REVIEW | Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

The Makeup Geek Eyeshadows need no elaborate introduction. If you've been following the Youtube beauty community for any amount of time, you've most likely heard about the Makeup Geek, Marlena. She released these eyeshadows a while back but I only tapped into these recently. After playing with them for a while. here are my thoughts on them! I chose 8 colors: Unexpected, Sensuous, Twilight, Prom Night, Cosmopolitan, Cinderella, Bitten, and Moondust.

These shadows come in two types of PACKAGING: individual pans and in a compact. I chose the individual pans because they store better. The bottom of each pan is magnetized and has a sticker with the shadow's name attached, making it much easier for those who like to compile their own palettes. INGREDIENTS are pretty good--they are talc, cruelty and paraben-free. While I'm glad they don't have talc, I am okay with parabens. Not sure what she uses to preserve the integrity of the shadows but the full ingredients list is available on her site. Cruelty-free makeup is hard to find but sometimes, that may just apply to the finished product and not the ingredients, so keep that in mind. Not trying to throw shade on her company or anything because I've been watching her for 6 years and appreciate how she is still as helpful as ever, even with a growing company to run! FORMULA on these shadows are very nice for the price. I didn't have fallout and none were patchy or dry. The FEEL wasn't overly creamy but they weren't dry and chalky. Both the mattes and shimmery shadows performed well. I did have to layer the mattes to get the color to get to my desired color level but I didn't have problems with blending. PIGMENTATION didn't blow my mind or anything but decent for the price point, especially when I compare it to drugstore shadows. WEAR TIME with Tarte's 360 Creaseless Smoothing Primer was 8-10 hours. 

SWATCHES

All swatches were done on bare skin: no lotion, no primer/base and with my fingers. 

Twilight is described as a pale shimmery muted purple. It has a satin finish. The taupe undertone gives this purple extra dimension. It's a bit sheer but can definitely be built up.

Sensuous is a plum with light gold sparkles. I usually don't like sparkly shadows since they tend to fall down into my eyes but the sparkles stayed in the shadow well. It is softer to the touch than Twilight but not powdery.

Prom Night is a pale purple with hints of grey and a shimmery finish that is similar to Twilight. On my skintone, it registers as more of a silvery, purple-y taupe, even though it looks more purple in my photos. Again, this is a silky feeling shadow, much like Sensuous. Prom Night is similar to LORAC's Chrome but is warmer and less silvery.

Unexpected is described as a matte pale pink brown. In the pan in looks like a greyish mauve and on my skin, the violet undertones are more pronounced. It's a bit on the sheer side but it can be built up. I tend to wear this in my crease as it can look chalky on my yellow skin tone. It's quite similar to LORAC's Mauve but appears a tad bit cooler.

Cinderella is a pale shimmery pink. It's a pleasant surprise since I associate Cinderella with powdery blue hues. It's quite pigmented compared to the other shadows I sampled. It registers much warmer on my skintone than in the photos, more like a coral. The shimmers in this is more intense than in Twilight and Prom Night--I would classify it as a soft metallic. 

Moondust is a metallic silvery taupe. The texture is softer than the previous shadows I mentioned and it is pigmented. I have a few shadows that are similar to this but I prefer this one as there's no fallout or powderiness.

Bitten is described as a matte, deep maroon red. I don't have any colors like this and it's definitely a step out of my comfort zone. I like wearing it in the crease to warm up an eye look. It's not so pigmented that I get overwhelmed but it can definitely be sheered out for a less intense, bloody look. I still haven't worn this shade out of the house but one day...

Cosmopolitan is described as a rose gold with gold flecks and a shimmery finish. I'm a sucker for rose gold things but this looks more like a coppery bronze on my warm skin tone. On someone with a more neutral or cool toned skin, the pink should come out more. I don't really see the gold flecks but there is a metallic look to this shadow. It's quite pigmented so tread carefully and blend!

THE LOOK

I don't remember what I used on my face or the rest of my eyes but the important part is the colors I used on my lids, right? I mean, that's what y'all are here for! I went for a sunset-inspired look as the colors reminded me of one. The pictures looked a lot better when I was editing them but I'll do my best to provide a clearer picture next time...

LIDS // Cosmopolitan

CREASE // Bitten + Sensuous

OUTER CORNER // Bitten

INNER CORNER // Cinderella

OTHER THOUGHTS 

At $5.99usd for 0.064 oz ($93.59usd per oz), it's quite inexpensive. I've heard the size of these pans are similar to MAC shadows, which retail for $16usd for 0.05oz ($320usd per oz). The compact form retails for $7.99usd ($124.84 usd per oz). There's a total of 68 colors, not including the ones in the Makeup Geek Vegas Lights Palette. There's also a starter kit with 9 shadows to start you off if you are overwhelmed by the vast amount of shadows.

 I cannot but help comparing them to my all-time favorite LORAC shadows. I'm a huge fan of them and use my palettes regularly. I haven't been using them lately because I've been testing other shadows out but I definitely prefer the buttery soft, intensely pigmented shadows. Of course, the price point of these shadows vary and the quality of MUG is undeniably great, I still prefer my LORAC shadows. The mattes especially, are amazing in the LORAC and the shimmery hues are the best in my humble opinion.

BOTTOM LINE

I would recommend them! There's a lot of eyeshadows out there and I definitely haven't tried them all but for the price and quality, you cannot go wrong! I don't have a glittery mess on my hands nor fallout with the Makeup Geek Eyeshadows, which is more than I can say for some drugstore ones I've tried. The only downside is that you can only buy them online but with the abundance of love and swatches online, you can't go wrong in choosing your shades. Marlena announced that she's opening a retail store in the Sacramento area, for which I'm super excited! I hope it comes to fruition before I leave university >.< 

WHERE TO BUY

MAKEUP GEEK EYESHADOW || Buy^

MAKEUP GEEK STARTER KIT || Buy^

MAKEUP GEEK VEGAS LIGHTS PALETTE || Buy^

I reviewed the MUG Pigments yesterday 

and have also shared my thoughts on the Foiled Shadows.

Have you tried any of her products before?

XOXO,

MWAH ♥

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