onto my arm - no primer required.

Caitin Rose and Centre Stage are a tiny bit paler when swatched than I had hoped, but the others are just staggering with how pigmented they are.

The most mind blowing thing for me about this product though is how easily it applies with your fingers. I have all the brushes and the froofarah for my loose shadows, but sometimes I'm in a hurry or feeling lazy and I just want to smoosh on something. Nothing hard, that needs lots of blending or careful placement, just makeup for when I couldn't be bothered with makeup. Below is my new, everyday, "I couldn't be bothered but want to look nice" look.

It's just Mesmerised, patted all over the lid and smooshed out at the edges. That's it. (Well, and mascara) No brushes, no fiddling - because the shadows are so creamy, you can just blend it out with your fingertip. I could literally do it with my eyes closed and one hand behind my back! SO, SO GOOD.

If you want to get a bit fancier, these shadows also work really well with loose shadows like I usually show here. Because they're quite creamy (but somehow not sticky at all), they really grab the loose shadow. You only have to press the tiniest amount over the top, and you can get some really fun effects.

This is Centre Stage patted all over the lid and up the brow bone, with a tiny bit of Hello Waffle's Whale Hello There patted on the inner half. Add a bit of eyeliner, and you're looking fancy without the fuss!

As for the wear time, let me just say that I wore Mesmerised the other day for a full day of classes, then a nap, then went out, and there was not a crease to be seen. NOT ONE. No fading or patchiness either - it just stayed exactly where I put it, apparently forever.

The only downside of these shadows is that they come separately in little pans, not already in a palette. If you're an indie aficionado, you probably already have a palette floating around to hold your goodies, but if not Makeup Geek sell magnetic palettes to hold the pans on their site. Alternatively, they're packaged in a relatively sturdy cardboard sleeve that will hold them safely if you're careful.

You can get the full range of foiled eyeshadows direct from the Makeup Geek site!

Darling Girl Blogger Pack and More Review

Darling Girl, based in the US, has been on my wish list for a long time, so I was super excited to get my hands on some at last. Happily, this is one brand that definitely lives up to the hype.

Even the packaging is utterly adorable!

I ordered the Blogger Review Pack, as well as some other bits and pieces just to fill up the bag, and Darling Girl also have a very generous gift with purchase program, so I ended up with quite a few different things to try!

Swatches over Nyx Primer

The shadows I got in sample size were, from left to right, Faux Pas, Basket Case (I can't resist a 90's theme), Adoration, Rendezvous and Lefty Loo Who. The formula for all the shadows was great - they stick well without clumping weirdly, and blend very smoothly. The standout in terms of formula was definitely Rendezvous, which is one Darling Girl call "semi loose". It feels a tiny bit damper than the rest of the shadows, but glides on like an absolute dream. The richness of the colour is absolutely breathtaking, and the duochrome works brilliantly with the slightly richer, moister formula.

Faux Pas over Nyx Primer

Basket Case over Nyx Primer

You wouldn't think it from the swatches, but Basket Case and Faux Pas go surprisingly well together. This is Basket Case all over the lid and blended up into the crease over Adoration, and Faux Pas made into an eyeliner with the Darling Girl Superstar Serum.

Adoration is the absolute perfect blending base for my pasty pale skin, and the Superstar Serum seems to have at least as much staying power as my much more expensive Illamasqua Liner Gel.

Adoration over Nyx Primer

Rendezvous over Nyx Primer

Seriously though, how bloody gorgeous is Rendezvous? The amount of colours visible in just a quick swatch on my arm is fantastic, and as you can see from the shots the range of colours means it's a perfect product for a one-colour eye. I'll definitely be going back for more of this.

I'll admit, I wasn't blown away by Lefty Loo Who, just because I have no idea when I'm going to wear a cartoon grass green eyeshadow. But I gave it a shot anyway, and I think it turned out okay, especially since it comes out a lot less saturated on the eye than in does in swatches. This is justLefty Loo Who all over the lid, with a bit of Tin Man in the corner to brighten it up a bit.

Lefty Loo Who over Nyx Primer

Next, the minis - or rather "petites" as Darling Girl likes to call them. These are, from left to right, Sphinx, The Swirl, Tin Man, and Melancholia.

 

Sphinx over Nyx Primer

The Swirl over Nyx Primer

Sphinx and The Swirl are honestly not that mindblowing, but they are good solid basic colours that would be perfect for someone building an indie collection. Sphinx in particular is dark, but not CRAZY dark in the way a lot of indie browns are, which makes it much more forgiving of inexpert application.

Tin Man over Nyx Primer

Tin Man was the only shadow in the whole lot I was actually disappointed in. It's sold on the site as a "champagne" silver, but to my eyes the green shift really jumps out. Perhaps I need to try this one under a few more lighting conditions. On the upside, it is FEROCIOUSLY sparkly. Like, seriously, one of the most glittery eyeshadows I own that isn't actually cosmetic glitter.

Melancholia over Nyx Primer

Melancholia on the other hand, is an absolute DELIGHT. It's just as pretty as I thought it would be, if not more so. I spent minutes just staring at the stuff in the damn jar, it's THAT pretty. Unfortunately, it was a gift with purchase for the month I ordered, so if you want some of your own you'll probably have to skulk around somewhere like Indie Makeup And More and see if someone is willing to part with theirs.

So what do you think? Will you be hitting up Darling Girl yourself?

Beauty Bohemia - Indie Goodness Emporium

Being a lover of indie cosmetics who happens to live in Australia can really suck. We have our own local superstars, the most well known being Femme Fatale Cosmetics. But there are SO MANY brands based in the US that we just can't access without paying a huge chunk of money on postage for every order.

But now there's a new player in town, who aims to bring all the shiny, geeky, cult goodies to us here in the antipodes. It's Beauty Bohemia to the rescue!

Glamour Doll Eyes - Indie Shadow Review

Over the last couple of months, I've been spending a lot of my downtime trawling a little Reddit community called Indie Makeup And More, because apparently I didn't have enough places to throw my limited cash at. Reddit as a whole has a pretty bad name for being...well, all around icky, but my experience with IMAM has so far been very educational. I've discovered more indie cosmetics makers than I ever dreamed existed, and I was lucky enough to be asked to review some products from a new-to-me company, Glamour Doll Eyes.

I'm such a sucker for a good pun

Glamour Doll Eyes are based in the US, and like so many other indie cosmetic brands are a one-woman show. They're very active in the beauty blogger community, and even have a whole sponsorship program in place! I love this kind of community building on the part of indie companies - it's such a great way to promote themselves without just spamming everyone endlessly.
Having such a great impression of the company off the bat, I was pretty impatient for my goodies to get here! Considering the perilous trevails of international shipping, the turnaround time was great, and everything was beautifully presented in perfect condition.

All my pretties in a neat little row!

I'm trying to do this thing with my eyeshadows at the moment where I at least ATTEMPT to balance out the brilliant purples and inky blacks with something resembling neutrals, so I requested a couple of shades I wouldn't normally have gravitated towards, as well as my favourite blue palette. Glamour Doll Eyes sent me (from left to right) RoxxCandy, Dusk, Celestial Crow, Heedless Heart, Undercover, and Brown Eyed Girl. Now, I'm not nearly as skilled as the bloggers Glamour Doll Eyes usually have to show off their products, but I put a few looks together anyway to show you what they look like in the hands of an enthusiastic amateur.

This is Heedless Heart all over the lid, with a touch of Brown Eyed Girl in the crease just to darken it up a bit. I honestly didn't think I'd like Heedless Heart that much, given that it looks rather pink in the jar. It's still pretty pink on the lid, but there is a delightful gold shimmer to it that really tones down the girlishness and makes it look rather sophisticated.

Swatch of Heedless Heart over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

I also noticed that unlike a lot of lighter shadows I didn't need to put a pale base under Heedless Heart to get a nice, bright colour. It reminds me a lot of Hot Cross Bunnies from Hello Waffle, except slightly pinker and less gold.

This is an astonishingly worksafe look for me, but I actually kind of dig it. I used Undercover all over the lid, with Brown Eyed Girl in the corner and crease again. Undercover is a quite grey toned taupe, so I wasn't sure how it would look with my skin. But it also has a very slight golden sheen that helps warm it up a little bit, and while it doesn't suit me quite as much as Heedless Heart, it's still very easy to wear.

Undercover swatch over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

Unlike Heedless Heart, I can't think of any other indie shadows I've seen that are quite the same as Undercover, so I'd definitely recommend this as a must have if you're trying to branch out from the Naked2 palette into something a bit more interesting.

Brown Eyed Girl swatch over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

Brown Eyed Girl is a warm, sparkly mid brown, and it blends out really nicely. It has a slight pinkish sheen in it, that reminds me really strongly of chocolate milk. But there are at least five dupes I can think of for this colour off the top of my head - three of which I own. If you've been looking for a mid toned brown, and you're headed to Glamour Doll Eyes anyway, by all means pop it in the cart - but it's not really original enough to inspire a special trip.

RoxxCandy, however, as seen here with a little Dusk in the corners and crease, is ABSOLUTELY worth a special trip over to Glamour Doll Eyes. It's got all the sparkle and icy blue shimmer I was hoping for when I got Diamond Dust from Geek Chic Cosmetics, but with none of the irritating downsides. Diamond Dust was falling in my eyes in noticeable clumps within an hour of applying, even if I used a sticky base, but RoxxCandy on the other hand stayed put perfectly all day over just a normal primer. As with Heedless Heart, it also shows up nice and bright without the need for a white base.

RoxxCandy over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

It barely even creased, and my eyeshadow usually creases as soon as I blink! It's probably too sparkly for ordinary everyday, but I don't even care, I've worn it three times to the office already. It's just too darn pretty to save for a rainy day!

Dusk is, like Brown Eyed Girl, fine but not exactly mindblowing. If you're getting RoxxCandy (and you should), it's a perfect match in terms of putting a look together. There's a veeeery slight shimmer to it, but it's more or less just a nice navy blue.

I did notice this colour goes on rather more sheer than I was expecting, given it looks extremely dark in the jar. For me, this was a little frustrating because I had to go back a couple of times to get the depth I wanted. However, if you're more colour shy than me, this could be a huge advantage for you - you can smoosh it on quite generously and not end up looking like you've been punched.

Celestial Crow however, is the exact opposite in terms of intensity. I was pretty excited by this one, given that I have a terrible weakness for teal and duochromes, but it just didn't live up to my first impression.

Celestial Crow swatched over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

Initially I tried using it as a crease colour, but the results were honestly so awful I'd feel bad sharing them here - it went EVERYWHERE, and yet somehow ended up patchy at the same time. So I went back and did another look, using Celestial Crow mixed with water as an eyeliner instead.

This look is RoxxCandy all over the lid, a TINY bit of Celestial Crow in the crease, with eyeliner made from Celestial Crow mixed with sealant. You can see the green duochrome sparkle comes up pretty nicely when you apply it this way. When washing the mixture of shadow and sealant off the back of my hand though, I did notice it left a rather prominent green stain on the skin. Makeup remover and a couple of soap washings more or less got rid of it, and I didn't notice any major discolouration on my eyes at the end of the day, but something to keep in mind especially if your skin is prone to staining.

I'd heard a lot of good things about Glamour Doll Eyes, and I was really glad not to be disappointed. Heedless Heart, Brown Eyed Girl, and Undercover offer an excellent indie alternative to mainstream worksafe mainstays like Urban Decay's Naked palettes, and Roxx Candy is an absolute must have for anyone with blue eyes who wants to make them really jump out. Celestial Crow would probably look much better in more skilled hands, and I will probably pick up a full size of Dusk at some stage to go with all my lovely light blues.

You can get Glamour Doll Eyes from their site, and shipping to Australia is very reasonably priced and quick.