First Impressions: Colourpop Cosmetics

Having read numerous reviews,  viewed swatch videos on YouTube and pouring over the Colourpop website I made myself a list to order for a birthday present to myself. I've been wearing these non stop since they arrived, I've swatched everything and will highlight a few of my favourite shades too. Everything from Colourpop is cruelty free, only $5 USD (except the blushes) and they are all amazingly pigmented. 

I haven't yet tried their blushes and highlighters but will definitely be making another order soon to stock up on my favourite limited edition Spring collection bits. 

Describing the consistency of these eyeshadows is a little difficult – they’re sort of a cross between a mousse like texture and a MAC paint pot. They’re not sticky to wear at all and feel very light on the skin. I’m not sure why but they don’t seem to really stick to/apply to your lid with brushes that well, though applying with your finger gives amazing colour pay off. They recommend tapping the colour directly onto the lid with your fingertips and I've definitely found this the best way to apply them myself.

I try to concentrate the colour strictly on the lid then blend out towards the crease with a dense brush. The effect is beautiful, they blend a dream and layer up really nicely too if you want to use more than one shade. To do a crease colour I just place colour on the outer corner and use windscreen wiper movements to blend across. To be honest the duo-chrome type colours like mooning mean you could use one colour alone for a smokey eye and look like you've used three. 

In terms of the colours themselves – if you've been following me for a while you’ll know I love colours that compliment blue eyes. Three of the shades are very coppery and gold tones while the other four are red/purple based. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I think Bandit and Desert are the ones I like most. They’re both very wearable day to day and have a beautiful almost pearl finish while still being quite matte and of course look stunning together too. 

The other more intense shades are stunning too – Mooning is indescribable, it’s sort of a black base but with a red and rose gold shimmer through it. I've also found Drift to be a great dupe for Cranberry by MAC and Game Face a dupe for Coppering. 

As for the lipsticks I think I’ve found a new favourite. Tootsi is a part of the Spring collection, I’m not sure if that means it’s limited edition but I’ll definitely be buying a few more very soon to bolster my collection. It’s the most gorgeous mauve/grey/beige nude. I was a bit worried it might wash me out a bit but the first day I wore it I got a lot of compliments at work. It’s a shade that makes you look like you’ve put the effort into your lips without being as ostentatious as one of the reds. The matte finish is very flattering, not drying at all and incredibly long wearing as well. I only needed to touch this one up after lunch and I’d been wearing it for six hours. Definitely recommend getting the matching lip pencil too for longer wear and more intense colour pay off.

Both red shades I bought are great colour pay off as well. Bossy is a very “true” red – neither very blue nor orange toned it sits in the middle of the road. I would use this as more of a day-time red than the Bichette but can definitely transition into night time wear too. I find to get the real colour of this one you do need the lip pencil on underneath otherwise it seemed to cast a bit pink on me.

Bichette on my skin tone I feel is best kept for the evening, it’s a very intense blue-red. It's very eye-catching and almost a little bit vampy red (but then perhaps that's just because I'm so pale). Both Bichette and Bossy are very creamy and pigmented to apply like a dream. Again, both are matte shades and lasted a decent long while and neither bled (I put this down to lip pencil use again). I'm gradually getting myself more used to using bold colours like this, Colourpop is a great way to go as with a five dollar lipstick if you find you rarely wear it, you haven't lost a lot of money. However that said I've loved wearing both the eyeshadows and lipsticks and will certainly be trying more in the future. 

Claire x