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Catching Up With Colourpop: Hocus Pocus 2 and More

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Happy Halloween to all who celebrate it! Halloween used to be the holiday I was most excited about, and the original Hocus Pocus movie was one of my favorites. I still haven’t watched the sequel, but I was drawn to several items in the collection which I will review here today. In addition, I have two shades of Super Shock bronzers I’ll be reviewing along with two of the three Winnie the Pooh Super Shock highlighters.

One more thing to note before we discuss the products is that there are two items missing today. Colourpop surprised us all on October 28th by restocking the adorable Winnie the Pooh Hunny Pots. Since I was already placing an order, I added a Hocus Pocus 2 lip gloss to my cart. It takes at least two weeks for me to get my orders from Colourpop’s website, so there’s no way it would arrive in time for Halloween. Rather than delaying this post, I decided that it would be better for me to just update it in a few weeks with product photos and a demonstration of the lip gloss on my lips. I’ve reviewed Colourpop lip products in the past, and these are just new shades and scents, so I don’t expect there to be anything significant to say about them. If you’re interested in those two specifically, please revisit this post by the end of November at the latest (unless something goes wrong with the shipment).

UPDATE: Nov 10th, 2022 – The missing items are here! I’ve continued the trend of picking something from the Hocus Pocus 2 Collection that is completely out of character for me…a sparkly sheer black gloss! Boys Will Love Me in the So Glassy Lip Gloss formula feels great on the lips, is shiny, and gives me a “wearable rebel” vibe to my look! There’s no fragrance in it but it has a slight chemical smell.

The hunny pots with the plastic honey dipper applicators are the cutest things! I’m so happy I was able to snag these when they restocked. The lip mask smells deliciously of honey and they added a slightly sweet flavor to it. It feels so soft on the lips. I forgot how nice these lip masks from Fourth Ray/Colourpop are! The lip scrub has finely sized sugar particles, the kind that don’t do very much exfoliating for my lips, but I like that the formula it’s suspended in comes off my lips easily enough without leaving my lips feeling oily or sticky.

Back to the main review!

Hocus Pocus 2 (Partial) Collection

Sol Body Find the Book Shimmering Highlighter

I stopped purchasing highlighters in unnatural colors, but made an exception for this one. The texture of this “liquid-powder” is similar to the Super Shock formula, which is one of my favorites because of how smoothing they apply and look on the skin. This also got me in the nostalgia feels because it reminded me of the Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfecter in the shade Golden Mint, just with a more intense green tinge that nearly glows.

The highlighter has the typical Sol Body beachy/coconut type of scent that is pleasant enough, but I’d prefer if it wasn’t in the makeup at the very least. The smell is thankfully not as intense in this product as it is in their cream bronzers. It looks white in the pan head on, but the base color is actually an iridescent type of pale “opal” pink shade and at an angle it reveals the gold and green shimmer. It’s basically a duochrome highlighter, but I haven’t seen one before with such a glowing green shade. It’s so beautiful, I had to try it as an inner corner highlight and it was perfect for that! It was easy to apply there and stayed on. However, when I tried it as an all-over lid shade, it was far too creamy on my eyes. It wouldn’t stop moving and creasing, so I took it off once the photos were taken. Because of the scent and the ingredient PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene which is still a microplastic), I probably shouldn’t be using this in my eye area anyway.

Is this shade too light for me? Technically, yes. The pale opal-pink leaves a cast on my face that’s visible wherever the light isn’t illuminating the green shimmer. However, the cast is less noticeable if I pair it with a neutral pink blush (the lighter the better). Also, the fact that I’m wearing a duochrome highlighter means it’s intended to stand out. So, I think it’s fine that it’s not exactly one with my skin. I won’t be fooling anyone into thinking my cheekbones naturally glow green! If anything, I think the liquid-powder formula helps to make this kind of highlighter as natural as possible in the texture and blending department.

For times that aren’t Halloween, I learned that when I want something unique yet wearable, I just need to put on a deeper highlighter (like Colourpop’s Mind Over Matter) and add Find the Book on top of it. This combination does change the color a bit. Green is still present, but the bronze-orange tone in Mind Over Matter mixed with Find the Book really intensifies the gold. I decided to show that very example in the two photos below. They have been cropped to just show the cheekbone highlight because the day I took the pictures was intended to just be an eyeshadow palette testing day when I often just put makeup around my eyes and leave everything else alone. On this particular day, I skipped foundation and did not conceal the hyperpigmentation around my mouth, so I didn’t feel comfortable showing a full face.

Find the Book is intended for face and body use, but I have not tried to wear this anywhere else. I can’t stand wearing body makeup, so that will not be demonstrated today. As I mentioned earlier, it moves and stays too creamy on the eyes. On my cheekbones though, it does dry down but it’s not transfer-proof. I still get sparkles that come up on my finger when I touch my face.

Butcherson BFF Mascara

The shade of this mascara is “rich plum,” and typically burgundy and maroon type of colorful mascaras look nice on those with brown or green eyes, so I had high expectations. Color-wise, I was extremely happy with this mascara but that’s where it ends! According to Colourpop, this mascara is made to be buildable and “instantly volumizes, lifts and dramatically lengthens…with zero clumps or flakes.”
The first time I used this mascara, the only issues I had with it were minor flaking and that it took a bit of time to fully coat my lashes. The formula was a little dry, but I got the results I wanted in terms of color, though I noticed no length or volume. I don’t know if in that first use it took so long to apply that while the tube was open it dried out further, but the problems intensified right afterwards. The next time I went to use it, the performance was far beyond what can be considered “buildable” and it was a hassle to get the mascara off the bristles and stick to my lashes. Even when I was using the tip that had excess product on it to try and coat my lashes, it was like the formula was too waxy to want to stay in place and not just come back off once I combed it through with the brush. In the photo below, I demonstrated the differences when I applied this mascara on top of another one (a fiber one, so it’s to be expected that the lengths will be different) versus applying it to my bare lashes. It looks so much better applied on top of another mascara. On bare lashes, it didn’t give me much extra length than a basic mascara, but also it’s definitely not voluminous enough for my taste.

On top of a black mascara, it’s admittedly harder to see the plum color, but I prefer having that subtle touch to the look.

I would gladly continue using this product if it wasn’t for the intense flaking issue that occurred upon the second and last uses. The third time I used it, pictured below, I laid down on my bed and one of the mascara flakes/crumbles got in my eye. When I used my finger to take it out, the other side of my finger touched the upper lashes where parts of the mascara turned out to be still wet. So it smeared on my finger even though it had been thirty minutes since I first applied it. Then I noticed all the rest of the flakes under my eyes, even wider spread below my face not seen in the picture below. I tried to wipe a particularly large flake away and that smeared the plum color, so I grabbed a Makeup Eraser and my Bioderma solution to remove it all.

Other than that first application, this mascara is hard to apply, is completely lacking in length and volume, flakes terribly (some of the dots in the outer corner of the eye photo aren’t all moles they are flakes too), is “dry” but somehow doesn’t fully dry down if too much is applied even after thirty minutes and will therefore smudge. Once a product has the risk of getting in my eyes, it’s an absolute no for me. So, I won’t be using it anymore. This is quite the shame considering how much I really like the color and the packaging is cute as well. I’m debating between putting it on my retirement shelf (makeup not to be used but kept for collector purposes) or tossing it. The experience was so bad removing the mascara because of the smearing and trying to get more of it out of my eyes that I’m 90% sure I’m going to just toss it. I was so shocked by the positive reviews on Colourpop’s site that I thought maybe I just got a bad one or the time it took for me to build it up dried it out too much, but the reviews on Ulta’s site tell another story (linked here but they may eventually remove it from their website).

There are plenty more of the negative reviews on Ulta’s website and it’s currently sitting at 2 out of 5 stars for a reason out of 24 reviews. The only other positive thing I can say is that it did not clump for me, but that’s because I could barely even get the mascara to coat my lashes. Because plenty of other people are having issues too, I absolutely cannot recommend this. I’ve tried one other mascara from Colorpop and that didn’t go as poorly but there was no benefit either, so no more of them for me.

Give Him Fur Hair Clips

I’m not a cat person, but somehow over the last five years or so I’ve acquired the “Kitty” nickname which I’ve fully leaned into by now. I own cat headbands and clip on cat ears, so this product certainly appealed to me not just for Halloween.
I think they look great! The fur is soft and the cloth ears are soft as well. I feel obligated to point out some of the flaws though, as these aren’t the highest quality. For example, part of the fur lining came unglued from the handle, a tuft of hair came out already, the inner portion of the cat ear peeks out beyond the stitching, and because the handle end of the clip isn’t exposed and the fur strap goes past it, I have to be careful how I place my fingers to open the jaw of the clip so that I don’t potentially tear anything off. In addition, the clip is made of a very thin metal and whatever paint coating they used gives it a plastic feel.

I don’t believe these flaws would be noticeable to other people. As long as I continue to handle these carefully, I think I’ll be getting my money’s worth out of them. I foresee the fur strap coming more unglued to the claw over time, but at that point I can just glue it back down.

This entire Hocus Pocus 2 Collection inspired me to create a Fall-Halloween type of look and step out of my comfort zone, so there are no regrets. Even though the mascara didn’t work out for me, it was fun to give colored lashes a try again.

In the Halloween look above, I’m wearing the Butcherson mascara on the tips of the lashes, Find the Book highlighter (on the top of the cheekbones and inner corner of the eyes), and the kitty ears. The third photo on the bottom was taken with my cell phone to show the brightness of the highlighter that I struggled to capture with my regular camera.

Bronzers

Super Shock Bronzers in Dream Vacay and Paradise City

The original line of Super Shock bronzers were discontinued in 2017, but these 2022 versions are supposed to be an improved formula. I have no idea how the originals were received, but these new ones deserve to be hyped up! They are amazing! They are so smooth to the touch and look smooth on the skin. They blend effortlessly. They last all day. They look so natural on the skin. These are everything I could want from a cream (or cream-like) bronzer! These are way easier to use and are more pigmented than the Sol Body Cream Bronzers.

Packing on Dream Vacay produces a very subtle bronze on me, but it doesn’t take much effort if I use my dense Patrick Ta Contour Brush to apply it. If I use something a bit softer like the Sonia G Mini Base, it has to be built up in multiple layers. If I want a deeper bronze, I use Paradise City and blend it out with the Mini Base or use the tiniest amount with my Patrick Ta Contour Brush. Paradise City is deep enough on me to give a slight sculpting affect, but I will sometimes add Dream Vacay back on top to lighten it up if it gets too intense.

I’ve had these open for three months now and they haven’t dried up, formed a film on top, nor changed in consistency. There’s also no scent to them unlike the Sol Body Cream Bronzers, so I’m especially happy about that. Right now, these are among my top 5 favorite non-powder bronzer formulas.

Also, Kudos to Colourpop for having an even deeper shade available called Summer 4ever. We love an inclusive product range! There are also three bronzers lighter than Dream Vacay.

Highlighters

Winnie the Pooh Super Shock Highlighters in 100 Aker Wood and Mind Over Matter

I’ve reviewed Colourpop’s Super Shock Highlighters so many times on this blog. I love how smoothly they apply and melt into my cheeks. They don’t stay feeling slippery on the face and they can look subtle or intense depending on the application process. Some observations I noted that make these stand apart from the others I own is that more than just having a strong yellow base, I can see micro green and gold shimmer in 100 Aker Wood that stands out on my skin, in addition to Mind Over Matter having some larger bronze sparkles that make the skin look more textured than normal. The tone in 100 Aker Wood isn’t anything like Fenty’s Trophy wife, but it’s still slightly too yellow to match me despite me also having a yellow undertone to my skin. Depending on the foundation shade I’m wearing, it looks more natural if I pair it with a more yellow or olive foundation, but if I wear my summer foundations which are more of a golden-orange, then the yellow in the highlighter becomes more obvious. More often than not, I end up mixing 100 Aker Wood with one of my darker Super Shocks like Mind Over Matter or Champagne BB.
I applied a light amount of 100 Aker Wood below. As for Mind Over Matter, the tone matches me really well to the point that I had to build it up in the demonstration photo below in order for it to be seen on my cheeks. Adding more also emphasized the amount of glitter specks that can be seen. The extra sparkles aren’t so much to stop me from wanting to use this highlighter though. I have only worn these over natural and dewy foundations. I can attest to these melting better into my skin the dewier my face is.

I’m including a comparison of the current “natural” shades of Super Shocks in my collection. The photos were taken at night so the non-flash photo is washed out whereas the flash side is slightly intensified in color.

Flute Punch is too light for me but I bought it to mix with Champagne BB. Champagne BB on its own is slightly too dark for my face. Mind Over Matter is close to that one in depth, but just slightly lighter and closer to matching the brown tones in my face. Parasol and Got Glow are still the best ones I have for highlighting purposes, but Got Glow is better because it’s the tiniest bit more golden and darker. The shimmer particles in Parasol are lighter than Got Glow, so Parasol can look too light from the shimmer reflecting more harshly in contrast to my skin tone at certain times of the year. The downside to Got Glow is the mix of multiple colors in the pot that doesn’t always look as complimentary depending on how much of the darker or lighter colors get picked up and applied.

As much as I love the Super Shock highlighters, there has to be a stopping/satisfaction point and I think I’ve reached it. I will continue using all of them and mixing them if necessary to continue getting enjoyment out of these products.

That’s everything for today! Thank you for reading and Happy Halloween!

-Lili ❤

10 Colourpop Powder Blushes and Highlighters I Never Used

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I made a similar post to this regarding Colourpop’s eye shadow palettes, and just like that one, since 2020 I have had a growing blush and highlighter collection that remained unused and unreviewed. I can at least say my newer blushes and highlighters get some love in the Super Shock formulas, but not the powder ones, even though I keep buying them. Doing the wear tests for this post is going to help me decide once and for all where Colourpop stands among my powder blush and highlighter collections.

Colourpop Dark Blooms Pressed Powder Blush in Palatial

I wanted at least one thing from the Dark Blooms Collection, but the palettes weren’t my kind of color story and Palatial looked like the only one of the blushes that would show up on me. I’m also a sucker for a pretty imprint, so I got it in Dec 2020. Ignoring the highlighter on the top of my cheeks, this is a matte blush. It’s fairly pigmented, but I have to build it up for it to show. Because it’s a terracotta shade, it looks natural enough on me because of the brown, but it still slightly pops from the orange-red. I like it in that barely there kind of way. It’s discontinued, but I’m sure they’ll release something again that’s similar to it.

Colourpop Big Poppy Pressed Powder Blush in Outta Sight

I did try this blush once at some point when I was darker and it didn’t show up on me at all. After trying it again now, I can faintly see the coral-orange base color, but the shimmer particles are too large in this one. I really don’t like how it looks when I turn my face and it hits the lights. There isn’t enough color payoff for the amount of shimmer, so I plan on decluttering this in some way. On top of that, it’s another blush that Colourpop discontinued.

Colourpop x Hello Kitty and Friends Pressed Powder Cheek in Bundled Up

Of the two blushes in the collection, this was the only one with a chance of showing up on me. It’s faint, but once again, I don’t like the shimmer level (even prior to adding highlighter). It’s as if Colourpop only knows how to create blushes with a sheen if it’s in the Super Shock formula. The powder blushes are either all matte or matte with sparkles (like those sequin matte with shimmer/glitter eyeshadows). Colourpop never makes the kind of shimmer blushes I like. In any case, I mostly bought this for Hello Kitty collector purposes, so it will remain in my collection for now.

Colourpop x Hello Kitty Pressed Powder Blush in Aloha Honey

We finally have a product that’s still available for purchase (at least at the time I’m writing this), though I saw it in the sale section, so it’s probably on its way out! Aloha Honey is a pigmented vibrant coral that reminds me of an even brighter and slightly lighter in tone version of Pat Mcgrath’s Electric Bloom blush. Between the two, I prefer the shade of Aloha Honey better, but the Electric Bloom formula more. PML’s non-shimmer blushes are still demi-matte and that slight sheen that it gives makes it look nicer on my dry skin. However, for the $26 full price cost difference, if I had Aloha Honey in my hands first, I would have skipped buying Electric Bloom and just been satisfied with the Colourpop blush.

Colourpop Pressed Powder Blush in Luv Me Not and 4Ever Yours

Luv Me Not was part of the 2021 Valentine’s Day collection, but I didn’t get my hands on it until one of the restocks last October. Colourpop’s heart shaped blush was another product I wanted mostly for the packaging, as well as the hype since some people were saying it was Colourpop’s highest quality blush formula to date. For the 2022 Valentine’s Day collection, they released six shades with Kiss n’ Tell as the only returning shade out of the original three. This is when I purchased the shade 4Ever Yours, which looked like a deep coral orange in Colourpop’s photos but it is in actuality way more toned down and pink. If I build up 4Ever Yours, it looks incredibly similar to Luv Me Not. Between the two, I prefer 4Ever Yours just because it’s not as deep of a shade, so I don’t have to worry as much about overapplying. Then again, it is very pigmented, so those lighter than me would still have to be careful using 4Ever Yours as well.

Colourpop Wild Orchid Collection Pressed Powder Blush in Potted

I usually say I’m not into berry blushes, but there’s something about this shade that is so special. Perhaps, it’s because it’s the exact tone of my favorite color (reddish purple). It also helps that with a sheerer application, this doesn’t look too dark on me and I find darker blushes to be aging. Part of what makes picking a berry blush tricky is that I can never tell if it will flatter me or not based on the pan color. I have to actually try them out to know for sure if it’s the kind that could work for me or not, and I’ve had so much bad luck in the past, which is why I rarely take the chance anymore.

An example of the kind I like is quite the throwback, but it was formerly my holy grail blush back in 2014 or 2015 until probably 2018. The Make Up For Ever HD cream blush in Raspberry 510. I never even considered this a berry blush because it was more like a red with a splash of purple. I have this strange view in my mind of only considering plummy cooler toned type of shades to be berries when that’s not the case in nature.

Shade aside, Potted is yet another matte pigmented blush that’s now discontinued from Colourpop, so I’m glad I snagged it while I could.

SOL Body Shimmering Body Powder in Wild Orchid

This highlighter has the typical Sol Body coconut/suntan oil smell. I’m not into duochrome highlighters, but I saw Amanda’s (Makeup.Just.For.Fun) YouTube video and it looked so beautiful with the other blush in the Orchid collection that I decided to take my chance on it. This highlighter is unsurprisingly glittery, which is another thing I tend to despise about highlighters, but this is the one exception. The way it looks with Potted is so pretty to me.

When I use this product, I prefer to either apply with my fingers and blend it out with a brush or to use it with a dense brush from the start. The dense brush will pick up more of the shimmer, but at least the base goes along with it. When I’ve tried applying this highlighter with my usual favorite highlighter brushes, they only picked up the shimmer/glitter particles and it looked terrible on my cheeks. I may use this highlighter in the future but solely with blush shades like Potted and most likely for an occasion or event.

Also, I know this is a body highlighter, but I don’t use products like that. I would only use this on my face.

Colourpop Super Shock Highlighter in Lantern Fest

I snuck this one into my powder post. Please forgive me. When I bought it, I thought it was a powder highlighter. I didn’t realize it was the Super Shock formula. I had some blinders on when I bought this because I wanted it for the packaging. It was a Lunar New Year item for the year of the Ox. I have mixed feelings about this on me, but tilted toward the side of not liking it. The specks of shimmer seems to be bigger and more visible in this formula than the other Super Shock highlighters I own. The color is light for me but sometimes I like it and other times I don’t. I’m not sure if that has something to do with the mixture of the red, yellow, and pale pink and preferring when I have more or less of a certain color. This is returning to the back of my collection and is of course discontinued.

Colourpop Cheek Palette in Tea Cakes

This is the third and last item from Colourpop that is still available for purchase. It’s one of several different cheek palettes they’ve created. The highlighter is in the Super Shock formula, but the three blushes are powder products. Most Necessary is darker and more shimmery than I like to go for in a highlighter, so I don’t intend to use it again unless I’m in a time crunch and I’m already using this palette.

Pralines is like the better version of Outta Sight. Because it’s so reflective, I think it’s best on me as a highlighter. It gives a hint of color, so I could wear it on its own, but I prefer to use it as a blush topper, which is gorgeous with other warm toned blushes. This is the only shimmery powder blush from Colourpop I’ve tried that I like, but again, as just a topper.

I’ve tried Snickerdoodle and Tea Cakes once before and I didn’t like them. I’m guessing it was when I was darker because trying them again, I find them to be much prettier now. I just wish they weren’t so matte. These two shades remind me of Sigma blushes, but just slightly better. Snickerdoodle goes on the cheeks bright initially, but is toned down when blended into the skin. Yummy Bite has just enough red in it to show as a true blush shade on me, rather than a bronzer or something, which was my initial reservation about having a brown blush in this quad. Again, in my eyes this would be even better if the blushes were semi or demi mattes rather than full on mattes. I still like them though and if I could finally get to a place where I use blush palettes rather than always reaching for my single blushes, I believe I would use this again. This is one of those purchases though that I think is worth getting for the price and not necessarily for how amazing it is. It’s pretty good, but not exceptional.

That’s all for today! After testing these out thoroughly as part of my Shop My Stash for March, I’ve decided that the Colourpop powder blushes and highlighters don’t rank in my top 50% favorite formulas. I really should not get them anymore except in the less common shades, like Potted and Aloha Honey, which are my favorites out of the bunch. Getting those were worth it because they are priced affordably. It’s the everyday wearable kind of shades for me that are worth getting at the top tier level. Most Necessary and Lantern Fest also showed me that even getting the Super Shock highlighter formula doesn’t guarantee the small particle shimmer size I prefer, so I should stop getting highlighters from Colourpop altogether.

Even though the majority of these products are discontinued, I hope this has been helpful.

-Lili ❤

My Last 10 Colourpop Eyeshadow Palettes

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I originally drafted a post called, “Colourpop Update from Nov 2020 Til Now,” which was intended to finally catch up on all the Colourpop purchases I was making. The issue I ran into was that I kept waiting for my orders to arrive, but I was continuously buying Colourpop products monthly. Essentially I never caught up and that’s how we got here today. I have seven palettes and three quads that I bought from Colourpop that have just been sitting in my collection this whole time waiting to be used and reviewed.

It’s a bit fascinating how Colourpop’s marketing completely sucked me in. Here I was making monthly orders without even using and enjoying any of it, yet still unable to stop myself from continuing to buy the next “Must Have” thing that appealed to my sense of nostalgia or my love of particular color stories. Colourpop’s shipping went from a week to deliver (years ago) to a minimum of three weeks for delivery now. So, by the time I received my products, the hype was already gone and I felt very little motivation to post about it via social media and even less for my blog. It was like constantly chasing the excitement of what’s new, having it fade by the time it arrived, and then seeking something else to replace that feeling. The cycle was quite unhealthy and I knew that in the back of my head, yet they still got me regularly. The craziest part is that I actually did resist a ton of collections, yet I still ended up with all these unused eyeshadow palettes (plus everything else from other categories).

Colourpop x Raw Beauty Kristi At Forest Sight Collection Palette

Although this palette is no longer listed on the Colourpop website, so I cannot double-check the ingredients, Amanita has the symbol for what I’m guessing is a warning about potential eye staining due to the dye(s) used.

I only used this palette two or three times prior to reviewing it again now. This should be a color story I’m crazy for, but for some reason I don’t like how most of the shades look on my eyes and in combination with one another. The exceptions to this are Evergreen, Fiddlehead, and Homegrown. I love the shade Emerald City, but it’s a very patchy shadow. PNW at least fills the role. It’s blue, but leans closer to green than a standard blue shade. Other than my dislike of the tones, the patchiness of Emerald City, and the fact that Old Growth doesn’t show as pink on me, I think the other shades are okay despite them overall feeling dry and not the easiest to work with. I think this palette being a few years old by now is why the performance has declined from that first initial impression I had. It’s not bad, but it’s not as easy as my newer Colourpop palettes.

I always discuss my stance on an Influencer who is part of the collab, so in the case of Raw Beauty Kristi, I am still following her on YouTube though I don’t watch her anymore. She’s more into lifestyle content now, especially post having a baby. Congratulations to her, but I definitely don’t have the same attachment to her now as I did when I first bought this palette. Also, this is the only collab palette of hers that I have purchased. I did not buy her palette with PUR.

The packaging for this collab is cute. I love the theme. This collection was restocked quite a few times since Nov 2020, but I don’t believe it will be available anymore, which saves me from needing to say whether I recommend it or not. Other than Evergreen, Colourpop has these shades many times over among all their palettes, so most people could put this color story together on their own out of what they already have.

Colourpop x Star Wars the Mandalorian Child Pressed Powder Palette

There are no eye safety warnings for this palette. The Force arrived broken, but I was able to re-press it.

I haven’t watched the Mandalorian TV show yet, but everyone knows about “Baby Yoda” (Grogu) and he looks absolutely adorable! I tried for a while to resist the packaging, but eventually I got it during a sale.

I love green eyeshadows and even though the depths of these greens are lighter than I typically go for, I really enjoyed the looks I’ve been able to create. However, the photos below show that I can make a similar look using entirely different eyeshadows from the palette. The matte shades aren’t redundant, but the swatches show two similar golds and two similar greens regardless of how they look in the pans.

The shadow quality is great. I think it is among Colourpop’s best in terms of performance. To those who like this color story, I could easily recommend this.

Colourpop Wild Child Palette

Sometimes Colourpop puts the warning asterisk next to the shade names on the inside of the palette, so I wrongly assumed this had no eye safety warnings. On the back of my palette, Grasslands was marked with the symbol of not being safe for use around the immediate eye area, but on Colourpop’s website it’s the shade Lashes that is listed as having PET glitter. More than that, it’s in an actual pressed glitter formula, so I will not be swatching or using that shade. This is quite unfortunate considering Lashes is the one that pretty much sold me on this palette. Since I cannot tell if my original packaging is correct and if Grasslands should also be considered not eye safe, I decided I won’t be using that shade on my eyes either. I dislike sequin/matte eyeshadows with shimmer in them anyway, and I don’t feel this particular color adds anything to the palette, so it’s an easy skip. I plan to depot them both after this review.

Fierce arrived shattered, so I pushed it back in, but it became a mess every time I used it. I somewhat resolved this by repressing it with some 90% isopropyl alcohol, but it still gives me fallout on the eyes if I don’t apply it wet.

The thought of getting rid of 2 out of 9 shades would normally make me question my decision to buy the palette, but the fact that I love all the other shades is why I don’t have regrets. If I’m reaching for a neutral shadow, I like a deep shimmery chocolate brown like Icon. I can build up enough depth to my liking with Feisty. Ground Crew makes for a nice transition shade and Close Up looks great in the crease. Herd to Get isn’t really my preference for the lid, but I do think it looks nice on me and it makes sense to have a shade like this in this palette. #Spotted I use for blending edges if needed since it doesn’t really show on me. Just like Herd to Get, I wouldn’t want to put Fierce all over my lids, but it’s a beautiful highlighting shade for the inner corner and center of the lid.

I like the looks I’ve created with this and I do want to continue using this palette. In the month of February, I made all the palettes listed in this post a part of my “shop my stash” and I repeatedly kept reaching for this one over the others. The quality is great and I easily recommend it. If there’s one thing Colourpop should nail, it’s a neutral palette considering how many of them they release and how chock full of neutrals most of their palettes are, including the more colorful ones.

Colourpop Lush Life Palette

Speaking of a colorful palette with neutrals, we have Lush Life which is one of the most recent CP palettes in my collection. There are no eye safety warnings. I think the quality of the shadows in this palette is very good. It’s definitely among the best Colourpop has ever produced. The neutrals are pretty, though Eden is less of a plum brown than I expected from product photos online. It also gives me just barely enough depth for my liking.

It’s Paradise and Palm Palm are similar. This palette also has several matching matte and shimmer counterparts (On the Prowl and Juicy, Noni and Hotness, as well as Eco and Wild Life), which sometimes I can appreciate. In this instance, I find it limiting, but I plan on depotting some of these shades to create a custom palette anyway.

I have to give props to Colourpop for that stunningly vibrant Monsoon shade, and for it being so smooth and even as well. It’s probably the best vibrant blue I’ve seen Colourpop do. That shade paired with the greens, oranges, and yellow certainly capture the tropical vibe they were going for, and I like it a lot. This is another one I could easily recommend, even though it’s not something I’d be likely to use much if I kept them within just this color story in this palette.

Colourpop High Tide Palette

There are no eye safety warnings for this palette. It was first released as an Ulta exclusive before arriving on the Colourpop website. It’s mind boggling how much I felt I needed this palette until I actually got it in my hands. I love the look of these colors, but these are not the kinds of shades I wear all together. I don’t like pale blues on me, which eliminates half the shades. As for dark teals, which always attract me, I actually got sick of by the time I got around to using this palette. It was the last of the ten I tried and I kept dragging my feet on using it because I dreaded having to come up with eye looks for it. A lot of these palettes contain a teal/greenish-blue/warm blue and I was tired of wearing them back to back each day. Then, on the flip side, the third column of the palette contains cool blues, which was a nice change of pace, but I’m not the biggest fan of cool shadows on me. So, it’s quite perplexing how I was so intensely drawn to this palette and then quickly flipped opinions. It revealed my tendency to buy palettes with shades I find alluring, without thinking of how I would actually wear the eyeshadows together to make a look. This wasn’t a very expensive lesson, but it was a lesson all the same.

Other than the colors, the actual quality of these shadows is nice enough. The mattes are a bit on the thinner side, but I can understand wanting to do this since shadows this saturated can be harder to blend and patchy depending on the ratio of pigment/dyes. Two dips with my finger in the pan (as seen in the swatch photo) show how evenly I can spread the color, but also how they’re not as opaque because of how thin the powder is. The mattes have to be built up a little. As for the shimmer formula, there’s a bit more slip in these than usual. While this can help with spreading the shadows, it’s so much that I can accidentally pick the shimmer back off my eye and either onto my finger or move it to gather on a different spot. It basically can create sparser areas devoid of shimmer that I have to build up and smooth over. This doesn’t happen in a large enough area to be a nuisance, but it noticeably adds time when creating a look. This may seem like bad quality, but it’s just a matter of someone’s preference because some people really like that dimethicone feel to shadows or like a shadow that takes little effort to blend, even if it does mean having to build it up though. I’m able to create very pigmented looks, so I applaud Colourpop for that. However, I’m planning on only keeping Mussel Beach, Must Sea, and Lunar, so I can’t really recommend this palette on the basis of this not adding much to the Colourpop line. I do love that Mussel Beach is a bit different for Colourpop as a brown-teal duochrome shadow. It’s a teal version of Clionadh’s Vortex, but without much shine. That’s the one aspect that would have been better with the Mussel Beach shade if the shimmer particles were brighter.

Colourpop x TinkerBell Palette

This palette is no longer listed on the Colourpop website, but there appears to be no eye safety warnings on my packaging. I’m slightly conflicted about my feelings on this palette because it always makes me think of the Child palette, but then I want to reach for that one instead of this because those two pale beige-pink eyeshadows are so off putting. It’s a pet peeve of mine to see redundant shades and multiple brow bone shades. This palette hits at both of those points with Second Star looking insanely ashy on me and Big Magic being less ashy, but also not showing up very much at all. Once again, we have a mattes with shimmer counterparts between Awake and Neverland as well as Sleep and Tink. And, again, I feel as though this limits my looks.

The upside to this palette is the really great quality. I had no issues blending the mattes. The shadows are pigmented. The shimmers are opaque and easy to apply. Place Between is sparkly and gorgeous on the lids. Neverland is this deep green-blue that I tend to like. The palette packaging is very cute, though I wish it didn’t have actual glitter on it. It’s the gritty kind that you can feel is raised when handling the palette, and the kind that will start sprinkling a few glitter particles here and there as time goes on.

The biggest struggle I had was trying to fit the brown-pink shade, Place Between, into my eye looks while trying to exclusively use this palette. It makes sense to use it with the pink mattes, except that those shades don’t give me any color. So, I am forced to pair it with greens and I’m not sure how much I like that. It’s certainly a different color combination for me, but I don’t know if it’s a “nice” kind of different.

Colourpop released another green palette with a pop of pink called Limelight. I’m curious to see the reviews and comparisons for that one.

Colourpop x Hocus Pocus Witching Hour Palette

Hello Billy has an eye safety warning on the Colourpop website, which I believe is due to the dyes/staining. The palette arrived a bit messy around the edges of the pans, but nothing was broken.

Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I grew up watching and loving Hocus Pocus. I didn’t get anything from the first collection between the IP and Colourpop, but this palette had such a “me” color story that I had to buy it. I’ve complained about this aspect before, so I won’t harp on it, but I still need to point out the matte and shimmer counterpart thing as well as the similarity of Summon Us and All Hallow’s Eve on my skin tone.

As has been seen in many of the other palettes reviewed today, I tend to pull 5-6 shadows in my eye looks. With this palette, I’m satisfied with my looks when I stick to 2-4, which saves me time. I like that I don’t have to think too hard about what I want to do with this palette. All the eye shadows perform nicely. I recommend this for those who don’t already have one of Colourpop’s many palettes containing teal-ish blue and purples like It’s a Mood, Play it Jewel, or So Jaded.

Colourpop Eyeshadow Quads in Creamsicle, Mocktail, and Secret Life of Scorpio

EYE SAFETY WARNINGS: For Creamsicle, Big Treat has PET glitter while On a Stick, I’m guessing, is dye/staining warnings. For Mocktail, Shaken has PET glitter. For Scorpio, Secrets Secrets might also have the warning for dye/staining. I should have been more careful and checked for PET before purchasing since I don’t like to use polyethylene terephthalate, even if it’s not in a pressed glitter formula. I am sad to say I will be decluttering Creamsicle and Mocktail from my collection since the pans in the quads are not removeable/replaceable. Plus, Iced from the Mocktail quad fell out of the pan on me already. I was able to press it back in, but I don’t want to have to worry about that happening again in the future.

Prior to working on this post, I only used Creamsicle and Mocktail twice each. The photo above showed the looks I created for Instagram. I was very much into these softer shades at the time that I bought them, which was when Colourpop first started making quads in this clear packaging. I love the concept of being able to have a curated look without needing to think about it, and having all the shades show up nice and pigmented on my eyes and not give me any issues to use. I also liked the level of sparkle, which I now know has the chance of being PET glitter, so I’m a bit unhappy about that.
Before I knew this, I had already purchased the Scorpio quad because I knew the quality was going to at least be decent. This was also the first time anything Scorpio related (my astrological sign) had a color story I liked, as well as being the prettiest of the twelve released! Secrets Secrets is one of Colourpop’s most repeated type of reddish purple/burgundy colors they like to do, and the performance is always the same: very pigmented but slightly patchy. I always find this kind of shade appealing though. The shimmers are quite beautiful, but soft. They need to be applied wet or on glitter glue in order to make an impact.

Scorpio is a nice cohesive quad, but part of what always draws me to Colourpop is their packaging. Other than the outer cardboard that this comes in, there’s no design on the front of it to distinguish it from all the other quads, which makes it less special to me. No one is going to know this is a special Scorpio quad except me when that lightly imprinted Scorpio symbol is rubbed off the Secrets Secrets shade. If I’m buying makeup with basic packaging, the quality inside has to be worth it for me to reach for it. This quality is good, but I don’t intend to buy anymore. In fact, as much as I like the Colourpop palettes I have, I never reach for them. It’s always the packaging, rather than the eyeshadow formula that draws me in. So, unless they collaborate with an IP that would be nearly impossible for me to skip like Harry Potter, Doctor Who, a first actually good Marvel collab, etc. I’m going to try my hardest to stop buying Colourpop eyeshadow palettes.

BONUS REVIEWS

I decided to go ahead and also show the other eye products I also bought from the brand since November 2020 until now.

Colourpop x Raw Beauty Kristi At Forest Sight Liners in Marigold and Spare Thyme

Spare Thyme sold out in my cart during the initial RBK launch. I was able to snag Marigold. I don’t have many colorful liners, and something about Colourpop ones (perhaps how matte and dry looking they can be) don’t look great on my waterline unless I border them with an additional black liner as a frame between the color line and my lower lashes (for example the first look in the At Forest Sight section). The fact that it took three or four restocks before I could successfully buy Spare Thyme before it sold out is why I ignored this fact with Marigold and decided that somehow Spare Thyme would work better. In this case, it actually does look better, but it’s more to do with it being a darker color. All the previous Colourpop liners I used were light shades. Because of my personal preferences, I can’t be objective in saying whether they are worth purchasing or not.

Colourpop Colour Stix in Free Time, Venus Slipper, and We’re Off

My issue with light shades of Colourpop liners are multiplied with the matte version of these Colour Stix. I don’t like the look of them on the lids from my experience with We’re Off and other videos I’ve seen online. Unlike this one, Free Time and Venus Slipper actually dry down and don’t rub away as easily. I’ve had Free Time for nearly a year longer than Venus Slipper, and that one is a bit stiffer. It’s not as easy to get smoothly onto the lid, so I’d keep that in mind for those wanting eye products to last longer than the recommended period after opening.

I’ve purchased a few of these for my sister, so I do like them (at least the shimmer/metallic formula), but shadow sticks generally aren’t my style, so I don’t think I’ll purchase more in the future.

Colourpop x Disney Princess Down in New Orleans Super Shock Shadow

This SuperShock is more of a topper kind of shade, so I haven’t attempted to wear it alone on the lids. It took several rubs to get that swatch to even build up to that. I definitely did not buy this shade for the color. I bought it because I’m quite the fan of Tiana. Her personality reminds me of my sister in so many ways, so it’s only natural she’d be my favorite Disney Princess.

I could barely see the seafoam green base in the shade on my arm. When used as a topper, all I see is silvery white, so those with dark skin should keep that in mind. This shade is even less pigmented than my other Super Shock Eyeshadows, but if CP was aiming for a topper, they certainly nailed it. If it wasn’t for the Princess and the Frog theme, I would never have picked up a shadow like this, but it does have its uses as a highlighting shadow. I know myself though and I never reach for eyeshadow singles, so this is just a collector item for me.

Colourpop Garden Variety Jelly Much Eyeshadows in Saguaro and She Grown

If those shades look dried out, it’s because they are. Saguaro was my “new” shade that I bought a little over a year ago and never used. When I finally opened the jar, as can be seen by the crust around the edges, I discovered it was dried out. The lid was partially open, so there was no hope of me being able to avoid that. Every so often in my Colourpop orders, products with lids aren’t screwed on all the way. I try to remember to check for that, but in this case I completely forgot to and just left it in the original packaging until it was time for this review.

I could still rub the surface of these shades. I was surprised to see that She Grown, the shade I’ve shown before in one of my last Colourpop reviews, swatched more smoothly than Saguaro even though it’s four months older than Saguaro and had been opened and reopened several times.

I’m going to toss these out, but they certainly were shiny and gorgeous. It’s a shame they went to waste because of my same issue with reaching for single eyeshadows. Because these eventually dry out, I can’t recommend them.

Colourpop Act Natural Defining Mascara

I’m wearing this mascara in the sections demonstrating the Colour Stix on the eyes and the RBK eyeliners. I got this for free in one of my orders. The bristles keep the lashes from clumping and turning spidery, but as much as I like long lashes, I still want some volume. This mascara formula is on the wet side. I’m not satisfied with how it looks after one coat, so I have to apply and then wait for it to dry before I go for an additional 1-2 coats. I’ll keep using this mascara, but I prefer mascaras that give me length and volume in one built up coat. Because this doesn’t meet my preferences, I recommend checking out Essence, Maybelline, L’Oreal, etc for some affordable mascaras that I prefer.

Alas! We have reached the end. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Glossier Cloud Paints vs Colourpop Serum Blushes

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As of right now, the Cloud Paints, Cheek Dews, and Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes (in the mini size I reviewed last year) are the only liquid blushes in my collection. I’ve heard great things about the Flower Beauty Blush Bomb Color Drops and Chantecaille Cheek Gelee Blushes, so when the Flower Beauty Drops went on sale a few days ago, I bought one. However, I am going on record to say I will not purchase anymore liquid blushes in 2021. Liquids and creams don’t last as long as powder products. I have so many cream blushes I enjoy and want to get a lot of use out of, so I shouldn’t add to that challenge by loading up on anymore liquid formulas either.

Glossier Cloud Paint Cream Blushes

These cost $18 each or $30 for a set of two, plus 10% off your first order on their website. The free shipping minimum (at least for the US) is $30. I have three of the eight shades: Beam, Spark, and Storm. In my order, I also received a sample card of the shades Dusk and Dawn. I bought the shade Beam as a peachy mixer to lighten Spark and Storm if I wanted, but after seeing the sample of the “brownish nude” Dusk, I wish I bought that as a mixer instead. I only had enough product in the samples to do one arm swatch and apply a small amount to my cheek. Dusk is lighter than my skin tone, and brown, so it just blended into my skin. There was only a hint of color to my cheek (in person) which surprised me that I could see anything at all for such a light shade. Dawn is described as a “sunny coral” that comes off more as an orange. It’s very pretty, though I’m not crazy about how orange blushes look on me, despite how many of them I’ve purchased over the years in an effort to find one I love. Beam gives a faint flush and looks prettier on camera than in person. It’s just a matter of it being too light, but that was intentional on my part. Just like with Dusk, I’m surprised it showed up at all.

Glossier’s makeup has a reputation of being low coverage and intended for people with amazing skin already: smooth, poreless, scarless, even skin tone, etc., so I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of pigment I got from these Cloud Paints. Spark is one of their newer shades and described as, “a bright poppy.” As with oranges, I’m a little particular when it comes to red blushes, but I do tend to like them more. I think it’s quite a pretty shade on me when I use a very small amount to create a slight flush of red.

Storm is a dark warm rose and the shade I was looking forward to the most. The consistency is a little different from Beam and Spark. It feels almost gel-like and less opaque, but I think that’s what allows this color to work for a very wide range of skin tones. It makes it easier for someone lighter than me to wear without over-applying and someone darker than me to be able to build it up.

I’m very happy with Storm and Spark. The other three shades in the line that I haven’t seen in person are Puff (light cool pink), Haze (deep fuschia), and Eve (rich mulberry). Based on what I’ve seen online, Haze and Eve are definitely dark skin friendly. The model shots on Glossier’s site are better than many other brands’ photos when it comes to depicting how the blushes would actually look on different skin tones.

Any method to apply these will look nice, but I prefer to use my fingers. I feel I have the most control over where the color goes and how it blends. I can really press it into my skin with my fingers. It looks beautiful on bare skin and over foundation. I like that they aren’t super dewy and set on their own without powder. I like the finish. I like that they are long-wearing (though I have dry skin and most makeup lasts on me). They have a period after opening of 18 months.

I can’t think of anything else to say about these except that I really like them and I absolutely recommend them!

Colourpop Cheek Dew Serum Blushes

These cost $7 each, but Colourpop offers a deal that 2 or more gets the price reduced to $6 each. I was able to use a discount code in my order but the percent off only applied to the other items in my cart and it didn’t stack with the serum blush deal. The free shipping minimum is $30 for US customers or $60 internationally. I have three of the nine available shades.

When I saw product swatches for this, I thought these were going to be terrible in terms of getting the color to stay on the cheeks and not move around. I believe my assessment was correct. These are certainly no dupes to the Glossier Cloud paints.

From left to right: Psst, Rumours, Beyond

Upon initial application, some spots will be stronger in color while other sections have patches that look like clear gel is on my cheeks. If I try to use tapping motions to blend the color evenly, it sheers out tremendously and I have to apply more. When I finally have enough product for the color to show, my cheeks are far dewier and glossier than I want. It doesn’t look natural, which is the point of having a product of this type. With so many layers, it takes hours to set, but it won’t completely dry down if it isn’t powdered.
Those with pale to medium skin tones may not have as much trouble with the darker shades because the end result of blending will likely still be pigmented to show on the skin in the amount that isn’t enough to show on me. Whoever can get away with using less product will have significantly less time to wait before it dries down to a non-sticky finish.

Rumours, “a vivid red orange,” is the shade with the most even coverage that doesn’t require nearly as much product as the other two. Beyond, “a muted deep rose,” is one of the darkest shades, but there’s less pigment in it than Rumours. Psst is “a warm mid-tone rose” that definitely shows up on my cheeks at first, but is so sheer that I have to apply so much for it to show. Not all mid-tone shades work for me, so I didn’t expect too much from Psst, but Rumours and Beyond are certainly dark enough that there shouldn’t be such an issue getting them to show. Rumours is like a sheerer Glossier Spark and Beyond is like a patchier sheerer version of Glossier’s Storm. I have found some ways for these to work, and I will discuss them here for anyone who still wants to buy these and try them out.

A “normal amount” for using Psst is two layers with my fingers. I will not get enough coverage if I use another application method. My pictures here don’t even showcase the extent of the glossiness on my skin. I’ve gone from being an all matte lover to loving natural/satin finishes to liking a little bit of dew. These are far too much for me, but these may be for you if you love the sheer glossy look. In order to tone down the gloss to the level that I’m comfortable with, I have to apply a powder on top of it. As seen above, doing this does diminish some of the already low pigment. When I applied the tiniest bit of powder over Psst, it was over a third heavy blush layer, which is pretty much the maximum color payoff I can achieve. It just doesn’t build up more than that.

I didn’t bother showing what a normal amount of Beyond looks like because it just looks like clear gloss due to the brown tinge matching too well to my skin tone. The built up photo had three heavy layers and I struggled the most to get this shade to not look so patchy. It’s surprisingly even more sheer than Psst and it looks way worse with a sponge and brush as opposed to using my fingers. It looks dramatically subtler after a light layer of powder. This is the kind of shade I would only use as a dewy base. In the last trio of photos, I applied the Oden’s Eye Sweet Tulip blush, which has a satin finish, over the top of it. I liked the end result despite the fact that the powder blush went on less intensely than it normally would over just primer and foundation.

Rumours has the most even coverage of the three. I could almost get away with one heavy layer with my fingers, but I used two light layers of product to avoid patchiness. This is the only shade I’d feel comfortable wearing with just powder on top and not layering with a powder blush over it. However, I still wanted to see how it would look with a matte blush on top. I chose Ofra’s Blushzer in Squad and even with it being matte and having a blur powder on top as well, my cheek still looks dewy. So, for anyone who wants to give a matte blush a more dewy finish, applying one of these serum blushes can do that. However, some powders will tone down the glow more than others.

Rumours still does not look great with a brush, but it’s the only one that looks acceptable with a sponge. I still think the finger application looks better.
Whenever I get a new blush, I always test it on bare skin first. In my “bare cheek” photo, I’m wearing a little concealer under my eyes and a little around my mouth, but I have no other product on my face. This is what Rumours looks like with a single light layer when it can actually dry own. Anything heavier than a light layer turns it just as glossy as it looks in the other photos. This shade is the only one that will show up with a thin layer. At first I thought it looked okay, but after seeing a comment (not directed at me) about how this blush looks like smeared ketchup, I couldn’t unsee it. Rumours does look a bit like ketchup on bare skin.

While I was successful in finding a way to make these work by either setting them with powder or using them as a base for powder blush, I don’t see a scenario when I would actually ever use these again. If I want a glowy blush, I’ll use one of my many shimmery blushes. If I want a cream base, I already have one in my Natasha Denona Bloom palette. I also have face gloss products such as the Danessa Myricks Dew Balm and Pat Mcgrath’s clear highlighting balm I could use as bases or to add shine to the cheeks too.

I was able to get three Cheek Dews for the price of a Cloud Paint, but I believe a single Cloud Paint is a better purchase. While the dew level is a preference thing, the way the color moves around while trying to blend and has gaps where my skin shows though is why I don’t think this is a good product and can’t recommend it. I’m not encouraging anyone to get this, but if you do, at least it won’t break the bank to throw one into your cart if you’re already making a Colourpop order. I can’t fault anyone for being curious about them, like I was, and maybe others will have more success than me.

Thank you for reading.

-Lili ❤

Colourpop Garden Variety, Sailor Moon, and Mulan Collections

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Since the end of 2019 until the time of me starting to work on this post, the collections from Colourpop haven’t been dark-skin friendly (or at least the items I’ve wanted haven’t been). Today, I’ll be discussing the bits and pieces from different collections I have purchased that work for me, to an extent.

GARDEN VARIETY COLLECTION

Garden Variety Palette

The design of this collection is so beautiful! Colourpop really excels at that. The succulents and lettering on the cover of the eyeshadow palette (and even the carton) are raised! I love the packaging and don’t see myself ever getting rid of it, even though I am not a fan of the shadows inside.

The color story is what I expected from the product photos. However, I made the mistake of not recognizing Herbivore, Over the Bloom, Succa 4 U, and Clay Day are a sequin formula, which I despise. It’s unfortunate because I love the base matte color of those shades. I just cannot stand the random “pearl” glitter specks embedded in the shadows.

The shade “Don’t Leaf” is a supershock formula. This was my first time experiencing a supershock shadow in a palette, so that was fun! This particular shade doesn’t make much of an impact on my lids though.

Although I knew the palette would lean on the light color spectrum, I figured I would be able to use them anyway due to Colourpop’s usual pigmentation level. However, these are not as pigmented as I’m used to and I find the shimmer quality to be lackluster compared to my other Colourpop shadows, even the oldest ones. The mattes are better, but they don’t deepen up the look as much as I need in my eyeshadow looks.

From my disappointment, inspiration struck! I decided to swap out most of the shades in this palette for similar, yet better performing Colourpop shadows. I am much happier with the selection I chose!

Whole Nine Yards Blush

I purchased the darkest shade of the four blushes in the Garden Variety palette. It looks extremely subtle on camera, but it shows enough in person that I can use it. I appreciate that despite being so light, it doesn’t have a grey tone or leave a cast on me. I do wish this was matte. It’s a “warm pinky terracotta with gold pearl,” and the gold specks are larger than I’d like in a blush. I prefer smaller refined pearl pigments like the kind in MAC blushes, but I’m glad Colourpop chose gold rather than silver glitter for this blush. Also, Whole Nine Yards is similar to a sequin eyeshadow in the sense that it is primarily matte when applied to the skin, as most of the glitter gets brushed away when blended. So, it isn’t enough to make me stop using it. It just isn’t going to be the first blush I reach for. Plus, I like being able to see the beautiful flower imprint in the powder. That kind of thing gets me every time!

Whole Nine Yards on the cheek with no highlighter, bronzer, or contour. Just the blush over Nars Sheer Glow.

She Grown Pink Jelly Much Eyeshadow

This “warm peachy pink with a gold shift” eyeshadow is stunning! On the innermost part of my arm, which is lighter than my eyelid, you can see the pink tones a lot better. In direct sunlight, it looks even darker pink than in swatches, but on my eye, the peach and gold overtake the look. I still love the way it looks. It takes a little finesse to smooth out the shadow in a nice even layer of product, but the effect is worth it.

The left column shows what it looks like upon initial application. The right column shows how it looks 8 hours later.

I noticed it first started to break apart around the six hour mark, so I would only use this if I was making a quick trip out or didn’t plan to stay long at an event. Of all the products mentioned today, I’ve used this the least, so I don’t know if there are tricks to make it last longer. I will continue experimenting to find out, but I’m happy with this item as it is.

There are three other Jelly Much shades in this collection, but She Grown was the most unique to me.

SAILOR MOON COLLECTION

Moon Tiara Ultra Glossy Lip

I purchased the Daylight kit, which included Moon Tiara and Usagi. The Moonlight kit has cooler-toned versions of these shades.
Moon Tiara is described as a “Yellow Orange with Gold and Pink Pinpoints.” I was worried this would look milky, but thankfully it does not. I still wouldn’t wear this on its own, but I enjoy how it looks over more pigmented lippies.

The formula is a bit sticky and has a pleasant sweet smell. The brush tip applicator was so stiff that I thought it was a solid bit of plastic until I used it enough times for the bristles to loosen up. I don’t mind that it’s not a doe foot, now that the brush tip is more flexible.

Usagi Ultra Blotted Lip

The designs on these lip products are so pretty! I rarely buy lip products because I’m mostly a balm or gloss kind of chica, but I couldn’t skip out on this packaging! Unlike the gloss, this has a doe-foot applicator.
Usagi is a mid-tone pink, and I honestly didn’t expect to like this. I’m very picky about lip colors and this is almost too bright of a shade, but it’s right on the cusp. I could wear this on its own without feeling insecure, however, I prefer the way it looks with Moon Tiara on top.

This is my first experience with the Ultra Blotted Lip formula. It is intentionally sheer. To my knowledge, it was originally marketed with the popsicle lip trend in mind. Now, their selling point is that it’s a “buildable diffused matte.” Even though it dries matte, it feels comfortable on the lips.

It’s an interesting formula that I do like. One thing I learned is that if I accidentally touch my lip while it’s half dry, trying to cover the bald spot back causes an oddly noticeable demarcation between the newly covered spot and the surrounding area that overlapped with additional product. What you see in the image above of the blotted lip alone is the best I could do to cover the naturally darker spot on my lower lip. I have extremely dry lips that are difficult to care for without a consistent lip care routine. This blotted lip formula isn’t something I would use on its own if I haven’t created a completely smooth canvas that day. That’s why I like pairing it with the gloss because the shine distracts the eye from noticing color inconsistencies and hyperpigmentation.

Moon Prism Power Glitter Gel

This is pretty. This is also a jar of evil. I’ve complained in the past about my dislike of glitter, but using glittery eye shadows and highlighters this year made me start to like them a little more. However, using this product three times now reminded me why I used to HATE glitter. When I think it’s all off my face, I find more.

I bought this with the intent of using exclusively the larger crescent moon and star shapes. I thought I would be able to separate them from the jar easily. My assumption proved incorrect. This would be fine if I could successfully remove the glitter from my face without finding little specks everywhere for the rest of the day and even the next, despite multiple face scrubbings and showers.

In the photo below, I kept the glitter to the outer corner of my eye. I didn’t want to take a chance putting it anywhere closer to my eyeball since I am a contact lens wearer and the glitters are not eye-safe. By the time I finished taking pictures, the glitter somehow moved to the inner corner of my eye, my cheek, my chin, etc. I will continue to use this in the future, but on very special occasions or special eye looks. This is just my personal issue. This isn’t a bad product. If you like glitter, you will probably enjoy this.

Cat’s Eye Blush

Right away, I have to talk about how cool the packaging design for this blush is! I don’t recall what this type of image effect is called, but it shows three different images when you turn it at different angles. It’s so fun! And the imprint of Luna in the powder is ridiculously cute! I bought both shades, but From the Moon looked too light for me, so I sold it. It’s unfortunate because that shade was matte and I generally prefer a matte blush. Cat’s Eye is a, “pearlized rosey pink with silver pinpoints.” The color is warm, which I like, but the silver glitter isn’t as flattering. I don’t mind because I just wanted this for collector purposes anyway. I have enough blushes that I won’t miss using this if it’s strictly for display only.

Cat’s Eye on the cheek.

MULAN

Gold Lip Mask

The multicolored pattern on the jar is a reflection of the shirt I was wearing when I took the photo. It’s actually a beautiful mirrored gold shade. The mask itself looks pretty in the jar and goes on the lips clear with fine gold sparkles. It does not have a scent. Even though the consistency is thicker than the Moon Tiara gloss, it’s less sticky and feels lighter on the lips. I use this like I would any other balm by wearing it alone.

Jasmine Face Milk

I was initially annoyed that I couldn’t get the lip mask without buying it in the set with this, but I’m glad I finally tried the face milk formula! It’s lightweight and feels hydrating on the skin. The jasmine scent is mild, which I’m glad about. I don’t enjoy heavily scented skincare. I liked this product so much that I bought a different full-size face milk!

CUSTOM PALETTE AND FINAL THOUGHTS

Aside from my Kathleen Lights x Colourpop So Jaded palette and the Garden Variety palettes which are currently holding eyeshadows in the color stories of my choosing, I put all my depotted and single Colourpop shadows in one gigantic magnetic palette. The depotted palettes are: Semi-Precious, Element of Surprise, All I See Is Magic, It’s My Pleasure, Lilac You A lot, Blowin’ Smoke, Blue Moon, Just My Luck, and Uh-huh Honey. The unused shades from the So Jaded and Garden Variety palettes are here as well.

My reimagined So Jaded palette.

I respect Colourpop for staying with the trends and for their business savvy, marketing, and ingenuity. However, my last few purchases have been purely for packaging. I want to keep my collection manageable and buy things I will actually use. Colourpop has made it a bit easy to stay away while they aren’t making things brown-skin friendly. However, I am actively going to try and limit my purchases from them, as I’ve never been blown away by Colourpop’s quality. It’s okay or good most of the time, but I have too many products from other brands of excellent quality to want to settle for just “okay.”

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤