ColourPop Curious

ColourPop is having a moment in the beauty world. After resisting for a while, inevitably, I reached a breaking point (probably around the time KathleenLights came out with her Where the Light Is set). I was uncharacteristically good and stuck with my self-imposed lip product ban, limiting myself to the Super Shock Shadows only. (Unfortunately, the new highlighters hadn't been released at that point, otherwise a couple definitely would've ended up in my cart.) The hardest part was of course, deciding which shades to order. After an eternity of Googling, reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos, I settled for Smash (satin), Amaze (metallic), So Quiche (metallic), Sequin (metallic) and Game Face (ultra metallic). I was contemplating Bill and Desert as well, but decided to omit both. My total order came to $43.91 USD ($58.78), of which a large chunk (we're talking $18.91 USD) was devoted to shipping. That's 75% of the total cost of the five shadows. Bummer.

Top row, then bottom row: Game Face, So Quiche, Amaze, Smash, Sequin

l-r: Smash, Amaze, So Quiche, Sequin, Game Face

Top to bottom: Game Face, Sequin, So Quiche, Amaze, Smash

l-r: Smash, Amaze, So Quiche, Sequin, Game Face

l-r: Smash, Amaze, So Quiche, Sequin, Game Face

Smash

Smash is a slightly dirty, slightly warm-toned, light goldy beige. On my lids, because it's not that much darker than my skin tone, it's barely detectable (even less so with glasses). On a paler person, I can picture this being an all-over lid staple, but on me, it's entirely wasted. It reminds me a little of Burberry Pale Barley, but Pale Barley is darker, cooler-toned, more grey/taupe with slight purplish tones in comparison. They do have a similar finish though, both with a subtly shimmering goldish overlay.

Amaze

Amaze was one of the shadows I was most looking forward to, but ultimately, it failed to excite. It's a light, ultra-reflective, shimmer-packed rose gold. The primary sheen it gives off is whitish/silvery, which I don't find flattering. Sheered out, it's almost intolerably glittery. Don't get it anywhere near your face unless you want the world's most sparkly highlighter. It's almost impossible to build up to full opacity, so I'd recommend it more as glitter top coat or dabbed on the centre of the lid for extra dimension and interest.

So Quiche

So Quiche is a dirty olive green base with purply-pink sparkles. I'm sure there's other colours of glitter in there, but purply-pink is the gist of it. With one swipe, it's not as strong in terms of pigmentation as the others. A sheerer application really brings out the beauty of the glitter (truly eye-catching and gorgeous), but doesn't give much definition or depth in terms of the base colour. Conversely, when built up, the green comes through stronger but a lot of the detail in the multi-coloured glitter is lost.

Sequin

Sequin is a super pigmented, super glittery, russet (orangey, pinky, coppery, reddish) stunner. I can thank Angela for introducing me to it. This is the only shade out of the 5 I bought that I can and do wear all over the lid, though it's not one to reach for if you're after subtlety.

Game Face

Game Face is a very warm, mid-tone, rich glistening bronze with a goldish, coppery lustre. To the uninitiated, this shade seemed to be a clear standout in the Super Shock Shadow range and the only one I didn't remotely hesitate to order. It's not so much shimmery as it is metallic. Pigmentation is excellent though oddly, I found it swatches better on the hand than when applied to the lids.

I've been playing with the shadows for around 3 weeks now and overall, I like them but I'm not completely won over. For me, the main problem is convenience and wearability. While the round white pots are certainly distinctive, the individual packaging of the shadows somehow makes me less inclined to reach for them. In their own containers, the lid of which you have to physically unscrew just to see and use the shadow, they're not as accessible compared with say, a quad or palette where everything is laid out in front of you, ready to be utilised.

While I painstakingly attempted to minimise disappointment in the shades I picked, some of them simply don't work for me the way I hoped. They're either not dark enough, oddly sheer and somewhat patchy despite strong pigmentation, difficult to layer and achieve full opacity, overly glittery (and this, coming from someone who wears shimmer/metallic finishes on a daily basis) or not the most flattering colour against my skin tone. The biggest success of the lot is probably Sequin. I could've done without Smash (Desert likely wouldn't have fared any better). Amaze is beautiful but a total glitterbomb, too light to be used over the lid and too reflective in the inner corner. So Quiche is pleasingly unique and I love the contrasting glitter and base, but it's the sheerest of the bunch and difficult to pull off. Game Face is an absolutely stunning shade but its beauty doesn't translate on the lids, where it appears borderline muddy, a bit too dark and too warm.

Much has been said about the unusual texture of these shadows. They're thin and emollient, but packed with pigment. They're definitely closer to a cream shadow than a powder, but at the same time, they're drier to the touch and not as wet and creamy as traditional cream shadows like the Maybelline Color Tattoos, Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows or MAC Paint Pots. ColourPop recommends applying them with your fingers, and most reviews seem to agree. I wouldn't bother with brush unless it's a relatively stiff, flat, synthetic brush like the Ecotools Concealer Brush from their 5-Piece Bamboo Brush Set. On my non-oily monolids, I don't seem to experience any noticeable issues with wear time or creasing, though a primer underneath these shadows seems like a good idea to increase the vibrancy of the shadows, make them stay on longer and ensure they don't move around.

ColourPop advises that the lids on these shadows need to be secured tightly after each use. It makes me wonder what alchemy was involved in their formulation, to what degree they would change in pigmentation or texture naturally over time, and how long it'd take until things get really bad. It's not uncommon for certain cream shadows to dry out terribly after a year or so (my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze is basically unusable now), but it seems they've been mindful to design the packaging in a way that reduces the chances of that happening.