ColourPop Lip Products- Worth the $5?

Hey, guys! Today I'm reviewing three pencils and three lipsticks from ColourPop. ColourPop took the social media world by storm when they first opened, and being the naive makeup buyer I was back then, I fell for the raving beauty bloggers and snapped up some lip products.

Unfortunately, the beauty bloggers were all given free products, because that's what the owners of ColourPop, Seed Beauty, do with their brands. Instead of months of market research, Seed Beauty puts products out for testing in the real world.. meaning, they have us buy their products to ultimately be their guinea pigs. Here are some quotes that really had me taken aback, directly from the Seed Beauty site (found here):

"The goal is to bring a rapidly accelerated brand to market as quickly as possible to get 'real' customer feedback and to take that feedback and either accelerate, pivot, or kill."

Did they seriously just put "real" in quotations? Yes, they did. More like Seedy Beauty.. (sorry)

"Forget the endless months of market research, theorizing, and building products that end consumers may not want, instead [we] aim to get brands and products to market FASTER than anyone else in history. We then determine- in the real world- if there is indeed demand for the brand and its products."

Wait.. seriously? I'm paying you for products that could essentially be testers? You skip the all-important research and reformulation process before you put your products out there for the public to purchase?

Well, that would explain why the lip products I bought from them were so cruddy.

Lippie Pencils and Stix in Flawless, Leather, and Pitch

I purchased three Lippie Pencils and their matching Lippie Stix. For my sanity (and yours), I'm going to refer to them as lip pencils and lipsticks. Just about every lipstick has a matching lip pencil, and although I'm not a fan of ColourPop, I do like that you don't have to worry about finding a matching pencil. They're side-by-side on the ColourPop product page. They also take swatch pictures on varying skin tones, which is a rarity in the beauty biz. I wish more companies would show more diversity in product swatches.

All lip swatches are taken over exfoliated and moisturized lips. I applied the ColourPop lip liner all over my lips, and then the matching lipstick over it. Wrist swatches are taken over bare skin. Quoted product descriptions are taken directly off the ColourPop site, which can be found here.

Flawless: "deep red violet in a satin finish"

This is a deep red-toned berry. Ouch, guys. Ouch. This hurt my lips to apply, especially the pencil. It was just insanely draggy. The lipstick was pretty creamy, and felt like sweet relief to apply after the pencil. However, the pencil caused a lot of drag and brought out some dry skin on my lips, so the creaminess of the lipstick couldn't make up for it. Though the initial application of the lipstick is creamy, once it dries down a bit, it's also very drying. In addition, the lipstick would disperse little balls of pigment onto the edge of my lips. I couldn't blend them into the rest of the color on my lips, I could only push them around with the lipstick or pick them up with my fingertips. But because the lipstick isn't long wearing, picking up the little nubbins would result in major smudging. I stopped trying to fix it after a few minutes. After applying and reapplying in an attempt to make this swatch look decent, the pencil already needs to be resharpened, and I used a good amount of the lipstick. They wear down very fast. I guess I got what I paid for.

Leather: "deep blackened violet in a matte finish"

The pencil is a deep blackened violet, but the lipstick is a very shades lighter. When used together, it ends up matching the pencil color more so than the lipstick. This pencil was also very draggy and had issues with streaking, but didn't seem to accentuate the dry skin Flawless decided to bring out in my last swatch. The lipstick wasn't as creamy, which is expected of a product with a matte finish.. but I wouldn't call this a true matte. It's more of a demi-matte, as it still has a bit of sheen to it. The lipstick didn't have issues with the nubbins of product forming on my lips, and though it was still too much work than I'd like, the end result of using these products together wasn't too bad. However, it was even more drying than Flawless. I couldn't wait to take it off my lips. When I did take it off, it left a stain on and around my lips where it had been smeared by my makeup remover wipe.

Pitch: "rich blackened chocolate brown in a matte finish"

A good color dupe for Lime Crime Salem, a dark chocolate with a demi-matte finish. This was the color I had the least amount of problems with. The pencil was creamy and very pigmented. I had no issues with dragging. The lipstick with also very creamy, but never dried down to even a demi-matte, despite being called a matte. Because of that, it had major smudging issues. I think I could make this smudge just by looking at it. I would recommend this lipstick for when you plan to keep anything and everything away from your mouth. Out of all three colors I bought from ColourPop, I would say this is the best. But only if you're not looking for a matte finish, and you're going to be careful with it. Would I recommend it, though? Not really. You could find better lip colors for $5.

Well, that wraps up my review of ColourPop lip products! I'd say these aren't worth $5. I know quite a few indies that sell lip products of better quality for the same price point or just a bit higher. I'd buy from those companies over ColourPop any day! Darn indie world, making me question every cheap non-indie purchase I make! In addition, I find Seed Beauty's practices unacceptable. If I'm going to be a cosmetic guinea pig, don't make me pay for the products. I'm not interested in purchasing a prototype.

My next review will be of Corvus Cosmetics' newest eyeshadow collection, inspired by the Brothers Grimm. Just in time for her Friday release of the new Heathers-inspired collection! Stay tuned!

Checking Out Mad Lab Cosmetics!

I never see any love for Catherine's indie company, Mad Lab Cosmetics, so I thought I'd place an order myself and share my haul with you! I talked to Catherine a bit through Etsy, and she's super sweet. I purchased a full size Blogger Pack, and poured my sample baggies into my handy 3 gram jars.

My initial review was one of disappointment, and after posting this review, a lot of lovely ladies on IMAM told me there were better ways for me to apply my duochromes for swatches. So I did some fancy reswatches, and my opinion of this company has done a 180. These are really great shadows, and I'm so sorry that my poor application led to a misleading review. For those who want to know the magic ways of applying duochromes: Use a flat, dense-bristled brush, and pat the shadows on. If you're going to take pictures, take them from an angle!

L-R, T-B: Astral Radiance, Random Acts of Makeup, Blush Gold, Pink Opal

Labradorite, Sea Witch, Rhodium

All swatches are taken over, from left to right, bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. All quoted descriptions are taken directly off the Mad Lab shop page on Etsy, which can be found here!

Astral Radiance: "a light dusty rose with a matte finish and an overlay of purple and blue iridescence"

Such a gorgeous shift! A semi-matte dusty rose base with a subtle blue/purple highlight.

Random Acts of Makeup: "an ultra-rich rosy-bronze taupe that shifts purple under certain lights, all topped with a shimmery finish"

I love this color. An opaque rosy taupe with a little bit of bronze and a little bit of purple. Depends on the lighting. A shimmery finish.

Blush Gold: "a delicate peach with a gold shift"

A soft, feminine peach that shifts into a bold, metallic gold.

Pink Opal: "a translucent whisper pinky-cream that transforms into a bright purple fire with green sparkle"

A pink-toned cream color with silver sparks. Not picking up the purple or green, myself.

Labradorite: "an ethereal shot of teal iridescence over a pitch black base; matte with shimmer over bare skin, blossoms into shimmering duochrome over a sticky base or when applied wet"

Holy glowing duochrome, Batman! Bright turquoise over a pure black, and a beautiful glowing effect over Pixie Epoxy.

Sea Witch: "a pitch-black with a haunting purple glow"

Over bare skin and primer, the black base is very much there. However, over Pixie Epoxy, the whole shadow turns purple. Very much worthy of the Sea Witch herself!

Rhodium: "a blindingly pure white, with a shimmering metallic finish"

The shadow has a chalky consistency, and Catherine informed me it's because this shadow has a matte base. Even so, the other matte-based shadows I swatched didn't have this issue. This is a super pigmented and bright white, and the metallic finish is very subtle.

Welp, that wraps up my review of Mad Lab! I feel so embarrassed about my initial review, which really put Mad Lab in a bad light in terms of product quality. After trying a new application technique, I'm very impressed with these shadows. It's crazy what a different brush can do!

My next review will tackle ColourPop's notorious lip products. Stay tuned!

Reviewing a Tiny Haul from Femme Fatale

Disclaimer: I am currently in the process of reswatching duochromes and photographing them differently to give my readers a more accurate depiction of the shifts. Please be patient while I go through the process of updating my past reviews. :)

Hey, guys! I've been in a bit of a blogging rut lately but wanted to get back in the swing of things, so for this post I'll be reviewing possibly the smallest order from Femme Fatale I'll ever make.

Yeah.. so I picked up only two jars. I ordered Candied Apple and Bat Wing Hall, because everyone raves about them and I was a weirdo who didn't have them yet. I mean, I'm still a bit weird. But, you know, less so. My weirdness aside, let's move on to my review!

As usual, all swatches are taken over, from left to right, bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. All quoted descriptions are taken directly off Femme Fatale's site, which can be found here.

Candied Apple: "a pale redwood pink with a green duochrome, and blends out to have an almost brown undertone to it"

This is a seriously complicated shadow. I say that because when I looked at this swatch with my own eyes, it was a reddish pink with a green duochrome, and I couldn't get it to photograph any way BUT this brown color. Guys, I promise I know how to work a camera. I think. Anyway, the color in jar is what you get when you apply, unless you blend it out. The green duochrome isn't as bright or glowing as you might expect from a Femme Fatale shadow, but I think the subtlety works well here.

Bat Wing Hall: "a muted puce pink with purple undertones; when applied shifts to be more rosy"

Okay, this one photographed properly. Whenever I hear "puce", I think of Monsters Inc, when Mike can't sort out his paperwork. Actually, I think this might be the only time I've heard "puce" outside of that movie. Does puce go to Roz? Accounting? Shoot. Moving on, this is a rosy pink with a bit of lavender undertone and golden glimmer. Girly and gorgeous and perfect for Spring! (Also, don't make the mistake I made by Googling "puce" and looking at the images that popped up. Trust me, this shadow is puce in the jar. I promise.)

Alright, that wraps up my rambling, late night, super short review. I need to do mini reviews more often. I have a few brands where I only have a couple products from them, and I feel like I'm ignoring them when deciding what to review. My next review will absolutely be on Mad Lab Cosmetics, though! Stay tuned!