More ColourPop Pressed Shadows!

Recently, I’ve been totally enamored with iridescent, cool-toned eye looks. I’ve always been drawn to sheer, shimmery shadows in pale lilacs, dusty blues, and mossy greens. While the rich warm tones we’ve been seeing in eyeshadow palettes everywhere in the last couple years have been lovely, I’m really happy to see brands embracing cool tones again. It’s refreshing, actually.

Because of the overwhelming prevalence of warm-toned eyeshadows and my desire to build a palette of my own, I have started collecting single shadows (as you can read about here). Thus far, I only own eight, all of which are from ColourPop. I’d love to try some other brands–namely, Makeup Geek and Nabla Cosmetics–but I keep pondering the idea of getting a few more from ColourPop. They’re SO good for such an amazing price ($4 a pop, if you choose pan only).

Anyway, I thought I’d share the four newest in my collection, which I’ve been using now for some time and–spoiler alert–are all really good:

(From left to right: Take the Lead, Cloud Nine, Tea Garden, and Glass Bull)

Take the Lead
This ashy grey-brown is perfect for contouring the eye and even your cheekbones, too. Admittedly, I thought it would lean more brown when I ordered this color and was a little disappointed, until I used it. A little goes a long way, and if you use a light hand, this color looks just like a natural shadow. I particularly enjoy using this to carve out a fake crease to define my hooded eyes.

Cloud Nine
Somewhere between plum and chocolate brown, this is an excellent color for deepening the outer corner of the eye or lining the lid. It pairs nicely with Take the Lead to create a subtle, daytime smoky eye but can also be built up to a more dramatic effect.

Tea Garden
Of all the eyeshadows I own, across all singles and palettes, this is the most unique. It’s like this weird, intensely shimmery, reddish-green duo-chrome. It changes depending on the light, the angle, and how it’s layered (e.g., by itself or on top of another color). As with many shimmers, this applies best using a finger.

Glass Bull
Duo-chromes that shift between lavender and blue are not hard to find these days, as lavender is a bit on trend at the moment. I’m absolutely in love with this version. It is so reflective and creates a sort of faux glossy lid. Although it appears Tea Garden and Glass Bull would have the same finish, Glass Bull is more sheer. This makes it lend particularly well to being used as a wash of shimmer all over the lid by itself, in addition to pairing with other shadows.

(From left to right: Cloud Nine, Take the Lead, Tea Garden, and Glass Bull)

Here’s the look I created using all of these colors, plus a couple others to round it out. I think they pair nicely together. I’ve also listed the steps to replicate the look, below:

Step 1: Apply eyeshadow primer or concealer as a base and, using a fluffy brush, set lightly with a nude powder. I used Frankie Rose Cosmetics’ concealer and ColourPop’s Hear Me Out.

Step 2: Using a fluffy brush, apply a light tan transition color in the crease (or slightly above the natural crease if you have hooded eyes like me). I used Force of Nature from the original Tartlette palette, which Carly talks about here.

Step 3: With a tapered brush, lightly carve out a crease with Take the Lead using soft windshield wiper motions. I did this a couple times on each side to slowly build up the depth. I placed the shadow a little above my natural crease, but lower than where I applied the first color.

Step 4: Using your finger, apply Tea Garden to the mobile lid about three-fourths of the way across, starting at the outer corner. Blend slightly upward using your finger.

Step 5: Also using your finger, apply Glass Bull to the inner corner, blending outward as far as possible over Tea Garden to form a gradient effect. I also blended this slightly upward into Take the Lead.

Step 6: Lightly deepen the outer corners of your eyes with Cloud Nine. For this, I used a Zoeva 224 and sort of just fluffed it into the outer corners. Then, dip a liner brush into the same eyeshadow and lightly line the lid, dragging the color a little past the outer corner into a wing.

Step 7: Using a small detail brush, add whatever highlighter you used on your cheekbones to the inner corner of your eyes. I used Here Kitty Kitty by ColourPop.

Step 8: Finish off with your favorite mascara! I used one by DHC.

And that’s it! Hope you enjoyed this post, and thanks for reading 🙂

xoxo Kelli