The hottest singles in town
Foreword
In case you need to take your mind off that awful GoT finale - here are 23 gorgeous ColourPop Pressed Powder Shadow singles for you to check out. Yes, there are 24 shadows in total, which means that one of them is a [stunning] intruder. To all of my perfectionists out there - I apologize. However! I will give you a similar ColourPop alternative at the very end. So, other than that - please keep on scrolling!
About the Product
After posting the Instagram image above, I have realized that most of you guys were quite curious to hear more about ColourPop eyeshadows. Some of us have tried their palettes in the past, but with the brand's dedication to launching a new product every other week, it is kind of hard to keep up at times.
My collection actually started with that one intruder shade I have mentioned earlier; I just had to store it somewhere, so I bought an empty palette and next thing you know, four bright shadows ended up in my cart. I would highly recommend the brand's magnetic palettes by the way, since they come in uber cute designs and only cost 10 USD. Long story short, in a few months' time I already had 23 ColourPop eyeshadows in total and guess what? I am ready to buy more and here is why.
While I love my high-end eyeshadows, truth is - I don't always feel like spending 50 dollars just to get my hands on that one bright orange shade that caught my eye. I love playing with colours and thankfully with ColourPop my curiosity will cost me not more than 4 dollars. The brand offers a wide variety of shades, finishes and textures - so the choice is yours really.
ColourPop Pressed Powder Shadow (4.50 USD; Made in USA) are cruelty-free and vegan eyeshadows proudly made in L.A.
Formula: personally speaking, I find that I prefer the brand's singles vs. palettes. Don't get me wrong, their Shadow Palettes are great, but after having tried both - I feel like I am more eager to invest in single pans: a. you have a freedom to decide what colours you want in your personal palette, b. you get more product and c. quality is consistent.
The formula does vary depending on the finish. From my experience, mattes tend to be a bit more dry to the touch, while shimmery/metallic shades are much softer, smoother. Having said that, this difference does not affect pigmentation or blendability; even the most pastel mattes here do not look chalky with 2-3 layers. Certain shades are "pressed pigments", which means they are quite pigmented yet powdery at the same time. Nothing that a little tap-the-brush motion wouldn't fix (alternatively - do your eye makeup first).
Application: there is not much to say about application - these shadows are as user-friendly as shadows can be! I do like applying some of the micro-glittery shades with my fingertips though; you want to really press those sparkly bits into place and patting motion gives a much better result than any packing brush. I actually use this technique with all of my pressed glitters or shimmery shadows in general.
My tip: use a light-toned base (eye primer or even concealer) with pastel or bright shades; this way you truly let the colour shine instead of it being washed out from constant blending.
Wear: this is when you notice the difference between more affordable and high-end eyeshadows - wear time. While neutral- and warm tones here last on your lids like a dream, I do find that certain cool tones as well as bright shades (like lavender or purple for example) tend to gracefully fade after 4-5 hours of wear. You can still see the cloud of colour, but it is not even remotely as popping as it was when you have initially applied it. There is pretty much zero fallout.
Now, this is what my custom-palette looks like. As you can see, I did go for a lot of uber bright shades like yellow, orange, coral and red, which is something totally out of my comfort zone. While I am still in the process of creating various wearable and fun looks with my palette, I feel like the feedback that I got so far (both online and offline) was quite positive, which makes me want to experiment even more. There is not a shade here that I do not use or like, so I can easily recommend all of them to you guys!
Please click on images to zoom in
As you might be able to tell, shade Poker Face is actually made by Tarte Cosmetics (do not @ me ok, because it is gorgeous!). I would recommend swapping it for something like ColourPop Misty instead, which is a stunning rose-gold shade. Here are all 23 shades you will find in my palette:
First Row (L-R):
Second Row (L-R):
Third Row (L-R):
Fourth Row (L-R):
*Underlined shades are pressed pigments, which means that they are not intended for use in the immediate eye area.
Swatches
As always, all of my swatches are raw and unedited (no primers or added brightness or saturation here, baby!)
Please click on images to zoom in
Looks
Please click on images to zoom in and read about shades used
Verdict
That's a wrap! If you still wonder whether you should try ColourPop eyeshadows or not - I say go for it. Especially if you want to experiment with some fun colours, without breaking the bank. I will be definitely adding more shades to my cart and until then I give these bad boys a solid A
What do you guys think about these single eyeshadows? Let's chat some more in the comments!
More online: colourpop.com
Purchased products; full disclaimer here
