*Press sample included
Makeup Geek Cosmetics is a cruelty free brand that makes all of their products in the USA. Makeup Geek has been around since 2008, and is well known for their single eyeshadows. Today, I have a review and swatches of my Makeup Geek cool eyeshadows. This is a follow up to my warm eyeshadows and foiled eyeshadows blog posts – check those out to see more mug single shadow swatches. As usual, I have finger and brush swatches included, as well as descriptions of each eyeshadow. I have purchased all of the Makeup Geek eyeshadows that I own, except five that Makeup Geek kindly sent me, The five shades they sent me are Apple Spice, Hayride, Grunge, Autumn Breeze and Blue My Mind. Hayride, Grunge and Autumn breeze are in this post, the others are featured in the previous blog posts. I keep all of my MUG single eyeshadows in the Makeup Geek Mega Vault magnetic palette, which is my favourite magnetic palette to use as the quality is great.
Makeup Geek is about to go through a big rebrand, which is estimated to launch this month (October) sometime. It has been delayed for many months now, so the rebrand could potentially be pushed back again. When the rebrand happens, many of these eyeshadows may not return to the website, and some have already disappeared from the website all together. So if there’s something you love, it’s best to get it now. If you’re wondering which shades are vegan friendly, you can check out their vegan product page which has a list of their vegan products or just search vegan on the website to see all the vegan product listings.
As I explained in a previous post, some shades have been confirmed to return by Marlene, the CEO of Makeup Geek. The current matte eyeshadows that will be staying for the rebrand are Peach Smoothie, Shimma Shimma, Creme Brulee, Cocoa Bear, Cupcake, Vintage, Corrupt, Bitten, Latte, Chickadee, Morocco, Tuscan Sun, Time Travel, Enchanted Forest, White Lies, So Pale, Americano, Tiki Hut. Marlena has said that there will be a total of 56 mattes launching for the rebrand, many of them being new shades. From the conversation I had with Marlena on twitter a while ago, it looks like the new single eyeshadow pans will be square (like their current pigment range), which is annoying for me, as round pans are so much easier to remove and replace in magnetic palettes, but I’m sure some people will like it.
There are various finishes in the Makeup Geek single eyeshadows. The MUG website currently separates them into three groups, signature eyeshadows, duochrome eyeshadows and foiled eyeshadows. The signature eyeshadows include matte and shimmer finishes. Makeup Geek are known for their matte eyeshadows and most of them are very pigmented, but also very easy to blend. I also really like their shimmer shades. I included all the duochrome shades that I own in my warm eyeshadows blog post, and all the foiled shades in the foiled eyeshadows blog post, so this post only contains matte and shimmer shades.
I have included both finger and brush swatches in this post so that you can see both the full intensity of colour pay off you can get from each shade, as well as how they blend and fade out with a brush. For the brush swatches in this post, I used theBalm Put A Lid On It Eyelid Primer and the Furless (affiliate) ME5 Black Beauty Eyeshadow Brush. The Furless ME5 is is a fluffy shading brush, so the brush swatches give a good representation of how an eyeshadow will both pack on as well as blend out with an eyeshadow brush. I always use the Furless ME5 for matte shades on my eyes as it builds up the eyeshadows without creating a harsh line. You can use the code ALINTA to save money on your cruelty free and vegan friendly Furless purchases (affiliate). Shimmery shades do tend to work better on the eyes with a flatter shading brush, like the Furless PM2 Purple Concealer brush, as it can build up the pigment quicker, but I only used the ME5 in this post so that it doesn’t get too confusing. I’ll be swatching the eyeshadows by row in the palette that I have them in.
First row:
Vanilla Bean – peachy beige with a light shimmer
Confection – neutral toned light pink with a matte finish
Petal Pusher – medium rose brown with a matte finish
Unexpected – matte pale pink brown
Vintage – medium brown with mauve undertones with a matte finish
Drama Queen – dark plum with a shimmery finish
Autumn Breeze – vibrant blue-leaning teal in a shimmery finish
Vanilla Bean is my go to lid setting shade, it has a slight sheen, so it doesn’t look too matte, and other shadows blend nicely over it. Mauve is my favourite eyeshadow colour, so I really like Confection, Petal Pusher and Unexpected, I’m surprised that they aren’t listed as shades that are returning, as I find them very useful. Vintage is a darker mauve that works perfectly with the other three shades in an eye look, I’m glad that this one will still be in the Makeup Geek single eyeshadow line up. Drama Queen is a very dark shimmery purple, which makes it hard to use for me, as I don’t want to put it all over the lid where I would normally place shimmer, but if you like darker lid shades, then this could work for you. Autumn Breeze is one of the newest eyeshadow releases from Makeup Geek. It builds up to a mostly opaque colour quite easily, so it’s a nice blue to have in my collection.
Second row:
Sorbet – pastel matte pink with a matte finish
Cinderella – pale warm toned pink with a shimmery finish
Cupcake – matte medium pink
Anarchy – medium marsala with a shimmery finish
Bitten – matte deep maroon red
Burlesque – metallic muted burgundy with warm undertones
Curfew – medium plum purple with a matte finish
Sorbet is very bright in the pan, but is more muted when applied to the skin, which makes it much easier to work with. It is a good transition shade for pink or orange eye looks. Cinderella is a disappointing eyeshadow for me. The product is really hard in the pan, so it is very difficult to pick up on either a brush or fingers. It’s a lovely colour but the formula is uncharacteristically bad for Makeup Geek. It is no surprise to me that Cupcake is staying around as it is a great eyeshadow. It can be a little powdery, and therefore cause some kickback, but it applies and blends better than most eyeshadows I own. Anarchy is a great shade to use in a coppery-red eye look, it looks so pretty on the eyes. Bitten is a classic Makeup Geek shade, it is well known and well loved by many. Burlesque looks more interesting in the pan than it does on the skin, but if you are looking for a dark shimmery burgundy-brown, then this is the shade for you. Curfew is the brightest shade I own, and it applies surprisingly well considering the colour. I also don’t get any staining with it, which is important as my fair skin stains really easily, and I can’t scrub at my eyes due to eczema. I haven’t had staining with any Makeup Geek eyeshadows to date, however I haven’t tried the ‘pigment’ range, which does include ingredients that would stain for me – all the normal eyeshadow shades have been great though.
Third row:
Hayride – soft beige in a matte finish
Barcelona Beach -cool toned soft brown with a matte finish
Bandwagon – dusty taupe with a matte finish
Lucky Penny – medium rose brown with a shimmery finish
Wild West – rich rose brown with a matte finish
Aphrodite – deep plum brown with a matte finish
Corrupt – matte black with a very subtle sparkle
Hayride is one of the newer eyeshadows that Makeup Geek has launched, and it fits in well with all the other shades I swatched next to it. It’s warmer than Barcelona Beach and Bandwagon, so it can be used in place of those as a warmer crease or transition shade. Barcelona Beach and Bandwagon are similar in colour, however Barcelona Beach has a slight sheen and applies to the skin more sheer, which also makes this useful as a cheek contour shade. Bandwagon is matte, and builds up opacity easily as well as blending out nicely. Lucky Penny is the perfect muted copper shade, it looks very pretty on the eyes. Wild West works really well as a corner v shade, or dark crease shade in many different looks – it’s a really versatile eyeshadow. Aphrodite is a little bit finicky. I like the colour but I do find that it can be a little bit patchy when trying to blend it out. Corrupt is a nice black eyeshadow. It is not the darkest black eyeshadow on the market, but it is easy to blend, and blendability is more important than depth for me.
Fourth row:
Bedrock – matte cool medium taupe
Faux Fur – soft mink brown with a matte finish
Concrete Jungle – deep grey with subtle purple undertones with a matte finish
Grunge – blackened brown in a matte finish
Moondust – metallic silver taupe
Bedrock and Faux Fur are very similar, and therefore you don’t need to own both. Faux Fur has just a little bit more yellow in it than Bedrock does. Concrete Jungle is such a pretty and unique grey eyeshadow, I haven’t seen another shade that’s like it. The purple undertones might make this colour more usable for people who don’t enjoy using typical grey shades. Grunge is another newer release from Makeup Geek. It fits in well with this line up of greys, but it also works well in place of a warm brown, if you want to make a look a but cooler. Moondust is a shade I just haven’t grown to love. I find it to be a bit sheer, and it’s too light to look nice as a shimmery silver shadow on the eyes.
So that’s all of my Makeup Geek eyeshadow swatches done now. If there are any shades in this post, the warm eyeshadows or foiled eyeshadows posts that you want compared, let me know, and I’ll try to get that done for you asap. Remember that the Makeup Geek rebrand is happening very soon, so pick up any shades that you love now, as they may not return. I’m excited to see what is going to be launched – hopefully some nice mauve shades. I won’t be able to pick up many of the new eyeshadows when they launch, but if there’s something that I really like. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of the new formula. I still have to finish swatching all of my Colourpop single eyeshadows and do my Anastasia Beverly Hills ones too, so let me know which of those you want to see done first. If you want my new blog posts sent to your inbox, then sign up for email updates. You can also follow me on social media to see what I’m up to – Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
What do you think of these Makeup Geek cool eyeshadows? What do you want to see from the Makeup Geek Cosmetics rebrand?
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