A solid C for ColourPop – a critical review

Since ColourPop entered the market amidst the jubilant reviews of bloggers everywhere, I’ve been curious about their products. Since I’m not in the US, actually getting Colourpop products proved to be difficult – and part of a brilliant marketing strategy that centers heavily around social media, cooperations with bloggers, and the hype that happens when products aren’t easily attainable. In spring this year, I had the opportunity to get some products via the help of a friend and jumped on that offer. I ordered some of their best-loved products and bestsellers, and have by now tried them all. Here’s my somehow critical ColourPop review.

The fascination

It’s cheap, it’s fashionable, on trend – and outside of the US hellishly difficult to buy. There’re a plethora of blogposts that deal with the topic of ordering from Colourpop with the help of parcel forwarding services (here’s one by the lovely Carina in German) – and what better advertising could a brand have? Then there’re the unusual colours, the formulas that are so on trend right now (matte lips! Duochrome shadows! Highlighters and bronzers for all and every skintone!), and the fact that the products are, in most cases, cheaper than their drugstore equivalents. Btw, remember: their sizes are actually smaller than those you usually buy – a random MAC lipstick I pulled out to compare is 3,2g while a lippie stix is 1g, and Chanel’s Illusion d’Ombre eyeshadows which have a similar formula are a whopping 4g instead of CP’s 2,1g.

What I bought

I was trying to get an overview of CP’s best-loved products, plus try some of their bestsellers (one source of research was naturally Temptalia’s blog and database), so I got three Lippie Stix in different textures, one of their liquid lipsticks, one highlighter and four eyeshadows. I wasn’t interested in their liners (I’ve enough of both lip liners and eye pencils to equip a small makeup school), but I regret not to have bought their eyebrow products and eyeshadows with a different finish.

ColourPop critical review of highlighters and super shock shadows — My highlighter and super shock shadow haul: Highlighter in Lunch Money, Super Shock Shadows in Bae, So Quiche, Cricket, Nillionaire, and On the Rocks

Highlighter Review

Super Chock Cheek in ‘Lunch Money’ – a slightly yellow golden, light beige highlighter without any glitter. Perfectly easy to blend (I use my fingers), wears well, doesn’t fade, plays well with liquid or powder foundation. The colour is perfect for my NC15-ish skin and the highlight is totally my taste – not over the top crazy, not drawing attention to my pores, without any obvious shimmer particles. We’ll call that a win – 8$ well-spent.

Lipstick Reviews

Ultra Matte Lip in ‘Bad Habit’

I rarely ware those kinds of ultra matte liquid lipsticks. I mostly do find them uncomfortable to wear, and then, I haven’t found even one that didn’t have that obnoxious ring of colour left around your mouth after you had something to eat. I also find the deeper colours slightly tricky to apply.

ColourPop critical review lippiesticks and ultra matte lipsticks — ColourPop lippie sticks in Lady, Trixie and Lumière and ultra matte lipstick in Bad Habit

Well, I had some of those issues with Bad Habit. The colour is gorgeous (a deep oxblood), and application was quite easy. Mistakes you made while applying aren’t easily remedied, though – better take it all off and start again. The texture is thin, but not too thin, and feels quite light on your lips, but after two hours my lips start to scream for moisture. I had lunch after three hours, and after that, the colour was quite gone, leaving the middle of my lips bare. Not good. I could reapply the colour easily enough, but then I don’t quite understand the purpose of a liquid matte – those things should wear like steel. If they don’t last me through the day, then why the heck should I wear them? The purpose is NOT having to reapply.

Would I repurchase? Very likely not. Is this going to end its life in the back of my drawer? Very likely.

Lippie Stix (satin and matte) review

I got Trixie (a neon bright coral, satin), Lumière (nude-mauve, matte) and Lady (a deep brown red, matte). I find the smell upon application is hard to stomach (a sickly sweet candyfloss scent), but thankfully, it dissipates quickly. I don’t find the textures are very different, both satin and matte formulas look and feel quite matte (but not ultra-matte). Both wear comfortably for a while, and reapplication is easy, because those, too, don’t last through a meal. They also aren’t stain- nor kiss-proof.

Nevertheless, the lippie stix are (next to Lunch Money) are my favourite product of the ones I got. Value for money is good (5$ for 1gr of product), and I really like all the colours I got. There’s a reason that Lumière has been such a big hit, this nudey, mauvy neutral is both very trendy and easy to wear.

Super Shock Review

Besides their super sellers Bae and So Quiche, I got Cricket (blackened plum with glitter), On the Rocks (bronze with gold and pink glitter) and Nillionaire (bronze with multi-coloured glitter), aiming for those kind of one-wash-wonders that have a bit of dimension that I wear often during weekdays. In the end, I’m quite disappointed with them, because I just can’t to make them work, and I certainly have the expertise to handle them. My favourites of the bunch are Bae (purple base, blue glitter) and So Quiche (olive base, pink and gold glitter), both have that duochrome glitter in a sheer base that makes them great as a topper, right in the middle of the lid. In theory, that is, because I can’t make them stay on my lids. After a few hours, I’ve glitter all down my cheeks, no matter what base I use, and I’ve tried them all. Contrary to some reviews, though, I haven’t had any problems with application – I apply them with my fingers, and that works totally fine.

Same with the neutrals I wanted to wear as single shadows all over the lid – they crease on me, no matter what base I use. When I tried them over a powder eyeshadow (the topper idea, again), I sat during a dinner invitation, blinking like an owl, because I had glitter particles in my eyes the whole time. Awkward. My conclusion? Super Shock Shadows aren’t made with the idea of older lids in mind – mine are slightly hooded and quite oily. Fyi – I wear both MAC’s Electric Cool eyeshadows and Chanel’s Illusion d’Ombres quite easily and happily – nothing usually creases or flakes off if I wear my trusty Urban Decay Primer Potion, but the Super Shock Shadows.

ColourPop critical review – my conclusion

In the end, I believe I’m not their target audience. Cheapness doesn’t make me want to buy things. I value nice packaging (my pet peeves with the CP packaging: the letters wear off almost immediately and the names of the colours aren’t printed on the boxes which drives me crazy) and a well-made beauty product, and while I honour that CP offers unusual colours and different formulas, I don’t need them – at all.

But what I value most is a product that works on everybody, and the eyeshadows very clearly didn’t work on me. I regret that I didn’t order some of their pearlized, satin or matte shadows that maybe wouldn’t have the issues I encountered, but well, so be it. I’d also never jump through all the hoops international customers have to jump through, which also adds up on the cost effectiveness. The products aren’t bad, but mostly don’t suit me and my taste in makeup. A few items I’ll happily wear, but I don’t see any must-haves.