Does Makeup Geek Not Sell Eyeliner Anymore

In under a month it volition be two years since Marlena Stell rebranded Makeup Geek and two years since I started purchasing their products. I take some experience with the original shimmer eyeshadow formula, thank you to a sale they were having of their older products, but I cannot compare the original mattes to the ones at present. For some reason, I use these shadows once and so go 3-4 months before I use them once more. The cycle of use and disuse continued until September 2021 when I committed to thoroughly testing them in one case and for all.

Almost half of the square pan eyeshadows were purchased within a few months of the rebrand. The remainder were purchased during new launches like the Soft Focus Colors Collection and Autumn Scenes Collection. The face products were purchased at different points in 2021, simply I consider them adequately new, especially the bronzer since the shade I purchased was only released in September.

Makeup Geek Individual Shadows (old and new)

All swatches to a higher place Caitlyn Rose are from the older drove. The shades with an asterisk in front means it came from the All That Glitters Palette , which I depotted. The "Bluish My Mind" color is stated equally the proper name on the palette, but the actual proper name printed on the bottom of the pan (which I saw when depotting) is "Surf'southward You lot Correct." I don't know if this was a simple proper name change at the last minute or if it's an example of quality command issues Makeup Geek may have had in the past.

I oasis't worn all the older shadows, but I'g very impressed with the ones from the All That Glitters Palette. The exceptions are Venom and Hype which are satin shades and they don't feel equally nice as they did when I first bought them, so I recall it'southward actually time to toss them. Aforementioned goes for Plot Twist and Caitlyn Rose which are cute merely crumbly now.

I have to also mention the pigment in Blue My Heed is insane! The formula feels wet like a foam to pulverisation shadow, but I accept no idea if information technology's supposed to be like that. It's and so opaque, sparkly, and intense, but the texture makes me a piffling concerned as to whether it's time to throw that out as well. I purchased all the older circumvolve pan shadows in March 2020, so it's non unrealistic for them to be going bad by now.

I don't have many of Makeup Geek's current foils, but I actually prefer the sparkle and shine level of the original foils over the new ones. I even similar the older formula better because I have creasing issues with Mystical and particularly Medieval. Medieval isn't as polish as Mystical either. Illuminaughty, Grandstand, and Epic don't crease as much. I actually similar those shades. The foils are described on the website as being a cream and powder hybrid. Perhaps the cream element is what gives it the tendency to crease. While I've always had some deep lines around my eyes which is natural to crease a picayune, Mystical and Medieval motility and so much to the point of leaving blank spots. It's quite disappointing since they were the two shades in the rebrand I was nearly excited to purchase. Ane outcome all the new foils accept though is that the shimmer dulls after a few hours. This isn't completely unusual for me, only when they aren't super sparkly to begin with, they basically look like satins past the end of the day.

Regarding the mattes, the merely eye base of operations I've tried that works well with them is the MAC Paint Pot. In the photo below, the acme half shows where the mattes patch off the lid afterwards being worn for less than an hr. The lesser half shows how the shadows looks afterward the same length of time when redone over MAC Pigment Pot. It's non perfect, just it'south much better. I don't remember which shades I used here because the eye photos were taken at least six months ago.

Most of the mattes don't accept pigmentation issues. A few that I own are a thinner more than powdery formula than others (like Chickadee and Peach For the Stars), which do fade me on apace. Even those that fade will still leave a hint of color all day if I use the Paint Pot as a base. I learned though that the absolute best results are just similar the face powders and await amend if the centre has been set with a pulverisation layer first. These are definitely not creamy mattes, then my eyes can look extra dry and ashy with some of these lighter shades. I remember the dryness is what I initially couldn't pinpoint every bit to why I was underwhelmed past MUG shadows.

These are some of the looks I've done prior to reviewing. I don't retrieve which ones I used. I had a few additional shadows that didn't brand this review considering I didn't like them or they were also similar to other shades I purchased. I sold Daydreamer, Wine and Dine, Creme Brulee, Current Obsession, and Latte as Usual.

The all-time of the Makeup Geek mattes alloy nicely and easily and show up opaque the way I like. The downside is that any shade it looks initially will turn into a darker variant of brown after a few hours. Had Me At Yellowish turns into a mustard yellow-brownish. Back To The Fuchsia turns purple-brown. Curfew turns dark brown virtually blackness. I don't mind these changes as much considering the brown-blends withal wait pretty and they mostly last all solar day.

Courageous, Unleashed, and Invincible are part of the Ability Pigments formula which are supposed to be the nigh saturated and most pigmented mattes Makeup Geek take. They give more opaque results right away compared to the other mattes, they are more than vibrantly colored, and they take a drier rougher texture. The last i is to be expected when using actual pigments over micas and dyes. The Ability Pigments used to be more expensive than the regular mattes at $seven.99, but were lowered to $five.50. I call back this was a good decision because I don't believe they are that much more special than the regular mattes considering most of them can exist built up to the same level of opacity.

Contour in Scandal (discontinued)

Makeup Geek does non currently take contour products available for purchase, but I got it during a sale shortly after the rebrand. This is a cracking contour colour for me, however, this product doesn't blend very well. Wherever the powder offset touches my skin is where it will stay. Every time I use it, I have to apply a finishing pulverisation to blend out the edges or foundation to sharpen where information technology got too spread out from me trying to alloy it. It however looks heavy even when practical with my softest well-nigh loosely packed brushes. This product was probably created at the height of contouring when it was popular to be ultra pigmented, sharp, and intense. If Makeup Geek brings the contours dorsum, I hope there'south a formula change to produce a more than natural or airbrushed look. I can arrive work, but I likely won't utilise information technology once again. The sale price was nether $2, so I can't complain too much.

Bronzer in Chestnut

The color in the pan looks groovy for me. Unfortunately, this shade looks almost identical to the contour when I actually use information technology to my skin. It has a gilt sheen with fine aureate specks throughout, which gives it the appearance of warmth, just the bodily base colour is deeper and neutral toned at best. When I employ this, most of the golden is brushed off the skin and what I'm left with creates a shadow and very piffling warmth. The swatch photograph in the blush section shows how similar Chestnut and Scandal expect when blended.

The bronzer blends easier than the contour, but the but mode it looks dainty is if I've set my face up with a layer of powder first earlier I blend the bronzer on acme. Powdering first gives a softer nicely composite wait that I want. Notwithstanding, since 2020, I pretty much stopped using setting powders except nether my optics. If I utilise a powder at all, information technology's a finishing powder which is the final footstep in my makeup routine. Because information technology's not my usual mode to set my foundation before I apply the rest of my face products, I don't see myself reaching for this over the other bronzers I own. Withal, if I was willing to switch up my style, I know I could get a really beautiful stop effect. I did finish upwardly purchasing the shade Glassy during Blackness Friday, which is much more absurd toned of a shade and but barely deep enough to prove on my bare face. I have non yet had the chance to try Glassy over foundation.

Blush in Chivalry

Knightly is a pretty terracotta brown shade. It performs better than the bronzer on unpowdered pare, merely I'm still not completely impressed with the finished look unless it has that pulverization layer underneath information technology. Then information technology looks quite beautiful and almost airbrushed. This technique reduces the amount of paint I get on the cheeks at once, but it also prevents me from getting darker patches where my castor first touches my peel. In the photo beneath, the left set of swatches were done with my finger and the right set were blended with a brush to demonstrate the blend without powder (though the sticking issue would have been more prominent if the swatches were applied on top of foundation).

Because powdering isn't an absolute necessity with the blush and I can however become it to wait prissy if I take my fourth dimension blending and use fluffy blusterous brushes, I could see myself standing to utilise this beyond testing purposes. It has good staying power and can be practical lightly for a subtle flush (if powdered showtime), medium intensity on unset foundation, or built upwards to a fairly deep shade.

I purchased Covet during the Black Friday auction and I like it even more than Chivalry because medium pinks tend to be my favorite.

As well, unlike the bronzer and contour, the chroma leaves a fleck of kickup in the pan.

Highlighter in Midnight Dominicus (discontinued)

This highlighter color is discontinued, simply I very happy I could get it because I think information technology'south a flattering shade on me. It's quite funny that I similar it and so much because this is listed equally existence best suited for fair skin tones. It does await pale in swatches, but as the cheek photo shows, a highlighter for someone lighter than me should look fashion more brilliant and stark. Then again, this isn't a blinding type of formula. A shade actually geared toward my skin tone would probably not stand out on my cheekbone as much as this colour does, which is only the correct corporeality for my taste. Of all the face up products, I like the highlighter formula the most.

Full Spectrum Middle Liner Pencil in Plumeria

This is another last minute Black Friday addition to this post. It did not arrive early enough earlier my trip for me to thoroughly exam it. I watched how Marlena used this pencil and was drawn non simply to the colour, simply the fact that it could exist smudged out as a shadow color or base of operations and is supposed to exist almost water resistant. That element worked well on my arm. After giving information technology some time to dry out, information technology couldn't be moved by rubbing it with my finger. Fifty-fifty after wetting information technology, it didn't smudge, smear, or run. Nonetheless, for some reason this pencil did not last on my eyes for fifty-fifty an hour. I do take oily lids, and so peradventure this is the reason. I tried it one time on bare eyelids with no primer or other eyeshadows. I put it all over the lid, composite out on my eye like a cream shadow. In an hour, about a third was gone. When I checked a few hours later on, there wasn't whatever of information technology left. Since it worked on my arm, I'k guessing this is a "me" problem and anyone who does non accept oily eyelids will exist able to apply this pencil. In the time to come, after testing it thoroughly, I volition update this post if I found a way to keep it on my optics.

Customizable Compacts

I couldn't cease this review without discussing some of the things I noticed about the compacts offered by Makeup Geek. Whether you go the clear or gunmetal chapeau of the mini palettes, they both accept a magnet of standard thickness and rounded edges. The square pan face powder singles fit perfectly inside them. On the other hand, the "Travel Vault Palette" with the gunmetal lid that anyone who makes a custom 9-pan palette will get, has the kind of magnet I become from the craft shop in thin sheets with the peel off sticker on the back. As can be seen in the photo above, mine was not cut properly to the size of my palette. It arrived with the edges lifted up and when I press to stick them back down, they still don't lay perfectly apartment and are curved. When I watched reviews during the rebrand, I saw plenty of other people had warped magnetic bottoms like mine. The actual palette packaging is well synthetic, sturdy, and beautiful. The mirror in the hat is a nice quality and a great size. Yet, I believe Makeup Geek cut corners (literally and figuratively) with the magnets. At one point I had four of these palettes and three out of four were non cut, laid, and stuck properly. When you lot take expensive eyeshadows, the last thing you want is to have to worry about the whole sheet lifting off and your shadows breaking. I have ii of the travel palettes left and I took the better glued one on a trip with me and had no problems. Nonetheless, I cannot say what would happen if someone keeps their shadows in at that place at all times.

The primary reason I don't keep my Makeup Geek pans in there is considering of all the wasted space. I can sympathise the older circle pans not fitting improve into the palettes because their shape, but I expected the rebranded new shadows in their generally foursquare shape should exist made to fit the palettes. They still just fit 9 shadows. I understand wanting enough infinite to be able to easily have the shadows in and out, just it doesn't look skilful in my eyes. It looks like I took another brand's shadows and tried to put them in Makeup Geek's palette because they're so ill-fitting. Information technology bothers me when a pre-made palette is larger than it needs to exist, just having dividers between the shades indicates it was intended to be that mode. Custom palettes without those dividers look untidy on the function of the one who made the palette. Me.

In improver to the eyeshadows not plumbing equipment well, in that location is only room for ane face production; if you put one face product, you can just add a maximum of 5 eyeshadows that are still widely spread out. One of the things I love about making custom palettes is having things line upwardly and looking orderly. If it can't exist orderly, I enjoy at least filling up as much space as possible, and then information technology's a pet peeve of mine that they are this way. The merely brand'due south shadows that fit nicely in the Makeup Geek palettes are the mini circumvolve shadow pans from Colourpop such as the pans from the Bluish Moon, Lilac You lot A Lot, Star Wars The Mandalorian The Child palette, etc.

In that location is one other palette type for sale called the Mega Vault Palette. It's the Matrix Shadow Palette that holds 28 shadows, and those at to the lowest degree fit nicely on all sides with a reasonable amount of extra space. When comparing the 9 pan palettes (whether one-time version or travel vault version) to the Mega Vault, information technology's clear to see a palette of that size should have been made to agree 16, not 9. Marlena has expressed her struggles keeping her brand afloat, so I can see the desire to reuse packaging or try to drum up buzz past announcing a rebrand. I just wish the shadows-to-palette aspect was improve planned out for the ix pan palettes. And so once more, perhaps this is why the custom palettes are so deeply discounted.
In case anyone is wondering, I kept my Makeup Geek shadows in a custom magnetic Juvia's Place palette, which I don't believe is bachelor for auction anymore. I kept them at that place until I bought the Mega Vault.

Whenever I review a brand from an Influencer, I disclose whether at that place are whatever personal feelings involved. I started following Marlena on YouTube shortly before her rebrand and although I only spotter a quarter of her videos, I do like her as a person and I've improved my eyeshadow skills because of her live demonstration videos. At the same time, I was also very unhappy with the situation between her and Tina (The Fancy Face) which played out subsequently I already made my initial purchase from the brand. Because of that incident, I did not want to review the products on my web log. However, this was ii years agone and my opinion of Marlena returned to a neutral state. I wish her and her brand success. Even though the products aren't a perfect match for my skin type or my application fashion, I'm nevertheless interested in seeing what else they create in the future and am likely to keep purchasing from them.

That's all for today! I'm grateful you've taken the time to read my review and I hope the information was useful.

-Lili ❤

*UPDATE : MARCH 4th, 2022
It is quite sad to see that Makeup Geek Cosmetics is officially endmost in April. Even though I didn't love a lot of the products, I wanted to see the brand abound and improve. I wish Marlena the best with her next effort every bit she is the type of person who doesn't give up on pursuing her passions (as fifty-fifty stated by her in her brand closing video). In the result that someone new has come to my blog in search of recommendations on what to buy before the items are gone forever, I easily recommend the highlighters and the Mega Vault empty magnetic palettes. Maybe even the blushes, but that'south all. I know the make is all-time known for their eyeshadows, but I personally remember they're just okay. Since my review, MUG has released a primer, mascara, and brushes but I haven't tried those, so I cannot say anything about their quality.

Source: https://unboxlili.com/2021/12/20/makeup-geek-review/

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