Saturday, March 28, 2015

Huge ColourPop Haul and Review (I basically went kinda nuts)

SO, I recently decided it was finally time to order a few things off of ColourPop after seeing, reading, and hearing so much hype about their products. Sometimes, I try to wait at least a little bit before trying a hyped up brand or product for myself, but these prices make it easy to take the plunge. ColourPop's lipsticks, lip pencils, and eyeshadows all cost $5 each and the blushes are $8, which is all super affordable, considering their wide range of shades that they offer.

I did pick up a total of 25 items from ColourPop within two separate orders, so be prepared for a long post. I'm going to be showing swatches of every product as well as how the company describes each shade along with a brief blip of my own opinion, so grab some refreshments for this one, friends.

Starting with eyeshadows, the four I picked up are pretty great. I find that they perform the best for me over two bases: NARS Smudge-proof Eyeshadow Base all over the eye area followed by Too Faced Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue if I intend to wear these shadows on the eyelid (as in, not the crease or higher). I also find that these apply the best with fingers or with a flat synthetic brush rather than a fluffy brush. For reference, my eyelids are very oily.

Fizz is described as an "electric neon yellow green laced with multidimensional glitter." I think it's a bit more of a "neon pastel" and not necessarily a true neon, but its brightness depends on the base you use and your skin tone. It lasted on me for over 10 hours.

Rex is described as a "black drenched with multiple shades of blue glitter." I find this one has to be built up a little bit to show its full glitteriness, but it's not too hard to work with.

Slave2Pink is described as an "electric neon pink loaded up with blue, violet, hot pink, and silver glitter with an insanely metallic duo chrome finish. I can't really say anything negative about this puppy. Incredibly pink!

Roulette is described as a "true black in a matte finish." It's fully matte with no sheen, it's soft, it's blendable, and it's got a medium opacity. Not the most pigmented black, but it's not bad.

Top to bottom: Roulette, Rex, Fizz, Slave2Pink (not over any base)

Next is blushes. I have three and I really like them! They're quite versatile in that it's easy to get a more sheer, "natural" cheek color if you use a light hand or a duo-fiber synthetic brush, yet it's also not hard to build up the color to a more full color payoff. It's important to dab or pat the blush if using fingers to apply. I tried swiping and it just didn't keep the color on the cheeks that way.

Mochi is described as a "bright blue pink in a matte finish." It's a cute bubblegum pink that is bright without being over-the-top. I won't lie, I mainly got this for the name because I love mochi, but it's a really nice color!

Prenup is a "mid-tone plum pink in a satin finish." This one takes quite a bit of building on me because I like my blush to be really out there and not too subtle. I often prefer this blush combined with another to intensify, but it's got a beautiful sheen that makes it look great as a blush topper.

Pegacorn (I tend to say "alicorn") is a "deep violet in a satin finish." I'd say the same about this one as the other two I have: not hard to go lightly, but easily buildable.

Top to bottom: Prenup, Mochi, Pegacorn

And, finally, the Lippie Stix.

The Lippie Primer applies similarly to Nyx's lip primer ($7 on their site, possibly on sale sometimes at Ulta) and it performs similarly, too. The Nyx one is better value because it's 3g for $7, whereas the Lippie is 1g for $5. I find that it does help lipsticks to last longer on my lips, but it also makes my lips feel a bit drier than they would if I used no primer. Not a big deal for me, but something to consider if your lips are severely dry. For me, it's not really a necessity at all and I only use lip primers on occasion. The primers also don't work with all lip products, but generally go well under traditional lipsticks.

Cookie is a "true nude beige in a matte finish." It's a gorgeous and easy-to-wear nude on my complexion. It looks beautiful with MAC Spice lip pencil or even with no liner (as shown below).

Cookie

Juicy is a "bright strawberry pink hyper glossy finish." It stays on surprisingly well for a very glossy texture. Even though it's "glossy", it's not sticky or goopy like actual lip gloss can be. It's got a high shine and it's a great watermelon candy color. This does feel a bit thick if too much at once is applied.

Juicy

Lumière is a "dusty mauve pink in a matte finish." It's a beautiful neutral day-to-day kind of shade that looks good with just about any makeup look and would definitely flatter multiple complexions.

Lumière

Skimpy is a "soft pale nude beige in a glossy finish." It's very nude on me and a lip liner is necessary to get the look that I, personally, go for with nude lips. Without a liner, this is a concealer-lips color on me. This color looks pretty similar to MAC Crème D'Nude.

Skimpy

Bound is a "light nude pink in a glossy finish." I also got the Bound pencil, which is slightly darker and pairs very nicely with the lipstick. I swatched them individually to show the difference. The lippie stick is a very, very light pink and, like Skimpy, it looks better paired with a liner.

Bound lippie stick
Bound pencil

Tipsy is a "light neon yellow peach in a glossy finish." This shade looks like what you'd get if OCC Annika and Cha Cha lip tars had a baby. On its own, it doesn't really flatter my complexion, but it looks pretty bomb with a more true-orange liner. With a red liner, it makes a coraly-pink.

Tipsy

Cake is a "bright pastel peachy pink in a satin finish." It's a really light peachy color that's pretty bright in certain lighting. I think it's a lot easier to wear than Tipsy, even without liner, but it's a color I'd go for if I was wearing a heavier eye look.

Cake

Pony is a "soft blue pink in a satin finish." It was one of the first ones I wore and it lasted all day long and only needed touchups in the center after eating. Love this one!

Pony

Punky pencil is a "mid-tone warm neon pink pencil." I got this pencil to pair with the Juicy lippie stix because I didn't have anything similar to Juicy already. The two look really nice together, but are not a perfect match. Punky is a good bright pink that would look good with multiple pink shades, in my opinion.

Punky pencil

Chi Chi pencil is a "bright true orange pencil," which I got to pair with all of my orange lippies since I've been collecting a handful recently. I disagree that it's a "true orange" as it looks like it has some red in it when I'm wearing it, but it's definitely mostly orange and would pair well with most of my orange lipsticks.

Chi Chi pencil

Grind is a "vivid blue violet in a matte finish." Idk if it's just me, but I'm seeing more warm tones in this lippie in my swatch photo. I find it to be a more pink-violet with less blue than they're claiming, but I'm sure it depends on each person's skin tones. This kind of purple is great for just about any season because it's purple, but not so dark that it only feels fall/wintery.

Grind

Leather is a "deep blackened violet in a matte finish." I didn't find this to look "blackened" on me, either. It's similar to Grind, but a few shades darker. It's still a color I'd wear any time of year because I don't find it too dark (I love dark lipstick, though).



Feminist is a "black purple in a matte finish." It's very dark and a good color dupe for Anastasia's Potion liquid lipstick. In this swatch photo, it looks like a slightly darker version of MAC Smoked Purple, but in person, I think it's really similar to Anastasia's Potion. I also find this formula a little less matte than the other mattes that I have.


Brills is a "true cool toned lavender in a satin finish." On me, it's not a pure lavender. It definitely shows some pink hues, but it's a great lavender shade nonetheless. I'm completely in love with this one and it just screams spring and summer to me.

Brills

Wet is a "cool toned taupe gunmetal in a pearlized finish." I love the color, but this one doesn't have the same lasting power that the satins and mattes have, and it's just a little too slippy to get a fully opaque coverage without some extra effort.

Wet
Pitch is a "rich blackened chocolate brown in a matte finish." This brown is beautiful and would look amazing on deeper complexions than mine, but I'm also a fan of dark lips on fair skin. I'm all about brown lipsticks and this one is a winner. It lasts, it applies smoothly, and it's dark.



So far, I really am loving all of the formulas of the Lippie Stix. Their satins are a great finish. Super comfortable to wear, they last for hours, and reapply well over themselves. I'd say the same for the mattes, except the mattes are more of a "demi-matte", IMO, and then they dry down a few hours into wear. Glossies are also very comfy and remind me a lot of MAC's cremesheens, but feel thick and heavy if I apply too much. Hyper glossies are just like glossies except even more shiny.

In terms of value, the Lippie Stix are on a similar price point to MAC's lipsticks. One Lippie Stick contains only 1g (gram) of product and costs $5 while one MAC lipstick contains 3g of product and costs $16, so MAC lipsticks are triple the price plus a dollar for triple the product. I honestly think that the quality of these Lippie Stix are similar to some of MAC's lipsticks, though. I also think it's great that you can buy a small amount of product for a fair (as in, not inflated) price to try a color out you weren't sure you'd like. I never use up full lipsticks, so I don't mind buying a smaller amount of lip product. However, if I was looking specifically for a color I'd wear every day, I'd rather spend the money on a bigger lipstick.


Lippie Stix, lippie pencils, and eyeshadows all retail for $5 each and blushes are $8 each on ColourPop's website and the company states on each product page that they do not test on animals.