Thursday, May 5, 2011

Sugarpill Cosmetics - Review & Swatches! -- VERY picture heavy!!

I have been itching to put up my review of Sugarpill Cosmetics for SO long now. I had always been a huge fan of Amy/Shrinkle's style & was so exited to see her makeup line launch. Admittedly, I didn't rush my order in right away; I actually waited about a year to try her cosmetics out. What a year I wasted ;) This stuff is GORGEOUS, so pigmented & very bold. After I received my first order, I placed my second one right away. I eventually ended up buying her entire line (with the exception of Asylum due to it being out of stock) and can honestly tell you that not one single product she offers is sub-par.

Aside from loving the awesome products Sugarpill sells, I love the detail that's gone into this company. The cases for the palettes, shadows & pigments are so cute. Even the product boxes are nice to look at, I love the design of everything! I didn't photograph the box you'd receive in the mail, but it has the Sugarpill kitty logo & everything is wrapped in pink & white tissue paper. It's just really nice to see that these products aren't plopped into something ordinary & even though they are just boxes, it's great to see such awesome thought and detail.




 Love it! It's cute & edgy and suits the brand well.

So, first I want to start off with Sugarpill's Chroma Lust loose shadows. What I have found with these, is that they are ALL blendable, vibrant & long-lasting. Each shade has an awesome glitter/reflect packed into it, but it's not obnoxious by any means. It's not necessarily subtle either, but it's enough to give these hot piece of pigment an extra bang. These retail at $12 each & contain 5 grams of awesomeness. They are screw top jars & do not have a sifter. I'm really not one of those people who needs a sifter on loose product because I generally grab it off the lid.



I'm going to review/describe each one of these & post swatches afterward! Get ready for LOTS of pics :D


Weekender; A nearly blue, violet shade with LOTS of pink & teal sparkle. Super shiny!


Tipsy; I want to say this is close to an apple green, but just slightly darker. Has a silver sparkle to it.


Magpie; A soft, yet buildable midnight blue with lots of silver & teal sparkles.


Starling; A strong blue-based turquoise with a silver reflect.


Paperdoll; A vibrant pastel purple with lots of golden & pink sparkle.


Stella; A silky black with a burst of rainbow glitter. Truly unique & probably my favourite of the loose shadows!


Tiara; Opaque, true metallic silver.


Goldilux; Wow. Another favourite of mine & I have deemed this one a must have! This is like your finest gold jewelry turned into makeup. It's a metallic, brilliant gold with an intense reflect to it.


Absinthe; A bright, golden lime green with a subtle sparkle.


Decora; A girly, soft hot-pink with a hint of teal sparkle.


Lumi; Soft white jam packed with blue & turquoise sparkle. This is another must have, in my opinion & is SO versatile. It completes your green/teal/blue looks & can also be packed on over a dark base for a unique, reflective teal-smokey eye.


Darling; A medium turquoise with brilliant blue reflects.


Hysteric; Reflective purple with an astounding teal sparkle to it.


Magentric; A pinky-magenta loaded with teal sparkle.


Junebug; A deep, shiny emerald green.


Royal Sugar; My guess is that this is Sugarpills top selling product. It is SO incredibly vibrant. Pure royal blue full of a teal-y/silver-y sparkle. Intense & impressive.


Birthday Girl; A slightly matte pastel pink with a vibrant golden sparkle.


As soon as I get my hands on Asylum, you better believe I will be swatching that hot piece up! :D Here are the swatches for these pigments. I did my best to catch as much natural light as possible so you can see their true colour. Just about all of these colours have a sparkle in them & it was a little difficult to photograph. I am keeping the swatch photos rather large so that you can see the best detail.




Overall, these are immensely pigmented & the glitter just makes them even better (I looooove glitter!) I would definitely suggest a primer for these & perhaps a coloured base as well. Using these wet (especially Goldilux) will make them incredibly vibrant & will also help with staying power.

I did take a couple 'compared-to-MAC' swatches, too, but I will post those another time!

Sugarpill sells pressed shadows as well. The range right now isn't as large as the pigments, but there is rumour that new shadows are going to be added soon. Individually, the shadows retail at $12 each & are 4 grams. You can also purchase a pre-made palette (2 to choose from) for $34, saving you a buck on each shade. The palette is equipped with a magnetic lid & a mirror. The individual shadows are a flip-top clamshell.







One thing I've noticed people complaining about is the price. But if you look at other high-end brands & compare their sizes with Sugarpill, then you will see that Sugarpill is a great deal. The pressed shadows are HUGE & considering their quality, are under-priced if anything.

Sweet Heart palette, Burning Heart palette & Bulletproof.


Dollipop; Clean, matte hot pink! No sparkle, just solid colour.

Afterparty; Bright, medium toned blue with a gentle sheen to it. It's not shiny or glittery, but creamy.


Midori; A pearl-y gentle green. Vibrant, but not over-powering.


Tako; What MAC Gesso wishes it could be. A clean & solid matte white. I've already hit pan on this!


Flamepoint; Vibrant, bright matte orange. Builds up a really nice opacity.


Buttercupcake; Super bright yellow. It's matte & this was the only shadow that I experienced a little chalkiness with.


Love +; Somewhat pearly, pure red. It has a matte consistency to it while maintaining some sheen as well. This fades out into an awesome dark pink.


Poison Plum; Intense, warm toned purple that is incredibly opaque.


Bulletproof; Solid black. Picks up easy & blends nicely.


I unfortunately lost the sunlight while swatching these, so artificial lighting had to do!



& Since I get asked quite often if Poison Plum is comparable to the famous MUFE #92, here's a comparison:

#92 is more blue toned. I love #92 a LOT but will honestly say I prefer Poison Plum because it is a warmer, more true purple shade. So if you feel queasy spending $18 on an eyeshadow, give Poison Plum a try :D


Overall with the pressed shadows, their quality is fantastic. These are so bright & vibrant. You can build these up easily, too & blending these takes little work. Some of the shadows, however, might stain your skin. So far, I've personally experienced staining from Poison Plum, Love + & Buttercupcake. I found that a makeup wipe simply wasn't enough to remove any staining, but once I washed with soap & water, it was gone. So I would for sure recommend primer & a coloured base to create a barrier between your skin & the makeup. You still might experience staining, but it will be at a minimum.

So, to wrap up this insanely huge post...Sugarpill = totally worth it. It's promises of bright & bold makeup hold true. I've always received great service from Sugarpill as well. I did have a minor issue once, but it was ultimately resolved & I had awesome makeupz to play with! The possibilities with their products are endless & if you love vibrant makeup, you should for sure check them out. Amy is also super active on the Sugarpill Facebook fan page which is really nice to see. All of my emails were responded to quickly & courteously and my items were always received in awesome condition. I am very hopeful for this company & can't wait to see what else they pump out!

Where to buy Sugarpill Cosmetics: SugarpillShop.com
Sugarpill Cosmetics Facebook: facebook.com/sugarpillcosmetics -LOTS of awesome fan pics to get inspiration from!

Amy did send me some lashes but in hopes of having this review up, I chose to skip on wearing them/photographing them. I do apologize, as I really wanted to have those up for you all, but I've been swamped since coming back from vacation. But! I will have those up soon because I will be photographing my entire eyelash collection :D

Oh! & Pssssst....I have a super awesome Sugarpill giveaway that will be starting this Friday! It's my way of saying thank you to everyone for helping me reach 200 followers! It will be a contest & is open worldwide! I'll have all the info & rules posted Friday :)!

8 comments:

Naeema said...

luv the review !! i want alll :D

Unknown said...

I really need to get my tushie moving and try out the pressed shadows. I have several of the loose, but want to try a sampling of everything! I am a fan of Amy, though. I know some others have had some drama about her, but I used to buy Kryolan from her ebay and now Sugarpill and she has always been sweet and prompt in sending things.

Libby said...

I'm so excited to get my quad!!! I love the loose eyeshadows...goldilux is gorgeous!!

Anonymous said...

Wowwie, wow. Well-done Reen looks amazing.

Camille said...

Excellent review! Thanks!

Liz said...

Wow those colors are soo pigmented will have to get some!

http://lizbeth612-onceuponashoe.blogspot.com/

Sasha222 said...

I recently became officially addicted to Sugarpill. I started out with the pressed shadows and loved them right away but the loose shadows take it to a whole other level of awesomeness. Like you, after I made my first purchase, I made two more within the next two weeks. They are just so amazing. I am slowly trying to collect them all. Right now I am LOVING Hysteric and Darling (I have Birthday girl, Starling, Royal Sugar, and Weekender as well) but I am dying for Golilux and Stella! They are definitely going to be my next purchase. Can't wait to see what Amy comes out with next. Awesome review...and I hope to see more Sugarpill looks from you since your looks are so AMAZING!

Shanna said...

Ahhh, yet another brand that I need to try out. I actually - kind of - attempted to get some at Christmas (I, er, put it on my Christmas list haha) but my dad was mean and didn't get it for me. Maybe this year =P I'm really dying to get my hands on Goldilux. The only decent gold I have is from the BN palette and it's just not what I'm after.

I finally - FINALLY - placed an Inglot order, though! I got quite a few colors based on your swatches, so hopefully they're as awesome in person :D