If you watch US beauty gals on YouTube, or binge-watch them like me, then the chances are that you would have heard of Makeup Geek – the beauty line founded by Marlena, a lady I’ve watched for years on the ‘Tube, which has become very popular on the other side of the Atlantic. She dabbles in everything from blushes to brushes, but it’s the eyeshadows that seem to be the stars of the show, with their MAC-like customisability, humongous range of colours and bargain price tag. Shipping beauty bits from the other side of the world isn’t my preferred method of hauling – I’m a next day delivery gal when it comes to online shopping – so I waited out a long while before it became an itch I just had to scratch and placed my order. One week later, (not bad, but I did pay some extra dollar for the speedy shipping option), my six shadows arrived and I can safely say I am well and truly a makeup geek…
My order was comprised of five Eyeshadows, one Foiled Eyeshadow and the Large Z-Palette to stick them all into. The first thing I stuck my finger into were the Eyeshadows and I was amazed by how pigmented they were. Ain’t no wishy washy shades to see here. I went for Creme Brûlée, a peachy matte brown, Purely Naked, a sandy brown with a bit of silver shimmer running through it, Cocoa Bear, a red-toned warm brown, Taupe Notch, a Satin Taupe-y like shade and Bitten, a matte wine red. The texture of these is like butter, your finger just melts into the colour when you swatch them. The emollience means I do like to primer-up underneath them, but I do that with 99% of shadows anyway. The real star of the show is the Foiled Eyeshadow in Flame Throw Thrower. Wowzers. It really does look like you dipped your brush in water before applying it and the copper colour is right up my street.
My favourite way to wear them is as I am above. I like to do the backwards smokey eye, or the Jaclyn Hill method as I like to call it. I pop Creme Brûlée in the crease with a big fluffy brush, deepen it a bit with Cocoa Bear on a slightly more dense brush then pack Flame Thrower on the lid for some serious sheen.
The only downside? Customs charges *insert chorus of boos*. My total order came to about £60 and when the parcel arrived I was slapped with a £25 customs charge which did make me do a little swear word out loud. Sorry UPS guy. I’ve heard that this charge can be avoided if you go for smaller orders, so I picked up another three shadows a few days ago and I’ll let you know how I get on this time round.
Overall though I’m chuffed. I feel like I’m not only converted to Makeup Geek, but also the Z-Palette and now I want to de-pot and slap magnetic bottoms on every makeup item I own. Eyeshadow palettes – I’m coming for ya…
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