Black Shadow Showdown Redux

You might remember my disappointment that Sugarpill's Bulletproof didn't live up to the hype or Urban Decay's Blackout. A generous friend sent me Makeup Geek's Corrupt because she was pretty sure it could slay the competition.

Of course, between now and then, I've managed to obtain a few other black shadows. Who doesn't need more black shadow? Before I move on to the swatches, I wanted to say that I bought two pans of MAC's Carbon, certain that I had a defective one. Both pans swatch exactly the same and the MAC counter rep I spoke to told me that "you don't actually want a shadow that black, because it wouldn't blend well!" I disagree, clearly, and so do many other cosmetics companies, apparently.

On to the main event:

My ten black shadows, in natural light

1. Sephora Collection No 54 Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer from Sinner 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave from Naked Basics 10. NARS Pandora II

Do you see the lengths we have to go to in Washington state to get 'natural light' photos? I'm hanging my shadow-covered arm out of my kitchen window for this. I think the MAC shadows are the most disappointing here - Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) are practically the same color and neither are what I would call black - they're clearly gray shadows.  I was a little surprised by (3) Smashbox M7 from the Full Exposure palette. That palette has taken a beating on a lot of reviews I've seen as being poorly pigmented. I'm going to do a review for that palette next week but spoiler alert: buy it for the mattes.

The MakeupGeek Corrupt (7) and Blackout (8) seem to be going head-to-head. Blackout is smoother in texture and Corrupt seems to have a little glitter in it but they're both very dark, deep black shadows.

Let's look at these shadows inside, shall we?

1. Sephora Collection Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave 10. NARS Pandora II

I feel like you can see which shadows lean brown or gray with indoor lighting a little better. I also think the difference between Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) is more clear here but I'm still not impressed.

If you're looking for a velvety-smooth true-matte black shadow, I still think Urban Decay's Blackout ($18 alone or available in the Naked 2 palette) is the best you can get - but at one-third the price, Makeup Geek's Corrupt ($6 in a naked pan, $8 in a single compact) is a serious contender, even with a little bit of shimmer.

Palette Parade Check-in: Sugarpill Heartbreaker

Hey there! Checking in with this past week's palette: Sugarpill's Heartbreaker.

Not sure what the Palette Parade is? Check out this post.

Sugarpill Heartbreaker Palette

I'm kind of a completist. I want to have all of the the options at my fingertips, if there are options to be had. I initially bought this palette with that in mind. I liked the purple (2AM) and blue (Velocity) shades in it and figured the lime green (Acidberry) and mint green (Mochi) wouldn't see much use. How wrong I was. That green shade? Is amazing as in inner corner highlight and that mint green blends like a dream.

I really enjoyed using this palette this week. Unfortunately, I spent so much time playing with it most days that I didn't have time to set up good photos for you guys - especially in the suddenly-bright and then suddenly-dark weather of Seattle's standard spring. 

Not very helpful, is it? 

I did get some decent photos on two days and I'll share those with you guys here. 

On my first day using these, I was worried that I was going to wind up with a week's worth of looks that were so similar to what I got from Sweetheart - which I very much liked but were overwhelmingly blue and intense. I think the purple in this palette is what really rounds it out and makes it capable of softer looks, if you need it to be.

 

You can kind of see the similarity to the Sweetheart look here.

(Lipstick is Urban Decay's Obsessed)

That same day, eyes open: 

Indoors, it was a very soft look, which was not the case with Sweetheart.

When you throw the green into the mix, you get something that really pops but doesn't scream that you're wearing neon shadow:

 

I think this looks completely different with and without glasses. Sorry about the brows, we're having a tussle over control of the shape. The brows are winning. The eyeliner (Sugarpill's Royal Sugar loose shadow and MAC Mixing Medium) miss is thanks to a ready-to-leave four year old. :)

See? Glasses seem to make the purple crease seem stronger. 

(Lipstick is Urban Decay's Catfight)

I'm kind of surprised to say this, but I think this may wind up being my favorite of the three matte palettes from Sugarpill. I'll have to do a showdown between this and Burning Heart at some point and see but I see lots of use in this palette's future. The mint shade as a lid color really ties together and grounds brighter purples, blues, and greens. Acidberry brings a color that can't be matches, which really helps keep the colors in this palette firmly out of 80s-theme-day territory. 2AM, the purple, is just red enough to play well with Velocity, the royalest of all blues. Like every other Sugarpill shadow I've put my hands on, these all blend amazingly and can be packed on for intense color or blended out for a soft wash. 

You can pick these up from Beautylish like I did, from Sugarpill directly, or Makeup Geek's store for $32 (shipping varies.) Shades are available in the palette or individually.

Do any of you want reviews on the Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks? The line was revamped not too long ago and a few samples wound up dragging me in - the shade range really fills the gaps that MAC seems to miss, cool-toned mid-range and not-red shades. 

Coming up this week: a new black-shadow face-off - will Makeup Geek's Corrupt out-black Blackout? 

Palette Parade: Sugarpill Cold Chemistry

Hello! I'm sorry to have missed all of last week - things were a bit hectic and I'm not caught up enough to have posts queued in advance. I'm going to jump right back into this week with last week's Palette Parade check-in: Sugarpill Cold Chemistry. See my first post on the topic, Palette Parade, for guidelines and general information.

This week's palette was Sugarpill's Cold Chemistry.

At first glance, I was worried I wasn't going to get a lot of versatility out of this one and I have to admit, the first few days I was very heavy-handed with it it. This is a very pigmented set of shades - the lighter looks I did this week were a single tap of the brush to the shadow smoked out with a blending brush to create a lighter look. At this rate, I expect this palette to last approximately forever.

Definitely a keeper, this palette will create some very bold looks and some incredible smoky eye looks. I'm going to put my favorite two looks outside the jump and then the rest of the week behind the jump. 

This look was created using only Diamond Eyes (the white shade) and Soot and Stars (the glittery black shade.) One of my favorite daytime smoky eyes ever.

This heavy-handed purple look was early in the week and is only Diamond Eyes and Elemental Chaos.

Palette Parade

Eyeshadow palettes. They seem to be taking over the world. I remember when quads were a big deal because you got "so much" product in one package. Now it seems like everybody has six, eight, and twelve shades locked away in magnetic, zippered, and clasp enclosures. I've found it to be a rare person that has just one palette.

However, it seem we all have that one palette we use more than the others and turn to on our laziest days because we know we can use it in our sleep. Then there are those palettes that you bought because the shadows were buttery, the pigmentation was great, and you were sure you'd love the colors - and they are collecting dust in the bottom of a drawer or traincase. Maybe you're just not sure how to use the shadows, maybe you bought the palette hoping to branch out a little, or maybe you just auto-pilot in the morning because the coffee hasn't quite hit yet when you put on your makeup.

Sephora forum user bombshell30 decided to do something about that.

There are no hard rules but the basic guidelines are:

• Put your palettes in an order - you choose how to do this, one person used a number generator, I alternated bright palettes with neutral palettes
• Use your palette five days in a row (most of us have been doing Monday to Friday for simplicity) - two days a week are "free" days. It was also decided that holidays, birthdays, and special events could be exempt or "free" days.
• If you decide to get rid of a palette (return it to the store, trade it away, or toss it,) you can either take a free week for the rest of the week or move on to the next palette
• You can use singles with your palette but no other palettes (remember, we're trying to use each palette, so this rule is to prevent you from using your go-to and just accenting with a shade from the parade palette.) 
• Continue until you've used all of the palettes in your collection

After the jump: my palettes for parading, some rules modifications, and my progress so far. 

Sugarpill Bulletproof is not a Blackout

So, the day before yesterday I raved about Sugarpill's matte, pigmented shadows. Today, I am here to show you that Bulletproof can't really hold a candle to Urban Decay's Blackout. (No really, it would be pointless, in a good way.)

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I kept hearing that Bulletproof was the black shadow to end all black shadows. I'm a fan of dark shades and use a lot of black shadow - as liner, as a setting powder for liquid liner, as a smoking-out shade for lighter colors, as a blending color to deepen bright shades, and so on. Given the great experience I had with Burning Heart and Sweetheart, I took this rumor at face-value and bought a single of Bulletproof when I picked up Cold Chemistry and Heartbreaker. I've got to say, I'm disappointed.

First up, the packaging is cute and sleek, which is nice. It seems durable and the shadow in the package gave me hope - you can't even see the black design on the clear lid because the shadow is dark behind it.

So, like any over-zealous package-opener, I swatched it on the back of my hand. Whomp-whomp. I knew immediately that Urban Decay's Blackout would be darker - so I grabbed it and threw it on the back of my hand next to Bulletproof. See:

Okay, maybe it just needs some primer or something to hold it on a little better - I mean, after all, those red and pink shades from Sugarpill have a little bit of a fallout issue, right? So I dragged out all of my black shadows still currently in service and put down a layer of Urban Decay's Primer Potion (if you remember my foundation swatches, you know my skin is lighter than it appears here. I love Primer Potion but don't let anyone tell you its colorless.)  Here are the results of that:

1. Sephora Collection Black Lace (matte, single, 2013)

2. Sugarpill Bulletproof (matte, single, 2014)

3. Kat Von D Lucifer (matte, Sinner palette, 2011)

4. Urban Decay Blackout (matte, Naked 2 palette, 2013)
5. Urban Decay Crave (matte, Naked Basics palette, 2013)

As you can see, some colors that claim to be matte come out more satin (Crave) or have shimmer in them (Lucifer.) Bulletproof definitely out ranks three of the five shades but Urban Decay is the clear winner here on pigmentation and even application.

I'm sure I'll have a use for it, so I'm not upset that I spent the money but I officially refute any "it's the blackest" claims out there. When I brought this up on a makeup chat forum I participate on, someone suggested that Makeup Geek's Corrupt was blacker than Blackout. A challenger has appeared. (Clearly, to be continued.) 

Sugarpill Burning Heart and Sweetheart

Pre-post alert! Sugarpill is having a sale, today (Monday Feb 17) only on most of their website. I picked mine up from Beautylish but 20% off is a pretty great deal, especially given that these are already well-priced! 

Hello folks! Sorry for the disappearance, my computer crashed and then when I replaced it I lost the font I had been using on my photos, which I had picked up on a specific kind of license and ... okay, boring. Moving on!

While I was away, I picked up these wonderfully pigmented Sugarpill palettes. They're so wonderful, in fact, that I have the remaining two Sugarpill palettes on the way. I didn't swatch because there are lots and lots of swatches of these available but what you don't see much of are looks that someone actually wore outside of their makeup application area. So that's what I have for you today after some product photos.

Sugarpill Sweethart (left) and Burning Heart (right)

After the jump, more product photos, two Burning Heart looks, one Sweetheart look, and my Valentine's flowers.