What happens when you mix Taurus, Scorpio and Gemini?
Foreword: Astrology & Human Psychology
The answer is - you get moi! One thing that not many of my readers know is that I am quite into astrology. And I don't mean those [silly] daily predictions in your local newspaper; I mean birth charts, ascendants and the whole shebang. I often hear people say "oh, I don't believe in astrology", while the truth is - they don't really know how to interpret the valuable information.
Astrology is powerful; it is a great tool to learn more about a person's character (even your own). If you guys are into topics like this, let me know in the comments and I will make sure to dedicate a special post to it in the future (+ share my knowledge).
About the Collection
The minute I saw Kathleen's video about her upcoming collaboration with Colourpop, I knew that I would place an order right away. The Zodiac collection includes: eyeshadow palette, two lipsticks, two highlighters and two liquid eyeshadows. I have four products in front of me, so without further ado, let's talk makeup!
The Zodiac Eyeshadow Palette
The Zodiac Eyeshadow Palette (18 USD; Made in USA) is the brand's traditional 12-pan eyeshadow palette that offers all exclusive new shades. It has a soft-touch, navy blue packaging with metallic rose-gold illustrations of zodiac signs all over it.
Columns represent elements (fire, earth, air, water) and rows follow a chronological time order starting 21st of March ("Spring Equinox" - Astrological New Year; a day when day and night are equal in length). You also get a decently sized mirror here and considering this palette's dainty "physique", I would say that it is incredibly portable and travel-friendly.
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Colours & Finishes: you get a nice ratio of warm vs. cool tones here; while you may or may not agree with Kathleen's astrological shade selection (many people were hoping The Aries would be a red or The Gemini a duochrome), I personally find that these shades make great friends and you can create a ton of looks with this little palette alone. You also get a good selection of various finishes: mattes/satins, metallics, foiled shadows/pressed pigments and even matte-meets-glitter (The Capricorn). The Pisces and The Aquarius are the most unique shades in the palette (and for Colourpop as a brand).
Texture & Quality: I feel like this palette is much better than All I See Is Magic (review here). However, there are a few shades here that require a bit of finessing: for example The Virgo is more like a sheer brown, so you do have to dip your brush quite a few times to make it look opaque. I wish it was a bit more rich in terms of pigment, because the tone itself is gorgeous.
Favourites: The Taurus, The Gemini, The Cancer, The Libra, The Scorpio and The Sagittarius. Foiled shadows in particular are very buttery smooth and delicious. Mattes are pigmented, but a bit dry to the touch (except The Taurus and The Libra).
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As always my swatches are unedited and raw to give you the best idea of what everything looks like in real life
Application: certain shades need to be layered in order to look more or less opaque (The Aquarius, The Virgo, The Libra), while some are best applied with fingers (The Pisces, The Gemini). From my experience colours did not oxidize; they blended easily into each other and for the most part had a great colour payoff. I did not have to deal with patchiness, excessive kick up or anything like that. The only naughty shade here is The Capricorn (perhaps the driest too); while it is incredibly pigmented, it does have a lot of fallout. So, if you want to create a black smokey eye, do your eye makeup first and base second.
Wear: these wear really well on the eye; I would say up to 6-8 hours before they begin to fade. I do use something like MAC's Paint Pot as a primer and normally experience zero creasing.
Verdict: I am very glad that I purchased The Zodiac Eyeshadow Palette. You can create a plethora of basic neutral and fun party makeup looks with this guy alone. I haven't tried that much from the brand, but this is certainly one of my top favourite discoveries this year (as far as affordable makeup goes). If you like the shade range, I would highly recommend it. Solid A here.
Supernova Shadow, Super Shock Cheek
Super Shock Cheek in the shade On The Cusp (8 USD; Made in USA) is a gorgeous neutral-toned champagne highlighter, that (colour-wise) reminds me quite a bit of Becca's Opal (which you all know is my HG). Texture here is unlike anything else I have tried in the past: it is bouncy, creamy and smooth. It sets to a natural-creamy finish on the skin, does not accentuate texture/pores. It will not slide around/move either. There is a lot of micro-shimmer here, which reflects the light in the most beautiful way. If you are into that glass/wet skin trend, then you will absolutely love On The Cusp. On me (NC20) it is a perfect highlight shade; but if you have a deeper skin tone, then you might want to go for a slightly more warm shade called Fire.
Fun [yet irrelevant] fact is that all of my ex boyfriends were born on the cusp; in other words they were born during the week, when Sun was moving from one neighbouring sign to another, which is why they had personality traits of two drastically different signs (something that would drive me crazy at times).
Verdict: although mine arrived shattered, thanks to its creamy texture, I managed to easily fix it by smooshing it back into the pan. Despite this product's rather fragile nature, I say YES! to this shade and give it my A+.
Supernova Shadow in the shade Constellation (7 USD; Made in USA) is the prettiest champagne pink, which is packed with glitter and glow. Think of it as a more affordable/muted version of Stila's liquid shadows (Colourpop ones are more metallic, less glittery). These come in a handy lipgloss type of a packaging and can be used as shadow toppers, liners or even on their own all over the mobile lid for that wet, metallic eye look.
I have sensitive eyes and sometimes products like this can sting my skin; thankfully I had a good reaction and there was no eye irritation. This formula tends to set quickly, so if you can, work one eye at a time. This shadow did not budge or crumble; lasted incredibly well on my lids for 8+ hours and looked very pretty.
Verdict: I am not sure about their entire range, but Constellation is picture-perfect! A from me.
Creme Lux Lipstick
Funnily, both Kathleen and I share the same Moon in Scorpio. When I saw that she named her lipstick Scorpio Moon (7 USD; Made in USA), I knew we were meant to be. It is a beautiful muted mauve-pink with a plum hue to it.
For those of you, who just thought "WTF is she talking about?", no worries I will clarify everything in a second. Moon in your chart is responsible for emotions and naturally that is a huge part of your personality. That being said if your Moon is in Taurus (for example), that means you are emotionally stable and strong. If your Moon is in Libra, then you will seek emotional balance and harmony in life. However, if it is in Scorpio (i.e. my case), welcome to emotional Six Flags.
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As always my swatches are unedited and raw to give you the best idea of what everything looks like in real life
I have never been a fan of Colourpop lip products, but must admit that their Creme Lux Lipstick formula is quite lovely. These come in pretty rose gold tubes with little stars all over them; there are also small stars on the actual lipstick, which is something I love. Although these are labeled as "creamy lipsticks", they do have a satin finish (similar to NARS Audacious). They also have a sweet, candy-ish scent, which I am not crazy about. However, it does goes away almost immediately. Scorpio Moon does stain your lips a bit (leaving a bright pink tint), which depending on the user, might be something you either love or hate.
Verdict: love Scorpio Moon and give it my A too.
The Look
For"The Zodiac" look I have used every single product mentioned in this post.
Eyes: The Taurus mixed with The Libra in the crease; The Virgo as a dark wash of colour in outer/inner corners, as well as "mini cut crease"; The Scorpio all over the mobile lid + a small amount of The Gemini and The Cancer mixed together for that halo-ish pop; The Cancer as an inner corner and browbone highlight; soft wash of The Sagittarius on top of The Virgo to make it more plum/purple; The Virgo, The Sagittarius and The Scorpio on the bottom lash line. Lastly, tiniest amount of Constellation (above black liner) to highlight the inner part of the top lash line. You can use a regular fine liner brush for this technique.
Cheeks, Lips: On The Cusp as a subtle highlight (cheekbones, bridge/tip of the nose) and Scorpio Moon on the lips.
I must add that you can't really see the glow on this image (my fault!), but in real life it looked absolutely juicy. If you want me to create more looks using the palette, let me know in the comments or on Instagram.
That's it for my review today, hope you enjoyed it! Colourpop joined Ulta (very exciting!) and you can also find everything here: colourpop.com
Purchased products; full disclaimer here
