Unlisted Brand • Makeup Geek- Eyeshadow (All) • Eye Shadow

CatrionaShadowleaf on 5/9/2013 2:08:00 PM more reviews by CatrionaShadowleaf

Age: 25-29   Skin: Oily, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

I'm a MAC semi-serious user and have a good number of the permanent eyeshadows. I bought Envy, a very dark green, on a whim when I purchased my second palette from Makeup Geek's store (17 bucks is a no-brainer) because MAC doesn't seem to like greens, and I do.

Envy seems quite black with dark green shimmer, but it applies as a definite dark forest green. It blends well and is extremely pigmented; you will not need to press hard or do much more than swipe the pan to get the colour. It also makes a great liner. After application I did not notice the shimmer, which didn't really bother me as I had used a UD shadow with it (Sin) and UD can out shimmer anything. There was no fallout with Envy though it did kick up a small amount in the pan when I used a stiffer brush.

This shadow played well with both UD and MAC shadows and I am very pleased with it. I will likely buy more MUG eyeshadows in the future.

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*TOP REVIEWER* makeupMichelle10 on 3/25/2013 2:48:00 AM more reviews by makeupMichelle10

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry, Olive, Warm   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

First off, the pro pans ARE magnetized. I have no idea what the person below me is talking about. And the magnets are stronger than MAC's.

So far I have the shades: Bling, Shimma Shimma, Beaches and Cream, Peach Smoothie, Purely Naked, Bleached Blonde, Latte, Country Girl, Cocoa Bear, Burlesque, Sensuous, Drama Queen, Pretentious, & Bada Bing.
I have used all the colors everyday since I have ordered them. I can honestly say I LOVE these shadows and for the price you cannot go wrong. All companies will have a dud or two in their shadows. Some companies have tons of bad shadows. I can name many from MAC and every other high end brand. But then they have their shining stars as well.
-Out of all the MUG shadows I have the only one I kind of regret buying is Bleached Blonde. It is a pretty color, but instead of being a frost/ metallic, the actual color is a bit sheer and there are flecks of glitter. I will still use it, but will not repurchase that one.
-As for the other colors I literally love them.
-This is hard, but so far if I had to choose a first 5 must-haves just from the ones I already own: Bada Bing, Sensuous, Burlesque, Shimma Shimma and Drama Queen. Just because they are unique to me. Shimma Shimma may not look too unique, but I find it to be the perfect inner corner highlight.
-I plan on purchasing more and updating my thoughts on more of her colors, but so far I am very pleased!
-Plus, I love supporting someone like Marlena. It is not easy creating a make-up line and you can tell she put a lot of thought into these shadows especially on a tight budget.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* tatt2thruandthru on 2/22/2013 10:46:00 PM more reviews by tatt2thruandthru

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Green    

Some are good, a few are great and the majority are average quality. It annoys me to no end the refills aren't magnetized or have magnets on the bottom. Honestly this where she is undercutting and keeping the shadows at a cheap price. I won't buy from Makeupgeek again based on that, I'm not spending MORE money and time adding my own magnets or purchasing Z palettes from her site which is again what I think she's up to. Lame!

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hoangrl on 11/16/2012 11:58:00 AM more reviews by hoangrl

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I bought these when Marlena had a 30% off sale. I bought about 12 colours and im actually quite happy with all of them. They are smooth, buttery, pigmented and blend well. The also last whole day. Out of the two i bought i am not keen on the shade Bling and Mercury. Both are very sheer and i have trouble building up the colour, which is a shame because at first sight they look great.
I think Marlenas eyeshadows are pretty close to high end eyeshadows and for the price that are great. I wish marlena would have more sales or do deals that make you buy more.
I now have too much eyeshadow so i doubt i would buy more of marlenas. Im looking to get some xmas palettes off sephora!

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alarma on 10/25/2012 7:56:00 PM more reviews by alarma

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Hazel    

Amazing! Quality is even better than MAC's shadows. Smooth like butter. After purchasing these I put away my MAC shadows. Can't beat the price as well. The only request I would have is a magnet in the back of shadows so u can put them in the pallatte. I bough sticker magnet sheets in Michael's and put them in the back myself. Would strongly recommend to try.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* riotkitty on 6/18/2012 3:53:00 PM more reviews by riotkitty

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

As a whole I would give these shadows a 5/5, especially if you pair them with a primer (and you should). There is a wonderful selection of colors and textures to choose from and one could easily build a very workable palette with a lot of great neutrals, many muted colors (what I mostly bought) and a few fun brights. I would say the texture is somewhere between MAC and NYX which is great for the price point they are at. Not all the shades are created equal, but neither the ones from MAC. I also like that they are sold in pans. 9 of them are a perfect fit for a small Z-Palette. A large Z-Palette holds 27.

EDIT: I now have 36 of these eyeshadows with 7 more on the way. These have become my staple eye shadows because at this price point, I can afford to make my ideal pallets and have colors for just about any look I want. My favorite shades are Corrupt, Moondust, Pretentious, Wistera, Shimma Shimma, Cupcake, Unexpected, Sensuous, Unicorn, Poolside, Dirty Martini, Mango Tango, Chickadee, Vanilla Bean, Peacock, White Lies, Drama Queen, Sea Mist and Envy.

The ones I wasn't impressed with were Purple Rain, Yellow Brick Road, and Purely Naked.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

xine_07 on 6/8/2012 12:38:00 PM more reviews by xine_07

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

First I want to say that I have oily eyelids. I double prime them before applying any shadow with UDPP Eden and MAC Painterly Paint Pot. If I don't do this any shadow regardless of price will be absorbed by the oil my lids produce and the colour will fade rapidly.
Given this issue I am very pleasantly surprised by the MakeupGeek Shadows. I purchased the starter kit as well as 5 other colours and have been using them for a month now. On my lids these shadows last longer and stay true to colour better than any brand I've used, including MAC. At the end of the work day the colour has faded only a little and I am extremely impressed by this. The price is fabulous, even when adding shipping to Canada.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* Tygerlilee84 on 5/10/2012 7:50:00 AM more reviews by Tygerlilee84

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Cool   Hair: Red, Straight   Eyes: Brown    

I like these eyeshadows, I don't love them. They are pigmented and smooth, but powdery and difficult to blend. They are the type of eyeshadows that you need to pat into place and very delicately blend or else they disappear. They actually work better with fingers and sponge applicators. I would say they most remind me of a cross between the Wet n Wild color icon shadows and the large Coastal Scents palettes. I'm OCD about having eyeshadow in round 1" pans to fit uniformly into my palettes so I love that. They do not have a magnet on the bottom so they don't stick to the MAC palettes. The metal does magnetize to the z-palettes. I have quite a few colors so here are my takes on the different colors and any dupes I know of:

White Lies: matte white and worth it! I had MAC Gesso and I do prefer white lies. they are similar texture but gesso is one of MAC dryer shadows. 5/5
Corrupt: matte black, hard to blend but super dark. if you are willing to work with it it's great 3/5
Peacock: medium to dark matte teal. beautiful color, fades quickly. I use it over a teal liner and it works pretty well. MAC plumage is bluer and grayer. 4/5
Fairytale: light-medium matte soft purple. it's cool to neutral and almost a little smoky , I can't think of any dupes. texture is less powdery and easier to work with than some 4/5
Taupe Notch: shimmery brown. looks most like MAC cork despite the shimmer which doesn't show up. I've used it on my brows. works best applied with finger 3.5/5
Moondust: shimmery taupey silver, looks a lot like UD pistol and MAC smoke and diamonds. applies best with a finger 3/5
Purple Rain: matte dark purple. poor color pay off, looks just like fairy tale on the eye but applies patchy 2/5
Ocean Breeze: dark shimmery green/blue (which is different than teal to me...hard to explain). beautiful in the pan, looks black on and fades when you try to blend it. it's difficult to get the pretty shimmer to show up 2/5
Burlesque: shimmery burgundy. more red than purple. works best with finger. I can't think of any dupes 3/5
Cocoa Bear: matte warm/orange brown. I really like this one. Maybe like MAC brown script. I have MAC Saddle and it's much more orange and bright. I have to use a small brush and pack it on and not blend for it to work. Really really pretty. 4/5
Unexpected: matte pinkish purplish brown. Most like a cross between MAC Haux and Quarry. One of the better shadows. 4.5/5
Wisteria: warm, bright, lighter purple. Very pretty. One of the better textures. I don't have dupe but one is listed on the site. 4.5/5

My favorites are white lies, cocoa bear, wisteria, and unexpected.

12 out of 13 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

simple013 on 1/26/2012 2:03:00 PM more reviews by simple013

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I have bought every eyeshadow on the market and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of these eyeshadows. Marlena the owner and creator of these eyeshadows has done her homework and these are fabulous eyeshadows, great color, moderate blending ability (remember too much blending ability and you expect fallout), creamy texture, paraben and talc free, and about 6 dollars. You can't ask for more in my opinion. I am buying my third set of the shadows and have not been disappointed with any of them so far.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* jaylyn85 on 1/20/2012 4:53:00 AM more reviews by jaylyn85

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

The person who rated these shadows at a 2 clearly has some unrealistic expectations on drugstore type makeup. I have about 24 of these shadows and I don't find any of them chalky, overall they are smooth and creamy. At first I was expecting these to be very similar to my coastal scents hot pots, but in my opinion makeup geek eye-shadows are far superior. I have quite a few hot pots and I can say that MUG shimmer eye-shadows are smoother with less fallout. The matte shadows are probably on par to matte hot pots. I have not come across any duped colors so far.

I have a few Mac shadows and I can't say I have been overly impressed, however with the MUG eye-shadows, I want to own them all. You can not expect to receive high end quality when you are paying less then 10 bucks, but I personally think these are the best shadows I own. They are well pigmented, smooth and creamy and in my opinion easy to blend. The matte shades are of course a dryer formula, however so are MAC's matte shadows. The only creamy matte shadows I have encountered are Urban decay.

If you are on a budget but still want great quality eyeshadow you should give these a try, go in with an open mind and don't compare them to your most expensive shadows. They are really cheap if you want to pair them next to a $20 eyeshadow, but honestly its not a fair comparison to do that. For the price you are paying you are getting amazing quality.

7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

ocgirl007 on 1/10/2012 8:22:00 PM more reviews by ocgirl007

Age: 36-43   Skin: Oily, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I was not impressed, they were chalk like, and the black one did not blend for me...

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*TOP REVIEWER* laracole on 1/9/2012 2:01:00 AM more reviews by laracole

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Olive, Warm   Hair: Black, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

Overall, these shadows are great quality, comparable to the mac shadows I own (see pictures posted above.) I like that these are made in the US and are cruelty free. I've heard some people claim they are the same as Coastal Scents hot pots, and I believe they are not because the majority of these shadows are talc free (all the hot pots I own have talc) and the pan size and amount of product are slightly bigger. The pans these come with are metal, so they will stick to magnetic pans (unlike mac, which are the opposite - magnetic pans that stick to metal palettes.

The texture of the matte shades are decent but not as smooth as the others. Some of the matte shades I've tried (Preppy, Latte, and Purple Rain) have okay pigmentation. Mocha is pretty good but the standout is the black eyeshadow Corrupt. This is the best and blackest black eyeshadow I've come across, just like UD blackout. I've even read that some find it darker than that. Mac Carbon looks grey compared to this.

The shimmery and metallic shades are buttery and so pigmented! Some more than others, such as the metallic taupe silver Moondust, and the hilight Shimma Shimma. These have the same feel of a Stila eyeshadow (very soft and pigmented.)

I find these all very bendable, and even the less pigmented ones were easily built up. They have great staying power and creased after about 5 hours without a primer. With primer, they last all night on my normal/oily eyelids.

These are a great deal and a fantastic way to start an eyeshadow collection, since there are lot of neutrals in the collection. If you've got a ton of eyeshadows already, there's bound to be a shade or two that that catches your eye. I always read the reviews on individual shades to find out if its worth buying or not :)

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No