ColourPop has been the brand on everybody's lips right now (literally, and figuratively). They have gained so much traction being an affordable, fun and quirky brand with a wide range of products and colours. They are also on fire with new releases! I figured I would do a brand spotlight post on all the products I have from them (so far) as opposed to individual reviews. I suspect it will be a long post, so leggo!
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| L-R: Glow, Cornelious, Kathleenlights, Blaze |
Firstly, let's talk about the formula/texture of their Super Shock eye shadows and cheek products which seems to be the most unique thing about the brand. The texture of their..."powders" (?) is unlike anything else, and incredibly hard to describe - you really have to feel it to understand it! It's a cream-powder hybrid which has the texture of like a dry, dense - yet lightweight - mousse. Does that make sense? I really love the scale-y imprint on them (reminds me of dragon scales :D ) that soon disappears as you can make quite a large 'dent', very quickly. Overall, I find the shimmery shades to be the most intense in pigment (like dey INTENSE) and apply best with a finger. The matte shades, at least the ones I have, are a little sheerer and a bit drier/less creamy in texture. I like to use the brown shade (Cornelious) in the crease of my eye, and I use a dense, synthetic brush like Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush to apply and blend it, and that works really well. The staying power of these isn't perfect. With primer, I still get creasing throughout the day - albeit my eyelids are very oily. Much like other cream eyeshadows, I find they last excellently when lightly set with a powder shadow (dat sandwich method).
The four shadows I have are from the Where the Light is foursome created by Kathleen Lights (the cutie). Glow is a matte, pale creamy-white shade. It can sometimes look a little chalky, but it works well as a brow bone highlight. Cornelious applies lighter and warmer than it looks in the pan. It works excellently in the crease though - just one of dem fab matte, warm, light-medium brown shades! Kathleenlights is by far my favourite shade in the quad. It is STUNNING. It's an amber-copper shade with an intense metallic sheen (Pearlized finish). Gorg. Finally, Blaze is a bronzey-brown shade with an almost olive-y undertone. Blaze has a metallic finish which, compared to Pearlized, is less of a metallic sheen and more glittery/sparkly. I love these shades and how they coordinate together. You can create quite a range of looks from light to dark!
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| L-R: Bonus, Lunch Money (Swatched then Blended) |
The formulas of the cheek products are along the same lines as the eye shadows. The matte products have a bit of a drier texture, where the shimmery highlighter is super creamy. Bonus is a matte peachy-orange shade. It looks quite intense in the pan, but applies beautifully and sheerly on the cheeks, giving an overall warmth to the skin. I'm seriously in love with this colour! I find this applies best (like the matte eye shadows) with a dense, synthetic brush which still has some fluffiness. I like the Real Techniques Multi-Task brush which applies the product lightly and blends it well. Although it's a cream-powder hybrid, it definitely applies and looks like a powder. Lunch Money isn't quite showing up colour accurate in the swatch as it's more of a pale, champagne gold shade. It has a Pearlized finish so it consists more of a metallic sheen, but you can detect the individual shimmers. It doesn't look glittery or gritty on the cheeks at all, it just gives a gorgeous glow which can definitely be built up to a more intense shine! I find it applies best with fingers and blends easily. Both of these last pretty well, probably better than your typical powder blush/highlighter.
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| L-R: Lumiere pencil, Frida, Grind, Cake, Fancy pencil |
Finally, onto the lip products!
Although each Lippie Stix has a corresponding Lippie Pencil, I opted for Lumiere and Fancy. The lippie pencils are super creamy and soft, but have a very matte finish. They don't feel or look heavy on the lips though, and comparative to other lip pencils, they aren't very drying either. Lumiere is a shade created by Kathleen Lights. It's pretty much a very cool mauve shade with hints of brown. This pencil suits Napoleon Grace lipstick perfectly, which is part of the reason why I opted for the Lumiere pencil rather than the Lippie Stix. Fancy is a bright coral-peachy-pink shade. I bought this to go with the Cake Stix and they pair quite nicely. Regardless, this is such a typical me shade and definitely goes with a lot of other similar lip shades in my stash!
I bought three Lippie Stix which are packaged in a long tube with a twist mechanism. Just be mindful that these only contain 1 gram of product so although they're cheap, economically they work out...not so cheap. It doesn't really bother me though because who really finishes a whole lipstick anyway! All three of the shades I have are very pigmented, creamy and apply easily. They all last really well too, with the matte finish being the longest lasting. Frida and Cake have satin finishes which means they have a bit more shine than a matte, but aren't shiny per se. Grind is a matte and my favourite finish. It's matte on the lips but retains some moisture making it very comfortable and not super drying. Frida (created by Coffee Break with Dani) is a curious colour and one that might look different on different skin tones. On me, the pink-tones come out but it's still a very wearable warm, nude-pink shade. Cake is a colour I was dreading wasn't going to look good on me, but one I wanted so darn much anyway. It's a very pale peachy-pink colour with a white base that looks amazing in swatches. I do admit it can look a bit garish on me, but when layered over the Fancy pencil and patted in, I can pull it off! Grind is quite possible my favourite. It's a straight up Barney purple, and reminds me a lot of MAC Heroine. I haven't had the chance to wear it very much but I absolutely adore it! It lasts SO LONG and stains the lips too.
Basically, ColourPop is THE brand at the moment, and one I'd definitely recommend trying products from, I honestly love everything I've tried from them! Currently they only ship within the US, Canada and Australia and New Zealand but hopefully they'll start shipping everywhere soon! The eye shadows, lip sticks and pencils cost $5 and the cheek products $8 (USD) which is incredibly affordable. Seriously, they are such a fun and COOL brand with the range of products and shades they have, plus they spell colour the RIGHT WAY. Kudos to you guys. I totally want to make another order soon (even though shipping costs are KILLER).
What have you tried from ColourPop?
