Okay, so I don't know why I haven't typed up this post until now. It's 11 PM and I got the package at 2 PM and I had the pictures for this post edited and uploaded by 3 PM. And then I just sat around and did other things, like play the Sims on FB and pet my cat. But, okay, let's get down w/ it. This is going to be one of those ridiculously long posts from me...which is why I've divided up my reviewing into three posts. As you can tell by the overly excited title, this is a Sugarpill related post. I know, I know. Sometimes, you see a certain product or brand hyped up sooooo much and it just makes you doubt as to why it's so popular - because it's really hyped or because it's actually good.Well, here's the thing - this isn't hype. Sugarpill is really that good! Okay, admittedly, I can't attest to staying power as of yet...I had an problem actually making myself use and swatch these products. Why? If you've ever gotten something you REALLY wanted for a long time, you probably understand this feeling. I didn't want to actually use them, haha. I wanted to just sit there and stare at them because they are just so damn pretty! (Warning - you may read the words "pretty" and "cute" numerous times in this post. I will try to restrain myself.) This post is just an initial thoughts type post. For an actual review on the pressed shadows, click here. If you want a color-by-color breakdown of the pressed shadows, click here. My review on the loose shadows I purchased will, hopefully, be up before the end of the week!
Okay, so here's the first part. I placed my order on October 17th. On the website, they say to give up to 72 hours to get your product shipped, which is pretty standard. Considering that Sugarpill is an indie brand and obviously doesn't have the resources that places like MAC and e.l.f. have, this isn't anything out of the ordinary. So imagine my surprise when, two hours later, I got this email in my inbox:
Yeah, I ordered on the 17th, received on the 20th. This is super impressive, considering it's being shipped from California to bloody Michigan.
Now I don't know if I just placed my order at the right time or if they're usually always this fast so I'm not going to say that I know FOR SURE that their shipping is always as fast as mine ended up being, but I will say that it was really impressive. Another thing is that this is a brand that actually cares about their customers. I mean, it's apparent in everything, from the details that go into the entire makeup "experience" (packaging, layout of the product, etc) but also that they actually respond and interact w/ their fanbase. You just have to look at their FB page to know that. I tweeted about my excitement over FINALLY placing an order and actually got a response, which is crazy considering I wasn't looking for one. Things like that just make you want to continue to purchase from companies, ya know?
I'm used to waiting on shipping, I really am. e.l.f. products take FOREVER to arrive and whenever I've ordered from MAC, it takes about a day for them to ship out my stuff and about five days to a week for me to get it. I have a love/hate relationship w/ tracking my packages. On one hand, it's fantastic and professional, etc, for a company to provide that, but on the other hand I sit there refreshing the screen. It's bad enough w/ my MAC orders, especially since I only order MAC when it's either collections I'm waiting for or if it's a massive order - the last one was well over $300 because I splurged (yeah, that was a crazy splurge indeed) on two completed shadow palettes that I had customized. Since I have been wanting to purchase Sugarpill even before it went live (internet access will do that for you, haha)
Everything is packaged really nice, from the outer box w/ the Sugarpill cat to the inside where it's not just wrapped in pink tissue paper, but the paper is actually used as padding. Basically, your stuff is not going to bounce around! My order came w/ my invoice, a Sugarpill sticker, a little card w/ some website info, and a sample of one of the Chromalust pigments in "Magentric". The sample even has its own cardboard display - it's not just a little bag of powder and it's so frickin' cute!
Okay, so I've made you wait long enough. Let's get to the ACTUAL makeup. I bought both of the pressed shadow palettes ($34 each) - "Sweet Heart and "Burning Heart" and, yes, the boxes they come in are so effin' cute. The packaging just impresses the hell out of me - it's adorable and it looks great, especially for a brand that is not a super huge one. Hell, the packaging for this line beats the pants off of anything else besides maybe the tokidoki for Sephora line.
The quad is made out of a sturdy cardboard. It has a nice mirror in it. One thing to note is that when these quads first came out, they weren't labeled nor did they have the shadow names on them. This has since been remedied and both of my quads have the name and the shadow names on them. They are slightly heavier than other quads I own but that doesn't really bug me. They're magnetized closed and the magnet is pretty strong. Only thing to note is that if you like taking your makeup w/ you (like I do), these quads might start looking a bit run down, since they are made out of cardboard. I've heard a rumor that they aren't glued in the pan for easy removal, much like Make Up For Ever shadows, but I'm not about to try and pop them out, haha. The pans are the same size as MUFE, so if you wanted to depot them, you could just get the MUFE 12-pan palette.
Now for the boring math talk and stuff. I did finally make myself use these shadows but I haven't played around w/ them long enough to actually get a review up. I will say they're INCREDIBLY pigmented and that they appear to blend nicely.
Single pressed shadows are $12. In fact, pretty much everything here is $12! The quads are an excellent deal since buying four single shadows would cost you $48 and the quads cost $34. Of course, this could be problematic since, especially w/ the "Burning Heart" quad, I could see people wanting "Poison Plum" but not needing the yellow, orange, and red shadows. That being said, I still recommend buying the quads, unless you actually prefer having single pans. You are getting a phenomenal deal, quantity-wise. Each shadow comes w/ a whopping FOUR grams of product. This is 1.5 g more than MUFE and 2.5 g more than Urban Decay or MAC...and Sugarpill shadows cost less!
Brand Round-Up
(Yes, I am only comparing these to more high end eyeshadows because, A.) It's unfair to compare them to drugstore because, obviously, Sugarpill costs more than your typical drugstore shadows and B.) I think that the overall shadow quality; i.e. pigmentation AND texture, is more comparable to more expensive shadows. There are a lot of drugstore shadows that I like and that have amazing pigmentation but texture-wise, not so much. Wet N Wild has some awesome, highly pigmented shadows but they are very fall-out prone and chalky, etc. So, yeah...)Sugarpill - $12 for 4g. ($85.71 for an ounce of shadow.)
Make Up For Ever - $19 for 2.5g. ($237.50 for an ounce of shadow.)
MAC - $14.50 (potted) or $11.50 (Pro pan) for 1.5g. ($290 for an ounce of shadow or $230 for an ounce if you buy Pro pans.)
Urban Decay - $17 for 1.4g. ($340 for an ounce of shadow.)
Tarina Tarantino - $19 for 2.5g. ($211.11 for an ounce of shadow.)
Lancôme - $18 for 1.2g. ($428.57 for an ounce of shadow.)
Stila - $18 for 2.6g. ($200 for an ounce of shadow.)
NARS - $23 for 2.2g. ($328.57 for an ounce of shadow.)
Too Faced - $18 for about (I only have the old format of Too Faced shadows, which are 2.5g or 0.08 US oz, but they repackaged them and now you only get 0.06 US oz, so I had to calculate the grams, which is why it's only an approximation.) 1.87g. ($300 for an ounce of shadow.)
So, yes, my initial thoughts on these shadows are to get them. They are a fantastic value for the cost and from the little I've played around w/ them, they have a killer pigmentation level and the texture is really nice.
Moving on, I bought six of the Chromalusts, which are Sugarpill's loose shadows. I have been wanting "Absinthe" and "Asylum" for, oh, EVER, and I was also interested in "Goldilux" and "Royal Sugar". I added "Stella" and "Weekender" as last second choices. Now, I'm not super big into pigments or loose shadows but the colors on these are so fantastic that I felt obligated to purchase, haha. As such, the actual review on these might take me a little more time because I'll probably wear the pressed shadows a lot more frequently.
I love the packaging. Again w/ the packaging but seriously...these products are so cute! You get a large amount in each jar - 5g. Yes, some of them have a lower level in the jar but these go by weight and not level and when you have a loose shadow, things are going to settle a bit. The only thing I would have liked is some sort of plastic stopper cap, like w/ the MAC Pigments or a sifter cap. I didn't have issues w/ mine, but some people have mentioned the product was either all over the outside of the jar or ballooned out everywhere when they first opened them. The labels are nice, and the product ingredients are listed clearly. All of the ones I purchased are vegan, as well. And they have the no animal testing mentioned on the outside boxes. The cap doesn't have a sticker, it's actually on the lid, so nothing is going to fall off or wear away. I am so excited to try these out, haha!
Price-wise, it's impossible to complain. MAC Pigments are $19.50 for 4.7g of product. These are $12 for 5g of product. Yep, haha. I don't own a ton of loose shadows or pigments, so it's hard to really talk about this aspect but I'll put it this way - compared to the L'Oreal HiP ones, these are a phenomenal deal, haha.
"Weekender". This is the only one I've tried and it's pretty sheer and light dry but looks so much more intense wet. I like the color both ways, but I definitely prefer this wet.
"Stella". This is what MAC's "Black Tied" wishes it was. It's GORGEOUS.
"Absinthe". Of course I had to get this one. I love greens, especially these kind of greens, so this was a given. Out of all of the ones I purchased, this looks the most like an actual loose shadow - the other ones look like super fine glitter almost.
"Royal Sugar". This blue looks awesome. I'm really excited for this one, haha.
"Asylum". I wanted this FOREVER. And then it got sold out. And then it was gone for a while. AND NOW IT'S BACK AND I OWN IT SO EVERYTHING ELSE IS IRRELEVANT. Yeah...I really wanted this color, lol.
"Goldilux". I didn't intend on purchasing this. I have a L'Oreal HiP Duo that has a crazy metallic gold and I have the MAC Pigment Stack from the Surf Baby collection, which has a metallic golden-bronze color as well. Plus I really don't use gold that much anyway. I made the mistake of reading reviews and watching YT vids and this shadow looks CRAZY metallic when foiled. And that, right there, sold me. Haha.
Okay, so now that I've got the boring stuff out of the way (packaging, shipping, etc), I'll get an ACTUAL review w/ swatches and photos up before Monday. Again, it might take me a bit longer to review the loose shadows since I don't really use them that often. But hopefully...I can get to that w/in the week as well! :)
