It’s June which means summer is officially around the corner. Los Angeles is located in a desert and is on the ocean, and as such it has weird weather patterns: our summers can tend to be cool. But the rest of the normal world is heading into heat and humidity and I swear, there is nothing like summer to make me want to pull out the COLOR. (Or for my British readers– COLOUR).

I celebrated with a mini-eyeshadow haul from Makeup Geek.com. (Purchased before the beauty ban, I swear!).  Marlena, the make up artist behind the line, had a one week 20% off sale and I have been curious about her eyeshadows… in the pictures and videos I have seen of her she tends wear colorful looks and I guessed her brand would be the right one to try some colorful eyeshadows. She didn’t disappoint.

I ordered a kit that Marlena put together and advertised as her “Eyeshadow Color Expansion Kit” (Z palette came separately) available here. I switched out a couple of shades here at home so this palette does not represent exactly what is sold online (i.e., I added the NYX shade).

Row 1: Poolside, Shimmermint, Envy

Row 2: Unicorn, Sensuous

Row 3: NYX Golden Orange, Chikadee, Razzleberry

I love the names of her shadows– they reflect the colors and make sense.

I swatched all of the colors over a NYX Jumbo Pencil in Cottage Cheese.  I also swatched a Milani shade that I love. I am hoping to depot it and add it to the Z palette, although all I have managed to do so far is crack the shadow.

Here is the jumbo pencil so you can see the sheen it has naturally. Wearing it under colorful eyeshadows intensifies them, although it can lead them to crease a bit.

Row 1 L-R: Poolside, Shimmermint, Envy
Row 2 L-R: Unicorn, Sensuous

(Apologies for the blurriness, it was hard to get my camera to focus… I AM saving for a new one….)

Here are some of my initial thoughts– not a review as I haven’t had a chance to wear them over time. In Row 1, Poolside is my favorite. Poolside is a beautiful, beautiful blue with great color payoff. I was a disappointed in Envy. In the pan it looked like the richest, most velvety green shade with blue sheen running throughout it. Swatched, it comes off as a greyish green, and isn’t as exciting as it is in the pan. Shimmermint is a great shade, but Smashbox makes the exact same one with more pigmentation and color payoff (blog post on it linked here).  In the second row, Unicorn is another truly unusual color with wonderful pigmentation; Sensuous is a great shade, but a more common shade. Still, it is fantastic if you don’t have anything else like it.

Row 3 L-R: Milani Flare, NYX Golden Orange, MUG Chikadee, MUG Razzleberry

In Row 3, Razzleberry is incredible. I don’t think I have ever seen a shade like this before. It has gorgeous golden flecks running throughout. Likewise, Chikadee is a really interesting and unusual color. I didn’t expect to like it but it makes a great, blendable color to lighten up more intense oranges and reds.

First impressions have been great! Overall, I really like these MUG eyeshadows. They are fairly affordable– currently $6 to $8 for a single shadow depending on whether you get it with packaging or without. I think Marlena has given a lot of thought to what is already available by different companies, and has come up with shades that are unusual. I appreciate that.  I also really appreciate how easy the colors are to use. If you are someone just starting out with colorful eyeshadow, it could be daunting to pick up a colorful shade that is difficult to work with. These are so easy to apply and blend. The quality of the shadows vary (as do shadows from any line), but overall range from good to excellent, with a wonderful creaminess, easy blendability, great color payoff (in most cases), and of course FABULOUS color!

Happy summer my brazen beauties! What color are you going to be rockin’ this summer?

Check out my post on rockin’ a bit of color, linked here.