Makeup Geek Duochromes Review & Swatches

Makeup Geek Duochromes launched last week! Of course I had to get my hands on some of them. 

If you don't already know, Makeup Geek is one of my favorite brands considering their amazing quality and prices! 

This line of shadows and pigments are called duochromes because they reflect two different colors, some of them reflect even more. 

I purchased 3 pigments and 6 single shadows. 

Pigments $12              Eyeshadows $6 

Scroll to bottom for review 

I'll start with my FAVORITE pigment, Hologram! Yes, it has a crack in it :( I'm not sure when it happened but I am hoping it won't completely break open!

"Orangey-pink base with green and gold reflects"
**Update: I emailed Makeup Geek Customer Service and they will be sending me an empty replacement jar when they receive the new and improved ones. They have great customer service! 

Next is Sugar Rush. I was stunned when I swatched this one.. You will see!

"Translucent base with icy blue and purple reflects" 

This is Chameleon. Teal is my favorite color :)

"Deep teal base with gold reflects" 

 Cue the music. Aren't they stunning?! I own two other Makeup Geek Pigments and I can tell you, they are all so beautiful. Not only that but pigments will last a very long time. It only take a tiny amount of the pigment for it to show up like this! 

I have to own the rest of these.. 

Voltage 

"Vanilla base with champagne-yellow reflects"

Mai Tai 

"Apricot base with orchid reflects"

Blacklight 

"Electric purple base with icy blue reflects"

Secret Garden 

"Deep espresso base with bright teal reflects"

Typhoon 

"Deep teal base with green and gold reflects"

Havoc

"Warm red-brown base with teal reflects" 

 Pictures above were taken in natural lighting, no primer! 

Picture above taken with the flash on! So majestic... 

Now for my review of the pigments and eyeshadows

Eyeshadows- 

PROS

Pigmentation 

Price 

Texture (soft and buttery) 

Reflectiveness 

Packaging (arrived in good condition in gorgeous reflective packaging) 

Pan size 

Labeled pans (sticker label on bottom of eyeshadow pan) 

Unique names 

Color selection 

Cruelty free

CONS

Some had fallout (Mai Tai) 

Pigments- 

PROS

Pigmentation 

Reflectiveness 

New packaging (less messy and really pretty) - 

         in the top picture you can see the lids of the new packaging!

Quantity (amount of the pigment) 

Nicely labeled 

Unique names 

Price 

Color selection  

Cruelty free

CONS

Packaging (Hollogram jar broken)  
          **Contacted Customer Service and will be send a replacement jar when new and improved ones come in

Fallout (most pigments will have some fallout) 

Here is the packaging they came in, how gorgeous!!

Thanks for stopping by to read this post! I appreciate all of your support. 

If you haven't got your hands on any Makeup Geek products be sure to check them out, you won't be disappointed! I am very happy with all of my Makeup Geek purchases and these duochromes were no exception. 

Be sure to follow Pretty and Put together on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and like on Facebook for more beauty-related posts! Happy Wednesday! 

 This post was not sponsored. Links are affiliate links.

Favorite Must-Have Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Hey peeps!

So this week I'm going to be telling you what my favorite Makeup Geek Cosmetics eyeshadows are and that I think are must-haves from the brand :) I narrowed it down to my top 7 favorites.. sort of. 

These are my two Z-Palettes filled with both Makeup Geek and Anastasia Beverly Hills single eyeshadows. Both Z-Palettes came from the Makeup Geek website :)
The cool thing about these single shadows and the z-palettes is that you can customize the palettes how you want them, and they are really sturdy to good to travel with! 

Single eyeshadows are $5.99

Single foiled eyeshadows are $9.99
Z-Palettes are $14.99-45.00 

Makeup Geek Cosmetics is an amazing company. Marlena is the CEO of Makeup Geek and just the most beautiful and amazing woman! Check out her YouTube videos for tutorials using Makeup Geek products and more :) You should definitely check them out! They also have a range of blushes, pigments, and brushes that are GORG.

Meet little Vanilla Bean. "Light shimmer with peachy beige undertone." I use this shadow a lot for every day makeup looks. I apply this to the brow bone, center of the lid, and the inner corner of they eye :) 

BLING. "Frosted slightly warm ivory." This is probably the most gorgeous highlight color for the brow bone and inner corner of the eye! It's so pigmented so if you apply too much it's going to be obvious! Actually most Makeup Geek eyeshadows are incredibly pigmented..

Peach Smoothie I use every single day. No joke. You can probably tell. I always use this first as my transition color (in the crease of my eye). I also use it to further blend out any eyeshadows. "Light peach beige with a soft matte finish." You need this in your life. 

Créme Brulee is another great color in the crease to transition into other eyeshadows. "A medium sand color with a soft matte finish." This with peach smoothie and vanilla bean make for a great every day, casual eye look.

Cocoa Bear is another absolute FAVORITE of mine. "Matte reddish brown."  I use this one almost every day too.. It might not look like it because a little of this goes a very long way. This looks great in the outer corner, the whole crease, and the lower lash line. I love it. It looks great with tons of other colors too :)

Bitten... ugh. There are no words. I die. I just die. "Matte deep maroon red." I wear this eyeshadow a ton too. I love this with my brown eyes and red hair. It really pops! It can be worn with either warm or cool toned eyeshadows. Reminds me of a vampire ;) And we all know Ian Somerhalder is sexy..

Last one(s) but certainly not least. This is the new foiled eyeshadow in Starry Eyed. "Light champagne beige with slight pink undertones and a foiled finish." I can't get over this eyeshadow. I've been wearing it almost every day on my eyelid. It's SO beautiful!
The foiled eyeshadows are very smooth to the touch, like velvet :) I like applying the foiled eyeshadows with my finger when I put them on the lid because they apply really well that way. You can also use Fix+ from MAC sprayed on a brush to apply and it really makes them shine and pop. 

I really love all the foiled eyeshadows from Makeup Geek, so I just couldn't list them all. Check out my previous post for swatches of some of the new foiled eyeshadows and pick your favs :)

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you enjoyed and maybe learned something :) Don't forget to check out Makeup Geek Cosmetics. You won't be disappointed! 

Taken with the flash on :)
Picture below taken in natural lighting.

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Makeup Geek NEW Foiled Eyeshadows!

Happy Tuesday!

I literally ran outside to get my package today because.. it was some of the new Makeup Geek Cosmetics foiled eyeshadows I ordered (along with one regular eyeshadow in there)! They came so much faster than I expected with my pre-order! Yay!! I can't wait to create some looks with these for you guys! I already own many of the other foiled eyeshadows that were released in 2014 and I love them so much. 

This blog post will be a review & swatches! Let me know which shadows you want to see me use in a look ;) 

The foiled eyeshadows come in this chic rose gold packaging, and the regular shadows come in the white packaging. They arrived in perfect condition and within less than a week from the day I ordered. They were actually shipped on the day I ordered them!
Foiled shadows are $9.99
Regular shadows are $5.99

The reason they are called foiled eyeshadows is because they actually look like a foiled shine on the eye, without having to add any liquid to them. They are packed with pigment! The formula is very soft and smooth (like most MUG eyeshadows, because they're the best). You can apply them with a brush or just your finger. 

Let's start with Whimsical. This is a "light silvery pink with a foiled finish." This could also double as a highlight because it's such a soft frosted color! Beautiful.

This is Starry Eyed. "Light champagne beige with slight pink undertones and a foiled finish." This reminds me of a lighter version of the color Grand Stand.

This is High Wire! "Medium silver with subtle blue undertones." This color would look amazing on the lid whether you're doing a dramatic look or take it down to a day-to-day look.

This is Day Dreamer. I HAD to have this one. "Light lilac purple with cool undertones and a foiled finish." I loooove my purples.

This is Fantasy.. and doesn't it look like one. "Mint green with a foiled finish."

Meet Pegasus.. Oh my gosh I love this color. Aqua is my FAVORITE right now!! This one probably stood out to me the most out of the new collection :) "Light, bright aqua with a foiled finish." Yaaaaas!

And this random guy.. He's been on my wish list forever so I decided to get him :) This is Shark Bait (ooh-ah-ah). "Blue based green with a matte finish." This one is obviously not a foiled eyeshadow, but isn't is pretty?!

Now for the SWATCHES..

These pictures were taken in natural lighting. You can see how shiny and foiled-looking they are. Gorg.

These pictures were taken with the flash on. WOW right?!

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope this was helpful or you learned something today :)
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Highlighters & How I Apply Them

Hope you had a great Easter!

This week is all about highlighters! I'm in love with highlighters lately (cue the heart-eyed emoji).. Highlighters are used to give a nice glow to the face, it's almost a dewy-looking finish without having dewy skin. They're especially beautiful with a summer glow!

Here are all the ones I have tried. Keep reading to find out my favorites, how I apply them, and SWATCHES :)

So how I apply a highlighter is with either a fan brush like this pink one from BH Cosmetics, or a small tapered brush like the Sigma F35. Honestly I like using the F35 better than a fan brush to apply most days because it applies more product. 

I tap the brush into the highlighter (tap off the excess) and then brush on the top of the cheekbones, bridge of the nose, and cupid's bow (and sometimes the chin). Applying in these areas will really complement your face. If you don't want attention drawn to your nose or chin don't highlight those areas. 

Sand from Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit in light is great for just a very subtle, soft, natural glow to the skin. This highlighter doesn't come off as pigmented as others when you apply it with a brush. If you want more color payoff apply it with your finger :)

I use this on days when I'm not wearing much makeup or underneath these other highlighters. $14

NYX highlighter/illuminator in Ritualistic is a gorgeous silver highlight with a little gold reflect. I wouldn't recommend this for dark skin tones because it could come off too white and look chalky. 

This was the first highlighter I ever tried and I loved it! Plus it's really affordable. If you're just starting with highlighters and don't want to splurge, try the illuminators by NYX! $8.99

When I got this highlighter from theBalm this was all I used for months! Meet Mary-Lou Manizer ;) I just love theBalm products because they all have a great sense of humor & adorable packaging. This one is more expensive but I absolutely love it (comparable to Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone). This one has more of a golden glow to really complement that tanned skin! $24

I want to cry because as you can see, I opened this today and it was shattered (probably from traveling home)! I pressed it back together the best I could :( 

This is the heaven of all highlighters for me right now, Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal. This is a "golden opal pearl" color, it's absolutely stunning. I am SO, SO, SO in love with this!! I took Jaclyn Hill's recommendation on this and I don't know if I could live without ;) Opal is a bit pricey but totally worth it, highlighters last a very long time. 

For paler skin I would recommend the color Moonstone. $38

Now another stunner, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light! This is my most recently purchased highlighter and I have just been alternating between this and Becca Opal. 

This gives a very natural and gorgeous glow. Jaclyn Hill always recommends this for brides because it just looks like you're "glowing from within." I wear this more than Becca Opal because it's just so natural looking. Some days I'll apply this and then later if I go out at night I'll apply Becca Opal. Again, this is on the pricier side and I'm sure there are some comparable products, but If you want to splurge, I highly recommend! $45 

Here are some swatches of all the highlighters I mentioned! The top is with the flash on, and the bottom is in natural lighting.

Thanks so much for reading this post! I hope you loved it and maybe learned something new!! Follow Pretty and Put Together on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and like on Facebook to stay updated on the latest posts :) Click on my name below to follow my personal page! xoxo