Makeup Geek Cosmetics is cruelty free brand that makes all of their products in the USA. Over the years, I have collected many of the Makeup Geek single eyeshadows, and I have mentioned them in all my end of year favourites blog posts. I have promised for a long time now that I would swatch all of my Makeup Geek eyeshadows, so I am attempting to do that now. The brand is going through a re-brand in the next couple of months, and so I wanted to get this out before any of the shades are discontinued. Marlena (the CEO) has said that many of the foiled shadows will be staying in the range, but I’m not sure which ones specifically. I purchased all of these Makeup Geek foiled eyeshadows except for Blue My Mind, which Makeup Geek sent me. I will swatch the rest of my Makeup Geek single shadows in upcoming blog posts. In the mean time, you can check out my Makeup Geek Face Comparison blog post.
The Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows are described by Makeup Geek as a “hybrid between a powder shadow and a cream shadow”, that produces intense, opaque pigmentation, in a metallic finish. When I first tried these many years ago, I was surprised by the texture. They are powder eyeshadows but they have a creamy, silky texture to them. When you look at the product closely, you can see that they are made up of tiny flakes of pigment that shine when they catch the light. These eyeshadows will apply to the eyelids without primer, but the best way to apply them for the most pigmentation is to apply them with fingers over an eye primer. I have swatches done with fingers and no eye primer, as well as swatches with a brush and theBalm Put A Lid On It Eyelid Primer. Please forgive the scratch on my arm in the brush swatches, I didn’t want to edit it out and effect how the eyeshadow swatch looked. The brush I used to swatch these shadows is the Furless PM2 Purple Concealer Brush (affiliate link), a flat synthetic brush like this will give the best result.
The 9 Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows that I have are Nostalgic, Starry Eyed, In The Spotlight, Grandstand, Curtain Call, Showtime and Blue My Mind. Nostalgic is described as a bubblegum pink with metallic foiled finish. This is my favourite shade as I can make this shadow work for less glam makeup looks. In saying that, it won’t be everyone’s favourite as it has the driest formula of all of the foiled shadows, and that makes building up the pigmentation harder. Starry Eyed is described as a light champagne beige with slight pink undertones in a foiled finish. I also love this shade, it is such a perfect pink-leaning champagne colour. In the Spotlight is described as a soft pink with coral undertones in a foiled finish. Grandstand is described as a medium coppery brown in a foiled finish. Curtain Call is described as a cranberry red with a foiled finish. I think this is the perfect red for an eyeshadow. Showtime is described as a rusty brown with warm undertones in a foiled finish. This one is interesting as it also has micro glitters in it that you can see when you look really closely. So it looks slightly different in texture to the other shades, but it applies and feels the same. Blue My Mind is described as an intense sapphire blue with a foiled finish, which is the perfect description for it. I get slight skin staining with this shade, but it isn’t anything like I would get from a typical blue shadow, and I don’t think it would affect anyone with darker skin than mine (which is just about everyone). You can see in the brush swatch that the lighter colours are less pigmented. The pigmentation increases with shade depth, with Curtain Call, Showtime and Blue My Mind being the most pigmented colours. All the shades are listed as vegan on their individual page descriptions, but Blue My Mind is left out of the list on the vegan product page. This could just be because the page hasn’t been updated since Blue My Mind launched (as it is the most recent foiled shadow to be released), but I’m not sure if that is the case.
I am a neutral eye makeup person, so my colour choices have tended towards the more neutral colours in the range, but they do also stock very bright shades too. I really love the formula of the Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows, as they give the eye a beautiful reflective sheen, but they don’t come with the mess of glitter. Some shades can cause some slight fallout with application, but in my experience, it is nothing like the fallout I get with glitter eyeshadows.
Each foiled eyeshadow is sold in a metal pan, that fits into any magnetic palette. Makeup Geek sell their own magnetic palettes, or you can buy one from various other online stores. I really love the Makeup Geek Mega Vault Palettes, they’re really nice to use, and look pretty. Each pan has 1.8 g of product and sells for US$10 on the Makeup Geek website. They do free shipping on international orders over US$75, and have sales now and then, which can make the eyeshadows very affordable. If you’re in the USA, you can pick up certain Makeup Geek items from some Target stores, but I’m not sure if the foiled shadows are stocked by them.
If you haven’t tried the Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows, I highly recommended you try at least one, so that you can see how they feel and apply. I haven’t tried anything from another brand that is like this, in either formula or appearance. I’m glad that most of the foiled shadows are staying for the Makeup Geek re-brand, as it is a really standout product in their line. I will be swatching the rest of my Makeup Geek single shadows soon, so stayed tuned for those posts. I have two big palettes full, so it’s a lot of swatching, but I want to get the blog posts up for you as soon as I can. In the mean time, don’t forget to check out my Makeup Geek face palette comparison, as I’m not sure that they will be around after the re-brand. You can sign up for email updates and get my new blog posts sent to your inbox and follow me on social media to see what I’m up to – Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
Have you tried the any of the Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows? What do you think of the formula? If you haven’t which colour is your favourite?
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