Brand review - COLOURPOP!

ColourPop is an USA indie brand situated in California that provides quality makeup for affordable prices. In their own words:

" Made with love in California, it's our mission to redefine luxury beauty by creating amazing products at prices that don't break the bank. Dedicated to newness at lightning speed, we imagine, develop, test, and manufacture all under one roof. We pride ourselves on being cruelty-free, wallet-friendly, and keeping our customers at the center of our world."

They started as an on line store but in the past year or so they have reached the mainstream level of popularity and recently their products are available for purchase in Sephora. Their popularity is well deserved as they truly deliver in what they promise, quality make up for affordable prices. 

I have a small collection of ColorPop products (probably I would have a lot more if they were more easily available  here in Europe) and with bank holiday sales going on on their site right now maybe this helps you in deciding if they are worth a try. ColorPop website offers free domestic shipping for purchase over $30 and free global shipping for purchase over $50 (EU folks be aware you will almost certainly have to pay custom fees and VAT on top of your purchase). 

So let us start this brand overview with a product and formula that lead to ColourPop success, the Super Shock formula.

The Super Shock formula is a weird hybrid between powder and cream product. It feels creamy and bouncy when touched but sets into powder on face. Products that come in Super Shock formula are face products, blushes and highlighters and their most famous and popular product Super Shock Shadows that they promote as pigmented and crease-proof, and they are that as well as really long lasting. I personally find that fingers are the best for applying these products and if not fingers than a flat dense synthetic brush. 
I have a Mile High Super Shock Shadow Collection that consists of colors Truth, Nillionare, So Quiche, Lala, Cricket and Mittens. Also there is a blush Birthday Suit  in Super Shock Cheek Satin formula  and pearlized highlight in Wisp. Blush gives this nice blush from within look and highlight is no joke, it is really intense (bling, bling). 

From left to right: Super Shock metallic shadows in Cricket, So Quiche and Nillionaire, matte shadow in Mittens, satin shadow in Truth and ultra metallic shadow in LaLa, cheek highlight in Wisp and blush in Birthday Suit.

Besides Super Shock formula they also have pressed shadows both individual and in palettes as well as face products in pressed powder form such as blushes, highlighters and bronzers.

Pressed powder highlighter pan in Here Kitty Kitty and pressed powder shadows in Cloud Nine, Locked and Loaded, High Strung, Come and Get it, Made to Last, Wake up Call and Wait for It.

Shadows are pigmented and soft, they have a bit of fall out but they blend well and smoothly and do not get muddied. Metallic/shimmery shadows are best when applied with finger or flat synthetic brush. Highlight is finely milled and goes on the face nicely but it has micro glitter in it so be aware if you have aversion to glitter but note it does not make you look like a disco ball. I was truly impressed with their pressed shadows and I like them as much as Makeup Geek ones or even my high-end shadows like MAC or Tarte. 

From left to right: pressed powder shadow in High Strung, Come and Get It, Wait for It, Cloud Nine, Made to Last, Wake up Call and Locked and Loaded, the last is pressed highlighter in in Here Kitty Kitty

 Another thing ColourPop does especially well are lip products.

 I am a particular fan of their lip products, especially Lippie Stix Matt formula. They also have liquid lipsticks on offer in both satin, matte and glossy formula but as I am not  the biggest fan of liquid lipsticks I have none of those. They often have their lip products on offer in various bundles which make an even more affordable way to try them. 

From left to right: Free mini I received in color ASAP, matte lippie stix in Tootsi, matte x lippie stix in Pillow Talk, creme lippie stix in Aquarius, matte lippie stix in Contempo, matte lippie stix in Taurus, matte lippie stix in Lumiere ( a favorite), matte lippie stix in Brink.

From left to right a mini lippie stix/lip pencil combo: LBB/LBB, Chateau/Dukes, Trust me/Bossy, Cami/Bound (a favorite), Cookie/Skimpy.

They also have concealers on offer. They are very pigmented but dry down  very fast and very matte so I personally find them to drying on my normal skin. They also oxidize somewhat. They come in 4 g bottle which is less than usual but they are extremely affordable (usually $6 but currently on sale for $4.80). Personally this is not a product I would recommend unless you have oily skin.

No filter concealer in light neutral

And last but in no way least are their brushes. Which I really enjoy. They have both face and eye brushes on offer, however I only purchased eye-brushes and they have become some of my most used eye-brushes. 

From left to right: small shader brush, pencil brush, tapered blending brush (a favorite) and medium shader brush

 Small and medium shader brush are ideal for packing shadow on the lid, tapered blending brush is perfect for crease work and blending, it is so nicely tapered that it is easy to control even if you wish to do a more precise application of crease color and pencil brush is also shaped in a way that blends the lower lid shadow application quite nicely. Eye brushes are usually priced around $6 which is really affordable for the quality. 

They also have a lot of shadow palettes on offer priced around $16 and knowing the quality of their pressed shadows I am looking forward to giving them a try.

All in all, ColourPop is a brand whose products I enjoy and I like the idea behind the brand that quality makeup need not be a luxury.