Colourpop Single Eyeshadows

Last summer I placed an order for some Colourpop singles and by now I have been able to use them enough to tell you how I feel about these. The focus of this blog post, however, will not be the review, but the makeup looks. This is going to be a picture heavy post with looks I created using every single shadow in this palette. If you are interested in seeing how I created the palette, then click this link to see my first impression. For now, let’s just get into the blog post.

Colourpop Single Eyeshadow Palette | Review, Swatches, Makeup Looks

A few years ago everyone was about the Make Up Geek singles, but since then, Colourpop has taken the crown of affordable eyeshadow singles. Their single eyeshadow pans retail for only $4 a piece, which is cheaper than a Make Up Geek single. It doesn’t matter what finish you get, they all retail for the same price point. Since I already knew I like the Colourpop Super Shock eyeshadows (see here and here), I was very curious to try their pressed eyeshadow formula.

The Eyeshadow

Since my makeup goal for 2018 was to try to wear more colorful looks, my selection was mainly colors with some neutral. In total 27 Colourpop pressed shadows fit into a large Z-palette, which is as much as you can fit Make Up Geek or MAC shadows in a Z-palette of the same size. I organized my shadows and shade selection along a few color families that I know I like. I have cool and warm toned neutral, a few fun shimmers, turquoise/ teals & blues, greens and yellows and pinks/ corals and purples.

What struck me when I put the palette together was how muted all of these tones look in the palette. None of these shades look very vibrant in the pan, which surprised me when I hadn’t tried these on my eyes yet and I felt pretty disappointed at first. I had tried Juvia’s Place before this and those look super vibrant in the pan. With the Colourpop shades, however, my disappointment didn’t last long when I started swatching the shades.

The Swatches

Row 1:
Hear Me Out (matte), Let Me Explain (shimmer), Made to Last (matte), Take the Lead (matte), Cloud Nine (matte), Snake Eyes (metallic), High Strung (metallic)

Row 2:
Formation (matte), Tiny Tangerines (pearl), Slay-Farer (metallic), Team Captain (matte), Tea Garden (metallic) , Glass Bull (metallic)

Row 3:
Bassline (metallic), Backstage (matte), Two Piece (pearl), Deja Boo (pearl), Tiki (matte), Paper Tiger (matte), Koi (matte)

Row 4:
Crown Jewel (metallic), Fault Line (metallic), 143 (matte), Silver Lining (matte), Prowlin’ (metallic), Poodle (matte), Sauvage (metallic)

So where the pans look a bit bland and muted, the swatches definitely do not. Not all shades look super pigmented, but I picked those deliberately to be inner corner highlights or toppers. So no worries there. The mattes blend well, the metallics are vibrant and foil easily and overall the quality of these eyeshadows is excellent. I was really looking for some colourful shimmers and Colourpop definitely delivered. Not convinced? Let’s look at some looks.

The Application

Look 1 | Neutral

For the first look I used mainly the shadows from the neutral row at the top. The shimmer all over the lid is Snake Eyes, which together with Glass Bull is one of my favorite shades in this palette. As you can see these shadows are perfect for creating a soft, everyday makeup look.

Look 2 | Neutral with a twist

This second look is still neutral, but I have pulled in the army green Team Captain in the crease, Tea Garden on the lower lash line and Glass Bull all over the lid. It is a neutral and very wearable look, but that hint of green adds just a little more interest.

Look 3 | Turquoise & Teal

My favorite look with this palette? This one most definitely. I used Paper Tiger to blend out the crease and have the shades pull more green. I love that shimmer on the lid provided by Tiny Tangerines. I really feel this nicely accentuates my brown eyes and it really makes for a great summer look.

Look 4 | Blues & Yellows

This look is also very pretty, but the blues are perhaps my least favorite shades I got. They are pretty, but I felt these were the least vibrant out of the bunch. Except for that pretty shimmery light blue/ periwinkle shades that truly makes the inner corner pop. I also used Deja Boo and I love how this shade can look more yellow or more green depending on what you pair it with.

Look 5 | Purple

The lighting was not the best when I shot this look, but I hope you still get the gist. I used some neutral sin the crease and then used the purples all over the lid to create an easy purple look. I like this too. Purples can be difficult shades to work with, but these are easy to blend and go on well.

Look 6 | Pinks & Corals

The last look is another favorite. I used the mattes in the bottom row to create the set up for the look and used the shimmery coral called Sauvage (stunning shade!) all over the lid. The result? A pinky/ purple/ peachy look that works really well together.

The Conclusion

I am pretty surprised by the quality of these Colourpop Pressed Single eyeshadow pans. I also like the shades I picked and how they work together. These eyeshadows blend well, look much more vibrant on than in the pan and are just great quality and super affordable. If you’re in Europe, I would definitely wait till they have a sale or free international shipping deal going on. That way you can make a Colourpop order much more worth your while and if you stay under the amount you can import for free, you won’t be hit with duties at the border either.

Have you tried any Colourpop eyeshadow?