A few months ago I bought some loose eyeshadows from Concrete Minerals to use during a few of my makeup tutorials and looks for Nerds and Nomsense. I figured now would be as good of a time as any to do my review + impressions. I know, I know. This review should have happened back when I first got them, but never fear – I took notes when I first messed with them so technically these are my first impressions – with a little future wisdom.
So to get started, Concrete Minerals offers this super sweet deal to beauty bloggers and gurus so that they can review their products without breaking the bank. (Cause if you haven’t noticed, makeup can get extremely pricey if you’re not paying attention!!!) The deal is awesome! You get 4 loose eyeshadows (Matte Pro Shades – 2.5grams | Mineral Shades 1.5grams) for $28 $15! Obviously I needed it for my Nerds and Nomsense tutorials and such…
CLICK… ORDERED…. MINE!!!
It arrived like a beautiful present and I was surprised with some extra goodies inside. It was so prettily packaged, wrapped in pink tissue paper (totally reminiscent of all of my Sugarpill orders), and there was even a sweet note inside. (Side note: I love it when companies take time to write little notes to their customers… a little goes a long way and a nice little note will always bring a smile to my face!)
Now before I venture any further into this review I have to tell you something – loose shadows and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the vibrancy of the pigments but I hate the nasty loose side-effect… I’m talking about fallout… and I seriously dislike fallout. It’s a necessary evil when you have to apply loose shadows, especially if you’re like me and like to do your foundation first.
Concrete Minerals always adds a “HOW-TO USE” card with each order. Woo hoo!!!
It’s not as painful… I swear… but it is a thing so always: DIP, TAP, AND PAT when applying loose eye shadows and pigments.
Also, don’t you just love prime colors?! I know I do!
Now for the good stuff:
Value:
For the Pro Matte Eye Shadows you get 2.5grams for $8 dollars. Not bad, if you ask me! For comparison: Star Crushed Minerals runs about $10 for 2.5grams | Glamour Doll Eyes runs about $6-8 dollars for 2.5grams | MAC pigments run $21 for 4.5grams
Packaging:
These babies come with sifters! The labels are vibrant on the top and include the ingredients in a legible size of font on the back. Unfortunately their nifty makeup pots are subject to messes if you don’t make absolutely sure that your lids are tightly screwed on. And this isn’t just the CM packaging thing – it’s pretty much every makeup pot that contains loose eyeshadows. If you are not careful – it can get messy, especially when unscrewing the lids so be sure to tap the lid a few times before you want to open the container.
Sometimes if you carry these pots around with you in your go bag the tops might start to unscrew, so I would definitely keep these babies in a separate ziplock baggie or something along those lines to prevent powdery messes in your makeup kit!
Vibrancy / Colors / Staining?:
These darlings are super pigmented. Like most bright shadows, to make them really pop you should always apply some sort of base – like my favorite: NXY Jumbo Pencil in Milk (WHITE). Some of the pigments like Risque, Hi-Fi and Domino were a bit chalky while applying so if you don’t have any sort of base it can be a bit patchy.
Top to bottom: Hi-Fi (vibrant blue-toned pink), Risque (true red), Fame (bright yellow). The left swatch is without a base and the right side swatch is on top of NXY Jumbo Pencil in Milk (white, cream base).
Top to bottom: Bulletproof (true blue), Domino (teal-based blue), and Bruise (dark navy / purple-toned blue with a slight blue shimmer, so not technically a true matte shade but pretty never the less) Don’t mind my smudgy edges, I tried cleaning them up but made it worse.
Staining: Like most super-pigmented shadows, there is a tendency for staining. Out of these colors the ones that were the more difficult to take off were Hi-Fi, Risque, and Bulletproof – even when I applied a base. The longer you wear the shade, the deeper the stain. So if you’re only wearing the makeup for a few hours, it shouldn’t be that bad but if you’re wearing it all day – you may want to put some elbow grease in while you’re removing your makeup at the end of the day.
Wear / Longevity:
As far as longevity goes with makeup, it all depends on your base and how you apply it. Normally, my routine is eye primer, white base, eyeshadow, makeup sealant spray and I’m done. By about hour 5 my eyeshadow is starting to lightly wear away around the creases but isn’t really noticeable. By the end of the night (about 12 hours) you can tell that I’ve been wearing my makeup all day. The colors fade and aren’t as vibrant and there is a little bit of fallout under my eye. It’s pretty much the norm. **Again, the longer you wear these pigments the more you may stain your eyelids… never fear, it will come off with some good makeup remover. I like the Yes Grapefruit Cleansing Wipes.**
Blending: Without a base, these colors tend to be a bit chalky and difficult to blend – but I always wear some sort of base so this isn’t an issue in my book.
After telling you all of this, I would like to add that I do enjoy the pigmentation of these Pro Matte eyeshadows. It is a good product for the price and I think it’s nice to have in your makeup arsenal if you’re into wearing bright vibrant colors.
I love to mix these babies with some of my Mehron mixing liquid to create a truly vibrant eyeliner. ESPECIALLY FAME. It’s awesome! Below is a look I did for Batman’s 75th anniversary – it features Fame and Bruise. LOVE BATMAN!!!
I would love to try their mineral eye shadows now that I’ve tested their mattes. I tend to try mattes before mineral/shimmery shadows. It’s a test in my book. If a brand’s matte shadows are worth it then their mineral/shimmery shadows should be too! I will definitely let you know when I get a chance. And it goes without saying that I now want all of their Pro Matte eyeshadows – I only need 8 more… 🙂
Have you tried any of the Concrete Minerals loose eyeshadows before? Let me know what you thought about them in the comments below.
I love hearing from you guys, so please, don’t be shy!!!
*****
DISCLAIMER: The items featured in this review were purchased by me and all opinions are 100% my own.
If you have any questions regarding my review, please email me at info@jaechaos.com.
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2 comments
I love using Thrash as a lip colour. Mix it with a teeny bit of lip balm, set it with powder; Boom! Lovely matte green lips.