ColourPop Goodies! Birthday Suit, Birthday Girl, and Bill!

This post is looooooong overdue but a while back I got in an order from Colour Pop and wanted to share my thoughts on some of their products!

I got three items from Colourpop, an LA based indie brand that has exploded in the past year. One of the items I got for free with my order to celebrate the brands 1 year birthday: the 'Birthday Girl' eyeshadow which came encased in hot pink plastic with a tiny holographic cupcake on the lid! Adoooooooooorable!  All Colourpop products come in twist off plastic packaging that you have to make sure to close up tight after every use to avoid their unique product from drying up. 

The Birthday Girl eyeshadow is one of the brands' Supershock shadows with a metallic glitter finish. It is a gold color that has some bronze glitters in it. I bought the color 'Bill,' which is my first matte color I've purchased from Colourpop and is a 'muted plum-beige.' I also purchased my first cheek color in this order and chose the color 'Birthday Suit' which is a neutral pink in a satin finish.

All the colors swatch beautifully and completely opaque.  The glitter eyeshadow had the same texture I've come to be familiar with with Colourpop which is a squishy almost wet feeling. The matte eyeshadow and the cheek color were a little bit different in texture; they felt more whipped and softer.  With the glitter shadows from Colourpop I recommend applying them with your finger in order to get the most pigment out of them. With the matte eyeshadow I used a synthetic brush to buff into my crease and it worked beautifully. With the cheek color I got the best result by using my fingers to blend it directly onto my cheeks. None of the brushes I tried could pick up any product successfully but I really liked the results I got by simply blending with my fingers. 

The look above I achieved by buffing 'Bill' into my crease with a synthetic fluffy brush, pressing 'Birthday Girl' all over my lid with my finger, and by blending 'Birthday Suit' onto my cheeks. I think the look the blush gives is a fresh and dewey look which I love for my dry skin.

Colourpop eyeshadows are $5 each and the cheek colors are $8 each. I highly recommend this affordable brand particularly for beginners who may not have a lot of tools or may not want to use many products for one look. I think these shadows and blushes are user friendly and not to mention completely affordable! Colourpop gives you $5 off your first order when you sign up for their email list which will cover your cost of shipping :) Find their products at colourpop.com!

Happy Summer!
xxSJ

Light Brown: Comparing Transition Shades

A transition shade is a color you place in and a bit above the crease of your eyelid to make blending easier and the transition between all your eyeshadows smoother. The most popular transition shade is a matte light brown color. That being said, there are SO many to choose from and so many that are proclaimed 'must-have' colors by makeup gurus and companies. With so many to choose from you'd think picking one would be easy but wading through all the choices can be a tad daunting! I thought I'd share all the matte light browns I have to give you an idea of how more popular ones compare and my thoughts on some of my faves!

Let's get started from left to right! First up are the two matte browns from the Naked 1 palette, Naked and Buck. These colors are great because they layer beautifully on top of one another, meaning you can dip your brush in both of these, buff them into your crease and effortlessly add some great dimension to your eye look. MAC's Soft Brown is the next color and is a great shade if you're looking for a warmer brown that leans peach. It is really similar to Makeup Geek's Creme Brulee and Stila's Wit (from Eyes are the Window 'Mind' palette).  I like these colors if I'm going for a warmer eye look. I think they all perform comparably to one another though I prefer MAC's Soft Brown slightly because I think it is slightly less powdery and blends with other colors a bit better because of its satiny feel.  Next I have the NARS eyeshadow duo in 'Portobello.' These colors are SO amazingly buttery and soft and yet don't kick up a bunch of product when you dip your brush in or are blending them. The color on the left is unique as it has a bit of green in it and the color on the right in the duo is so rich and adds gorgeous depth to any eye look. I highly recommend this little compact if you're looking for some unique and gorgeous colors for your collection that you can get a TON of use out of. Lastly I have the matte brown color from the Dior 5-Colour palette in Grege. Unfortunately I don't think Dior sells this palette anymore which is a shame because it is gorgeous (find my review of it HERE), but if you have it, here is how the rich matte brown in it compares with some other popular browns.

I hope this post was helpful for anyone looking for comparisons of these popular colors!

xxSJ