Thursday, November 22, 2012

Spotlight: Makeup Geek

One of the struggles many makeup lovers face is that good quality makeup can often be quite costly. Sometimes we are torn between saving up and buying a few good quality items we like, or buying a lot of makeup that's not so great, and hoping our technique alone will compensate for what the product itself is lacking.

A woman by the name of Marlena (aka Makeup Geek) saw a need in the market for high quality affordable cosmetics and decided to create her own line. Enter Makeup Geek (MUG for short). She has educational YouTube videos, and a website for makeup lovers like her to share and explore.  For more about Makeup Geek you can visit this link:  http://www.makeupgeek.com/about/ 

As an avid viewer of Marlena's tutorials, I've been curious about her makeup line for quite some time. After learning they are cruelty free (not tested on animals), and a friend on Twitter recommending I try the gel liner (Thanks Sara!), I finally decided to give Makeup Geek a try. I started with the Makeup Geek 9-eyeshadow starter kit, a single compact eyeshadow (Vanilla Bean) and a gel liner (Immortal) as my intro to the brand. As someone who has used cosmetics from various brands across all price points, I can tell you that Marlena is being completely truthful when she claims her products are the same quality as many high end brands. The good news, is that she's made her line completely affordable so that makeup lovers everywhere can have smooth, pigmented eyeshadow without breaking the bank. For example her pan eyeshadow sells for $5.99, and gel liners sell for $7.99, about half the price of brands that are of similar quality.


Here is a look at some of the products I purchased from http://www.makeupgeek.com/store/ 

 Pictured Above: Top Row - Corrupt (many call this the blackest eyeshadow on the market-matte with a tiny bit of sparkle), Prom Night (pale purple with hints of gray, shimmer finish), Drama Queen (very dark purple with shimmer finish)
Second Row- Mocha (matte warm medium brown), Cocoa Bear (matte golden brown, almost terracotta), Shimma Shimma (shimmery highlight great for inner corner of the eye)
Third Row- Unexpected (light matte pinky purple), Glamorous (bronzey gold-shimmer finish), Creme Brulee (medium sand-matte)

 The starter kit is made up of refill pans that pop nicely into a magnetic Z-palette, which is also available for purchase on her site.
 Pictured Above: Individual shadow in compact in Vanilla Bean, for me this is the perfect down-blending color. I love it as an under brow highlight, or allover base color. It's pretty close to my skin color, with a matte to satin finish.
 Pictured Above & Below: Makeup Geek Gel Liner in Immortal (intense black, matte finish)
 The shadows were very pigmented, smooth and easy to blend. I didn't experience any fallout with the glitter shades at all. The liner is one that will last all day. In fact, I couldn't remove the gel liner swatch from my arm with a makeup wipe, I had to use eye makeup remover to get it off!

Here are some swatches of the shadows I purchased*, and the gel liner (below):


 
 Pictured Above bottom right photo (from left to right): Corrupt, Mocha, Cocoa Bear, Glamorous, Shimma Shimma, Creme Brulee, Drama Queen, Prom Night, Unexpected, Immortal gel liner

A swatch wouldn't do Vanilla Bean any justice because it's basically an exact match to my skin tone, but I used it in the look below as a brow highlight. It's not a completely matte shade, but the shimmer is ever so slight, which is why I called it a matte to satin finish.

 In this look: Vanilla Bean, Drama Queen, Prom Night, Unexpected and Immortal Gel Liner.









 I hope you enjoyed this look at Makeup Geek eyeshadow and gel liner. You can purchase the products seen here at http://www.makeupgeek.com/store/

Makeup Geek is having some great sales now for Black Friday, so it's a great time to try these products.

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to subscribe!

*All products were purchased by me. I do not get paid to do reviews. All opinions are my own, and I only share my views in hopes of helping you make informed purchasing decisions.

3 comments:

  1. Glad that you like the liner :D I must check out the eyeshadows now :)

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  2. I have this company on my list to try. I love your beautiful blue eyes!!

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  3. Such a pretty look! I really want to try these liners. That's got to be one of the blackest blacks I've ever seen

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