Why has it taken me this long to try Flower Beauty? Growing up, I was a HUGE… and I mean HUGE Drew Barrymore fan. I even dressed up as her for one of my friend’s birthday parties (we’re talking tomboy Charlie’s Angels Drew Barrymore – I even had my step-mom curl the living bah-geebus outta my hair at the time so I could get those iconic bouncy waves). I watched Ever After, repeatedly, throughout junior high and high school… and now, that I do “all the makeup stuff” – according to one of my nieces… WHY HAVE I COMPLETELY NOT JUMPED ON THE FLOWER BEAUTY BRAND?!

Flower Beauty launched in 2014 exclusively to Walmart and has since branched out to Ulta this past year (2018). Up until a few months ago, the buzz of Flower Beauty has been minuscule except for a few product launches. All the while, having been burned by “celebrity makeup lines” before – I just opted to err on the side of caution and wait until some of the creators that I truly trust tried their products.

Speaking of favorite creators, the lovely Heather (aka MakeupMouse) had the opportunity to actually DO DREW BARRYMORE’S MAKEUP. Seriously. Flower Beauty has recently jumped the pond and folks in the UK are able to pick it up at Superdrug… I think. With the UK launch, Drew was going around and having some of the UK’s best-known content creators, beauty bloggers, etc… hang out and play with the Flower Beauty products – together. So Heather did Drew’s makeup and Drew did Heather’s makeup. That’s so friggin cool. I’m pretty sure that I would lose the ability to speak coherently were I in a similar situation.

Enough of me fangirling, let’s get to this first impressions, quasi-product review thing…

At the end of December, while I was hanging out with the fantastic and fabulous Jacky (JackyOhhh) we wandered into Ulta and low and behold they actually carried Flower Beauty IN STORE. Most of the Ulta stores around here don’t carry the brand in store and even fewer Walmart locations around here do as well.

I am usually a pessimistic makeup purchaser when it comes to new (to me) brands and formulas. I want to have the ability to swatch eyeshadows, blushes, etc in store before I purchase them. Call me crazy… but that’s just how I roll.

What I bought: Warrior Glitter Shadows (Bomb + Poison), Wanderlust Eyeshadow Palette (Austin), Petal Pout Cream Lipsticks (Coral Crush + Nudey Peach), Light Illusion Full Coverage Concealer (L1-2 Fair), Blush Bombs (Melon+ Nectar) and Light Illusion Luminous Foundation (Porcelain L1.)

I wanted to be able to do a quasi-full face worth of product. Now, I realize that I didn’t purchase a primer, mascara, setting powder, setting spray, brow products, or eyeliner. That’s okay. I purchased the products that were most appealing to me given that this was a fairly unknown brand to me. Usually when trying a new (to me) brand I go for eyeshadows, base (foundation+concealer+blush), and a lip product or two. …so that’s exactly what I did.

Light Illusion Foundation + Concealer:

Light Illusion Full Coverage Concealer: ($9.99 USD) Comes with a doe-foot applicator and 0.20oz / 6mL of product. The concealer was a little underwhelming. It was a decent medium cover concealer BUT it was not full coverage. It also liked to cling to dryer patches on my under eye area. This concealer did, however, blend out beautifully and did not oxidize on me which is always nice. Unfortunately, this concealer’s total shade range is a bit pitiful with six shades. The fair shade is suited to more of a light complexion and their deepest shade “deep” is barely even suited for medium skin tones. Come on, folks, it’s 2019! How are minuscule shade ranges still a thing?

Light Illusion Luminous Makeup Nude-Skin Feel Foundation: ($13.99) 1.0 fl oz / 30mL of product and the foundation is dispensed via a pump. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this foundation – even given its flaws (and there are a few of them). It is a lightweight, light-to-medium coverage foundation that gives a dewy, luminous finish just like the title says. Now, for the short comings: the shade range is pitiful. Porcelain L1 (the shade I purchased) is not what I would call “porcelain” in hue/shade. It’s rather yellow and seems like it should be a light shade – not a fair shade. It is too dark for my pale face – and for reference I wear MAC NC15 / MUFE Y215 most of the year. After wearing it a few days in a row I can say that this foundation does oxidize just a tad when wearing it so be sure to bring it down on your neck if you’re not an exact match for the final oxidized color. The coverage and feel is similar to MAC’s Face and Body foundation and it blends out nicely without clinging to dry patches or settling into excessive amounts of wrinkles and pores.

Wanderlust Eyeshadow Palette – Austin: ($10.99) A small, six-pan, multi-finish eyeshadow palette. There are two mattes, two metallic eyeshadows, and two glitter/shimmery eyeshadows. The Wanderlust Eyeshadow Palette comes in three varieties, all based on cities: New York, Los Angeles, and Austin with color palettes inspired by each city. None of the eyeshadows have the colors named and as you can see from the picture – there is a difference in pan size so if you’re a touch OCD when it comes to uniformity, it may bug you a bit.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from the palette and I will chalk that up to being disappointed over and over again with drugstore palettes. I chose this palette because of the bright colors and it gave me a chance to try several different finishes. I was pleasantly surprised with the metallic shades – copper and blush eyeshadows in the larger pans. They are very creamy, similar in texture and feel to Colourpop Super Shock Shadows. The light blush metallic eyeshadow makes for a FANTASTICALLY wet looking highlight for us fair folk.

The mattes were a bit dry and dusty in the pan but they blended out on their own alright. I tried to layer them up a few times and was having issues with patchiness. Both shades applied differently than how they looked in the pan. The mustard shade applied more vibrant and the burnt orange / rust shade applied darker on the eye than on the arm.

The glittery/shimmery shades were a mess. The lime green applied easier than the purple but both had substantial amounts of glitter particle fallout. The purple shade has the worse fallout out of the entire pan and will blend away to nothing – it also needs to be built up quite a bit which can lead to even more fallout. The lime green color needs to be built up to achieve opacity as well as brightness. When first applied it looks paler green to yellow. This color really reminds me of the Melt Cosmetics shade Xenon.

I had one big issue with the packaging, and that’s due to the fact that it has literally fallen apart in the three weeks that I have owned it. I’m not even using it every day and yet the protective plastic component that acts as both a clear window and an eyeshadow protector has completely detached from the cardboard packaging. Mine isn’t a random mishap either – after reading some reviews, others have noted that the packaging does have a major flaw to it. I have since glued it back together, but come on – I know it’s cardboard AND it’s a drugstore brand but packaging should not be falling apart this quickly. I know structurally why it’s falling apart the way it is – and that’s because the metal/magnetic strips that keep the palette closed is attached to the plastic and not to the outer cardboard cover. Less stable and the glue that they used to keep the palette components together was not up to snuff against the mighty magnet!

IN PAN | ARM SWATCH | EYE SWATCH

Warrior Glitter Shadow: ($10.99 USD) Typical liquid glitter eyeshadow formula with a doe-foot applicator and containing 0.135 fl oz / 4 mL of product. I purchased two shades; Bomb which is a metallic yellow gold and Poison which is a dark based blue-purple glitter shadow. These shadows are finicky. They are pretty, sure, but they do not like to be built up or blended out after the first initial coat.

I tried applying these a few different types of ways; as an all over shadow, inner corner “spot” of glimmer, and even as a liner. The liner option just doesn’t work unless you are applying it over a similar color but do not try to build these up because you will have copious amounts of fallout and will come off throughout the day in clumps. The best way I’ve found to apply is to use this product as a light coat eye shadow topper and nothing more. They will crease throughout the day so unless you have perfect non-wrinkly eyelids.

Honestly, I would leave these be at the store. There are other brands with better glitter eye shadow forumlas – like Urban Decay Liquid Moondust Eye Shadows or Stila Glimmer Veils. The price is also a little high for what it is, but that just may be me.

Blush Bomb Color Drops: ( $9.99 USD) 0.3 fl oz / 10mL of product in a squeeze nozzle container. These are gel blush colors that come in six different shades – the ones that I purchased were the shades Nectar (peach) and Melon (coral). These Blush Bombs are very much a diamond in the ruff. They are better – in my opinion – compared to the Glossier Cloud Paints and give a similar finish and wear with less than half of the price tag. I will be picking up these if I can find them in store again. I particularly want to pick up the shades Pout and Cinnamon.

The formula sheers out very easily and a little bit goes a long way. Liquid, cream, or gel blushes are the best way to give the illusion of a natural flush to the face. They aren’t matte so they will need to be set with a matte powder if you’re wanting something less radiant. I prefer a radiant blush because it cuts down the need for over the top highlighter.

Petal Pout Lip Color: ($7.99 USD) Your standard creamy lipstick formula in a bullet, twist-up tube. I like the forumula as it is creamy and comfortable on the lips. The shade range is a nice spread of nudes, pinks, berries, reds, and browns and I like the fact that the sticker on the bottom actually is the same shade as the lipstick bullet.

Wear-wise, they’re pretty much on par with most other creamy lipstick formulas out there. They will transfer and generally wear away when you eat – so just remember to bring it along with you if you go out and about and you’ll be okay. On the plus side – this formula did not settle into my fine lines around my mouth or gather on my drier areas of my lips. YAY!

I will mention that I was expecting the Coral Crush shade to be a bit more vibrant on the lips – like it is in the tube – but it comes out a bit more wearable, which is nice. FYI: You can use this lipstick as a blush… just sayin’.
HEY-O LIVING CORAL LIFE!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

There definitely are some stand out products from Flower Beauty… and then there are products that weren’t so great. The highlights for me are the blush bombs, lipsticks, and the metallic shades from the Wanderlust – Austin eyeshadow palette.

I really hope that Drew and the team at Flower Beauty take the initiative and expand their shade range of the Light Illusion Concealers and Foundations – including shades with different undertones. The formula is lovely on the foundation, but the shades are not that great. And while the concealer says it’s full coverage – its not and that’s completely okay. I’m happy to see that more folks out there are dawning lighter coverage foundation and concealers and letting their skin show through a little.

I will pick up more Flower Beauty goodies sometime in the future, specifically more Blush Bombs and I’m eyeing their other Wanderlust Palettes in Los Angeles and New York to see if their metallic shades are as pigmented and creamy as they are in the Austin Palette. While I like the lip sticks, I have enough lip products that I need to use before I buy any more.

Price-wise, Flower Beauty seems to be right in the middle for drugstore makeup prices which is okay by me. I think $14 for a foundation and $9 for a blush is very reasonable… now, the Warrior Glitter Shadows being at $10 an eye shadow is a bit much but I’m just not a fan of the formula. I think that for their Wanderlust palettes they either need to charge a little bit less to make up for the subpar packaging OR re-do the packaging all together and go with something that is either plastic or a more sturdy cardboard situation.

Overall, the brand seems geared towards the everyday consumer. It’s a cruelty-free brand, YAY, that is geared towards folks who go to work, school, etc. There aren’t a ton of bright eye products and most of their blush and highlight shades are on the everyday “wearable” side. Not every brand has to do bright, avant-garde style products because most consumers aren’t about that life and that’s okay.

I’m happy that I took a chance on Flower Beauty and even was pleasantly surprised by a few things – so that’s always a win in my book!