Trying Some New-to-Me ColourPop Makeup
Last week, ColourPop sent me an “it’s been awhile, here’s a 20% off discount code” email. I was basically powerless in the face of such a deal (mind you, this happened the day BEFORE the Tarte custom kit sale, so my wallet took a hit last week). I browsed through so much fun stuff on ColourPop’s website before ordering seven products:
Side note: my friend accidentally texted me about “ColourPoo” and we could not stop laughing about it. #sorrynotsorry
Super Shock Shadows
I’ve seen ColourPop’s Super Shock Shadows all over Instagram and was curious about them. I ended up picking out three gorgeous, richly pigmented shades: Mooning, Bouncy, and Partridge. These single shadows are $5 apiece but cost $4 each with the discount code!
Why did I pick these colors? Lately I’ve been obsessed with the idea of an olive brown eyeshadow. My eyes are medium brown but veer toward hazel, and I recently discovered that Too Faced’s Cocoa Chili shadow from the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette looks really good against my eye color. However, I don’t love Cocoa Chili’s quality—it’s not as pigmented as I’d like and it has a lot of fallout. So I looked through ColourPop’s eyeshadow options and found a similar shade in Bouncy, described on the website as a “cool-toned bronze with gold and violet duochrome.” Bouncy was the first shade I picked out…and it turned out to be EXACTLY what I was looking for!
I thought a rich, warm brown would look good on me, and my makeup collection was lacking what I pictured. That’s how I ultimately settled on Mooning, described as a “blackened plum with a violet satin sheen.” I don’t really see the plum or violet in this shadow, but it’s gorgeous nonetheless.
I picked out Partridge because it also had that brownish-olive vibe but in a cooler tone than Bouncy. Partridge is described as “a warm satin brown with a green and gold duo chrome flip,” and it too is stunning. It has sort of a dark peacock teal tone from one angle and a mauvey brown tone from another. Love it!
How pretty are these rich, jeweled shadows?!
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the Super Shock Shadows’ unique texture! ColourPop calls Super Shock a creme-powder formula, and it’s bouncy to the touch. So I guess one of the shades I got has a very appropriate name. 🙂 I think the snakeskin-ish embossing on each shadow is fun, too—especially considering the reptilian colors I picked out.
As with the previous ColourPop eyeshadows I’ve tried, Super Shock shadows are very pigmented. If you’ve been following my blog you know how much I love to complain about glitter—I have sort of a “get off my lawn” mentality about products with too much glitter. Each of these new shadows is quite glittery, but I find that if I use my fingers to press them into my eyelids there is little to no fallout. Bonus: finger application also results in more intense color payoff. Hallelujah—glitter that I’m not mad at!
A Gel Eyeliner Pencil
My one dark brown eyeliner pencil (an Urban Decay 24/7 liner) is drying out so I figured I’d try a similar shade from ColourPop. I decided on the Crème Gel Liner in Call Me ($5 but $4 with the discount), described as a “deep plummy brown.” I’ve been disappointed by eye pencils like this before, and sadly, this one is no exception. The tip broke off as soon as I started to draw a swatch on my arm. The formula is a little crumbly and it’s hard to get a super thin or smooth line using this type of pencil, which you can never really sharpen. I do love the shade, also available as a gel pot for $6. I’d recommend skipping the pencil and trying the pot, which I’d hope would be easier to work with.
Shadow and Liner Swatches
Below you can see the beautiful eye shadows and liner swatched on my arm. I am loving these shadow colors! They’re so multidimensional; I feel like each is interesting enough to wear on its own, allowing me to skip a major application process (which has its place, but sometimes I’m lazy).
Conceal Me
I wanted to try out ColourPop’s No Filter Concealer as well ($6 each, $4.80 discounted). Concealer is a really tough product to pick based on website images, and seeing as how these are so affordable I decided to get two shades: Fair 04 and Fair 08. To my eyes, these concealer shades are quite different from some of the images online. These colors are nearly identical, too—as if two slightly different batches of the same shade got labeled as two different shades. The brand doesn’t do returns or exchanges, but I’m going to email them in case there is actually a labeling mistake or something. I’ll update here once I hear back from them. UPDATE: a customer service rep responded with “I will definitely pass your concern along to our team!” I’m not really expecting to hear anything beyond that.
L: Fair 04. R: Fair 08
Concealer color confusion aside, I think this product is just okay. Assuming that these colors are as labeled, it’s partly my fault for picking shades that are too light (see swatches below). But I also don’t love the formula. It’s pretty liquidy, which is fine, but it dries surprisingly fast. So you need to work quickly before this stuff sets! Overall the concealer gets a big shrug from me.
Super Shock Blush
I don’t have many blushes so I wanted to try one by ColourPop. I settled on their Super Shock Blush in Between the Sheets ($8, $6.40 with discount), a pretty beige pink. This blush has that same bouncy creme-powder formula as the eye shadows, and I love it! The color is a little yellow-tinted in the below pic, but you’ll see a more representative shade in my swatch pic down below.
ColourPop recommends using a flat synthetic or duo fiber brush to apply Super Shock Blush. I don’t have a brush that fits the bill, but I actually like using my finger to apply this product too. The texture of this product is so satisfying to play with. If it wasn’t makeup I’d want to scoop it out of the pot, ball it up, and squish away. I know sticking fingers into products is not the most sanitary thing in the world, but I ALWAYS wash my hands before applying!
Below are the swatches of the two concealers and the blush. Fair 04 in particular began to feather out pretty soon after swiping it on my arm. Again…not impressed.
I’m also including a silly selfie in which I’m wearing Fair 08 concealer under my eyes, Bouncy shadow and Call Me liner on my lids, and Between the Sheets on my cheeks. It’s so hard to capture a pic with my eyes open where you can see eyeshadow on my lids!
Although I ended up with a couple duds, I’m really happy with the majority of my new ColourPop haul! And this makeup is SO affordable that I don’t mind a dud here and there. Seriously—I got seven products for $31.20. That’s SO MUCH LESS than the cost of ONE high-end lipstick from Sephora. I’m already looking forward to buying more Super Shock goodies in the future!
Do you have a ColourPop favorite? Bouncy is currently a strong contender for me!
