Friday, December 7, 2012

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows Review, Photos and Swatches!

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows ($5.99) are a line of high quality and cruelty-free eyeshadows created by one of my favorite Youtube gurus, Marlena (also known as Makeup Geek!)

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows are available in an array of 56 colors, and today, I'll be showing you 18 of those colors.

Vanilla Bean is a sheer, creamy matte beige.
Beaches and Cream is a creamy matte peach-beige.
Shimma Shimma is a metallic champagne.
Peach Smoothie is a matte light peach.
Bleached Blonde is a shimmery dusty gold.
Gold Digger is a true metallic gold.
Chickadee is a matte medium orange.
Glamorous is a shimmery copper.
Cocoa Bear is a matte deep red-brown.
Pretentious is a metallic brown-bronze.
Homecoming is a medium brown with gold shimmer.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Swatches
From left to right: Vanilla Bean, Beaches and Cream, Shimma Shimma, Peach Smoothie, Bleached Blonde, Gold Digger, Chickadee, Glamorous, Cocoa Bear, Pretentious and Homecoming.

Bada-Bing is a deep, dark chocolate brown with gold sparkles.
Burlesque is a metallic plum-burgundy.
Sensuous is a soft shimmery purple with silver sparkles.
Drama Queen is a shimmery dark purple.
Ocean Breeze is a metallic ocean blue.
Envy is a deep metallic emerald.
Corrupt is an intense matte black with a very subtle sparkle.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Swatches
From left to right: Bada-Bing, Burlesque, Sensuous, Drama Queen, Ocean Breeze, Envy and Corrupt.

I found all of the shades to be very pigmented, with some better than others. All of the shades are buildable, but the majority of them are pretty opaque with one swipe. I found the metallic shades to be the smoothest, and I didn't have trouble blending any of the shades. A few of the matte shades are a little dry - such as Peach Smoothie and Corrupt, but it doesn't affect their performance.

The sheerest shade of the bunch is Vanilla Bean, but being that it's such a light shade, it's not a big deal. It's pretty similar to MAC Brule, which has to be layered a bit for full opacity. It's great for blending and evening out the color on the lids.

The most pigmented shades are the darker shades. Corrupt is probably by far the blackest black I own. Bada-Bing is also crazy dark. It reminds me a bit of Nars Mekong.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows
Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows
Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

All shades are available in pan form for $5.99, or you can purchase them in the potted form for $7.99. If you purchase the pans, you might want to purchase a Z-palette to keep them in as you can just pop them in as-is. You can put them in MAC Pro Palettes (with the insert removed), but you'd have to attach your own magnets to the back of each shadow, which will cover the sticker that says the name of the eyeshadow. Bummer!

I have all of mine in a MAC palette (non-magnetized for now) but I'm planning on purchasing a Z-palette to keep them in.

Overall, I'm really happy with these eyeshadows and I can't wait to share some looks/tutorials using them!

As soon as I put them to more use, I'll give you all any extra input. As far as them being comparable to MAC, I can't really tell yet. I can say so far that they are well worth the price. Stay tuned!

The Round-Up
Pros:
  • Very pigmented colors
  • Easy to blend
  • Minimal to no fall-out
  • Affordable
Cons:
  • I'm a little bummed that they aren't magnetized already so I can stick them in a MAC palette, but it's not really a big deal. They are advertised to go with the Z-palettes, which makes a little more sense.
  • A couple of the shades were slightly on the dry side, but I didn't find them to apply chalky or uneven.
  • I found many of the shades in the range to be really basic. I wish there were more unique shades!
Price: $5.99 each, Makeup Geek.

19 comments:

  1. These look really pretty! I definitely have to try them! :)

    walkingthroughthecitystreets.blogspot.com

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  2. I own a few and I'm very pleased with most of them except for a blue shade which looked nothing like the swatch on the site (much less pigmented and not as vibrant).
    I would definitely get more. Although, like you said, I wish they had a magnet because not everyone has Z-Palettes (I don't).
    xx

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  3. Holy smokes are those pigmented! Gorgeous shades for a great price! :)

    Lynette @ lynette marie

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  4. Those shadows look amazing and like always so do your swatch pics:)
    Sara xx
    http://beautifulworldoflennynb.blogspot.ca/

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  5. These look great, pigmentation looks good even in the pics! thanks for sharing:)
    www.sairasbeautylounge.blogspot.com

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  6. These are freaking gorgeous!! Alas, there is a sale going on.. hmmm. lol, thanks for sharing.

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  7. Luking forward to see some unique looks from these eyeshadows..i really love ur work:)

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  8. Wow those eyeshadows look amazing. Maybe when I finish some of my MAC shadows I'll try these (almost done a bunch of them!) I'm really REALLY impressed with the quality of the mattes. Wow!

    http://3girlsblog.blogspot.co.uk/

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  9. thank you SO much for this review. I was on the website looking and I was wondering about the quality!

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  10. This looks lovely! And such a good price for the amount of color in it.
    thehartungs.blogspot.ca

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  11. Thank you for doing such a FANTASTIC post! I too am a BIG fan of Marlena and have been giving these a "side-eye". After reading your post, swatches (AMAZING) you have totally sold me on them! Thanks again for your hard work, details and excellent swatches! -Leslie

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  12. Gorgeous colors! That black is seriously the blackest shadow I've ever seen.

    Xo

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  13. Have the entire mug eyeshadow collection. All are very pigmented, creamy and blendable.

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  14. OMG I came across this and started drooooling. Must order! Uff in Love!
    Following you with GFC . Will appreciate if you follow back too and support!
    xoxo
    http://www.redraoalice.blogspot.com/2014/03/april-blog-giveaway-benefit-oriflame.html

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  15. I LOVE Makeup Geek! I am searching for swatches, because I'm placing a new order and trying to decide what colors to get next, when your post came up. Your swatches are awesome!!

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