Brand Review: ColourPop Cosmetics

How I found the brand
After Kylie Jenner launched her lip kit line in mid-2016, I noticed the brand name “ColourPop” popping up (forgive the pun) in my social media feeds. Articles claimed Jenner was selling ColourPop products and charging a higher price because of her celebrity.

At the time, I struggled to get my hands on the sold out Kylie Lip Kits, so I tried ColourPop. I was impressed with their price point and from swatches and blogger/vlogger reviews, it seemed that ColourPop was indeed a dupe for Kylie’s products.
(More about the Kylie & ColourPop comparisons in a different post to come).

Their prices
ColourPop is an online only retailer based out of Oxnard, California. One way they keep prices low is by not having a physical store. Their products are more affordable and compare to drug store price points.

About their customer service
Word of advice, make sure to keep your packing invoice until you confirm your order is accurate. I have placed upwards of five ColourPop orders in 2016 and have only had one instance where my order was inaccurate.  ColourPop does not have a telephone number to directly contact  customer service. The only way to reach customer service is via email. I sent an email and waited around 4-5 days to hear back from someone who apologized for the error (a missing eyeliner) and asked that I send a photo of my packing slip. I responded immediately with a picture of the invoice (which is why I say to make sure you don’t throw this away until you are sure your order is accurate). After sending an email with the packing slip, I didn’t hear anything else back from customer service. A week later, a package arrived in the mail containing my missing eye liner.

My take away message on the customer service is that it is not on a par with what you may be used to from a large retailer like Nordstrom or Sephora. This is a smaller scale operation and it is important to have patience when waiting for errors to be resolved. With that said, it was frustrating to have to wait so long, but ultimately, I am satisfied because the error was corrected…though not in the most timely fashion.

Product Reviews
(names with an “*” are discontinued shades)

Super Shock Shadows ($5 each)

 

img_9278

Pretty Bonnes* (satin luxe)
Very dry and difficult to blend.

Alchemy* (glitter sheer)
Lots of glitter on a sheer background. Good shadow topper.

The Golden Child* (pearlized)
Rich pigmentation. Smooth.

Cornelius (matte)
Difficult to blend, dry.

 

img_9279

Another shot of Cornelius (matte)

Midnight (metallic)
Pigmented rich, cool tone brown with gold glitter. Does not swatch as darkly as it appears in the pan.

Knight (satin)
Odd texture. Has almost grainy-like consistency. When I swatched it, some of the product began separating. It is visible in the bottom right portion of the swatch. I was also unable to get this to work as a precise liner shade.

img_9276

Kathleen lights (pearlized)
Beautiful golden bronze. Rich pigment. Applies smoothly.

Weenie (pearlized)
Rich pigment. Smooth. Rose gold sheen.

Vanity Fair* (pearlized)
Not as dark as in the pan. Smooth and buildable.

Birthday Boy* (metallic)
Rich metallic. Feels slightly thicker in texture. Able to be blended or layered.

 

img_9277

Birthday Boy ctd. (metallic)
In this shot you can see the duo chrome nature of this eye shadow.

Porter (metallic)
Wine color with gold glitter. Leaves a slight stain behind.

Blaze (metallic)
Easily bendable or may be layered on top of other shadows. Not as dark as it looks in the pan.

img_9273

Telepathy (ultra metallic)
Richest pigmentation. Super smooth. Unique shade. I don’t have any other color like this in my entire eyeshadow collection.

Belladonna Lilly* (matte)
More difficult to blend but can build up pigmentation easily.

La La (ultra metallic)
Beautifully metallic softer rose gold shade. Does not have the pearly sheen that Weenie has (see above swatches).

img_9272

*Another shot of La La at the top*

Truth* (satin)
Very light in pigment and does not show up well on my skin tone. Drags on my skin. Difficult to build up.

Cricket (metallic)
Lighter than the pan. Mixed with glitter. Dark gray-purple with glitter.

Nillionaire (metallic)
Similar in formula to Nillionaire. Cool toned brown with gold glitter.

img_9271

*Another shot of shades Telepathy, Belladonna Lilly, La La, Truth, Cricket, and Nillionaire.*

So Quiche (metallic) (2nd from bottom)
much less pigmented than pan. Buildable color.

Mittens (matte) (far bottom)
Rich brick color. Dryer and more difficult to blend. Has a lot more pigment than any of my other matte shades.

 

Ultimately, the formulas of the super shock shadows perform differently.

The matte formula is difficult to work with because it is challenging to blend or build up color. Across the board, the matte shadows are quite dry. I would not recommend them.

The pearlized and metallic shadows are the best option of the shadows that I have tried out. They are pigmented, blendable (with a synthetic brush) and the color can be built up. These are the best finishes of super shock shadow that ColourPop makes.

The satin formula is patchy and tends to lack pigment. I would compare them to the matte formula and also not recommend them.

Overall, these shadows are good but not my favorite because they need to be applied with fingertips. I prefer using brushes. They can dry out quickly (each shadow has a shelf life of at most 2 years) if you use them often. The formulas aren’t consistent so it can be difficult to know what the swatch vs the pan will look like. This makes purchasing online more challenging. In case you were wondering, there is no such thing as a ColourPop eyeshadow palette because the shadows would dry out. They need to be tightly sealed making palette forms impossible. This can make traveling with ColourPop shadows difficult because you must bring them all individually, rather than packing one palette.

If you feel like applying shadows with your fingers is something you enjoy, give some of the pearl and metal super shock shadows a try. My all time favorite is Telepathy.

Lippie Stix ($5 each)

img_9282

 

Tiger (sheer)
Kiddo (sheer)
Rayezor* (matte)
Lumiere (matte)

Whip (sheer)
Safari (sheer)
BYOB (sheer)
Peacocky (sheer)

 

 

The Lippie Stix are smaller than traditional lipstick bullets. They are long and skinny making application more precise, especially for people with smaller lips.

The sheer finishes have nice pigment and are great for everyday. They are not nearly as bright as they look in their packaging (as to be expected from something with sheer coverage).

The matte stix are creamy, buttery, and smooth. It’s important to note that they apply best on lips that have been exfoliated and moisturized. You may want to carry a lip balm with you as the matte formula can be quite drying to the lips.

Color Pop Ultra Glossy, Satin, Metallic and Matte Lips ($6 each)

 

img_9270

Sookie (gloss) Highly pigmented. Great alone or over a color.

Hutch (satin) Rich pigment.

LAX (matte) Can be patchy but applies well with a lip brush.

Limbo (matte)Great true brown for 90’s lovers.
Love Bug (matte)
Teeny Tiny (matte)

 

img_9269

Love Bug (matte)
Great terra-cotta shade for fall.

Teeny Tiny (matte)
Cool toned dark purple.

Viper (matte)
Pink with purple tones. Stunning.

Beeper (matte)
Looks different on every single person who wears it.

StingRaye (matte) *
Gorgeous discontinued shade that is a darker, more purple toned Beeper.

img_9266

Times Square (matte)

Shimmy* (matte)
A very bright true baby pink.

Point Zero (satin)
Cool toned gray-brown.

Donut (matte)
Great summer shade.

Echo Park (satin)
One of my favorites for every day. It’s a peachy nude.

 

img_9265

Another view of Donut (matte)

Another view of Echo Park (satin)

Alyssa (satin)
Similar to November. Less pink, more mauve.

November (satin)
Pinker version of Alyssa. One of my all time favorites.

Tarot (gloss)
Super pigmented. Rich and a little bit tacky. A great product.

Flitter (metallic)
Application was a little patchy. However, its a unique shade that I do like, especially blended on top of matte lipsticks. My product did not contain chunks of glitter like some vloggers have been complaining about in their reviews. I’m not sure if I would purchase more metallics because I think they’re difficult for me to pull off, but I do think this one is quite beautiful.

*Note* All ColourPop liquid lip products have standard doe-foot applicators and are unscented.

The ultra satin lips are one of my favorite products from ColourPop. They aren’t transfer proof like the Ultra Matte Lips but they are less drying on my lips and feel a bit creamy. Their consistency is light, almost whipped when applying. They are smooth and bendable before they dry. They don’t full dry down like the matte lips.

The ultra matte lips are gorgeous and long lasting. Most shades (except for some the darkest shades like LAX) are not patchy at all and only require one coat to be opaque. I would recommend exfoliating your lips with lip scrub and a clean tooth brush to prep your lips. Apply a favorite balm prior to application.

The ultra glossy lip in creme finishes are highly pigmented and can be worn alone or on top of a different lip color.

Super Shock Cheek ($8 each)

img_9261

Flexitarian (pearlized) highlighter shade
This highlighter applies like butter. Smooth and highly pigmented.

Might Be (pearlized) highlighter shade
Smooth, pigmented, buttery.

Thames* (matte)
So difficult to apply that I don’t use it. It’s not bendable. Would not recommend.

I highly recommend the new line of highlighters. They are $8 because the cheek products are larger than the eye shadows. The highlighters are extremely pigmented, easy to apply with your fingers, and last all day. The only thing to note is that ColourPop products are ideally applied with fingers. After using my fingers to pat the highlighter on my skin, I opt to blend it out with a damp Beauty Blender.

At this time I can’t recommend the matte cheek shades. They are too difficult to blend and I was tugging at my skin trying to build up color. If you want to try a cheek product, definitely opt for one of the highlighters.

 

Lippie Pencil ($5 each)

img_9263

 

Pitch– a nice dark brown for my brown lipsticks

Westie-this pink shade goes well with multiple pink liquid lips I own

Grunge-This slightly mauve-brown goes well with multiple lipsticks.

ColourPop lip liners are a great value. They apply well, last a long time on the lips, and have a ton of colors available to choose from.

Creme Gel Liner

img_9262

Exit-If the swatch didn’t give it away, had a little blow out with the liner where the stick crumbled. (Kind of a soft formula) but the softness makes it wonderful for the water line.

Honey Dude- great shade for brightening tired eyes.

Mr Bing-one of my favorite warm brown liners. I will continue purchasing this shade when I run out.

Zulu-a bright turquoise I picked out for summer looks.

Although my white liner has been crumbly since I purchased it, my overall experience with these liners has been great. They apply well on the lid, lower lash line, and waterline. They are soft without being too creamy to work with. There are many color options to choose from and the price point is unbeatable. Mr. Bing is one of my favorite liners of all time.

 

My all-time favorite ColourPop products…

Super Shock Shadow -Telepathy and Weenie

Ultra Satin Lip– Echo Park and November

Super Shock Cheek– Flexitarian

Creme Gel Liner– Mr. Bing

I hope you enjoyed this post, it was a very fun process. A lot of the lip swatches are shaky because I was applying them outside in natural light and it was chilly! Please let me know what you think and if you have any favorite ColourPop products.

Lots of Love,
Elizabeth

Leave a Reply