Evil Shades Review

I didn't intend to take so long to post swatches of these... What I really wanted to do was post a bunch of looks using these colors, but I've been in such a creative rut lately... I haven't been able to think of any cool combinations! D'oh.

But here are some swatches from Evil Shades- a company owned by a fellow blogger- EvilAngel from Black Nail Polish and Lipgloss!

Some of the darker shades, indoors and in sunlight.
(Left to right)
Devil's Bonfire, Necropolis, Acolyte, Double Barrel, Abyss, Zombie, Souls Torment, Mordant.

Some of the colorful shades, indoors and in sunlight.
(left to right)
Heartless Queen, Errinye, Neritic, Mad People, Twinkle Twinkle, Steele Green, Reondite, Wanderflower, Nymphette, Chusi, Nightshade

As always, you can click the images to enlarge and view more detail.

I also got to try a blush and a cuticle creme sample (not pictures, hopefully to do another review later!) and these really pigmented Deviant lipsticks:





(left to right)
Primrose Path, Corruption, Devilista

So now that you've seen some examples of the types of fun colors she sells, I bet you're wondering about the formula..... And I'm pleased to say that it's really nice!

I haven't used all of the shades for full looks yet but I have used about half of them on the eyes and I am pretty impressed. They're really smooth and pigmented. I normally have to use mineral-type shadows wet in order to achieve decent opacity and pigmentation but these were pretty good on their own. Even better wet. All of the colors have something special to them- they didn't look very vibrant in the plastic sample bags but once you put them on your skin they pop- some have secret colored shimmer, some have glitter (holo glitter too!), some have a faint reflective sheen to them.

The lipsticks were fantastic. I normally don't wear lipstick because it's drying and these aren't. These are almost a balm, but super crazy pigmentation. Devilista was like WHOA- amazing coverage and POW! color. You will want to use a lip brush with that one, color like that needs a precision application! Corruption is my favorite and I wear it pretty often now- a soft silvery-grey-purple shade with a little blue shimmer. Primrose Path is rather demure but works nicely to balance a dark and dramatic eye. On top of the great pigmentation and creamy formula, they smell nice. Really nice. I don't know exactly like what, but it's sweet and pleasant. I'm super into my lip products being scented- I've been known to not buy lip products because they were unscented- and I'm quite happy that these have a nice sweet scent to them! Makes them a little more fun.

There were a few things I didn't like. They are purely my personal preference and are not flaws with the product itself, but I felt I should give my honest opinion.

My main disappointment is with the packaging. It's very plain and a bit home-made looking. One one hand it adds to the charm and indie feeling, but on the other hand it seems a bit unprofessional. It is purely aesthetic- the product inside is great! But the little bags and plain black lip balm tubes with slightly off-center stickers don't seem to reflect what's inside. I do understand that it's only packaging and that it may not be feasible financially or time-wise for a one-woman-business to have custom labels and packaging for all their products.

The other thing that I didn't quite enjoy was that the samples come in bags. Again, this is my own personal preference and doesn't reflect the quality of the product. Some people love bag samples because they're less expensive and easier to store. I find them messy to use. For one, it's hard to get the pigment onto the brush because it's all settled onto the sides of the bag and I usually get my fingers a little dirty cause it ends up on the sides of the brush. Another reason why I prefer jars over bags is that I can't use the pigments wet when they're in a bag like I can when they're in a jar. In a jar I can put some mixing medium on the lid and mix a little of the shadow into it. And one other reason I don't like bag samples is that they don't make the colors look nice! Some of the shimmer tends to stick to the bag while some of the more colorful or pigmented parts in the shadow sink to the bottom, giving the illusion that it's a plain frosty shimmer... Only when you open the bag and touch the shadow do you see the true color.

I can see why the packaging would be this way- it keeps costs down! Makes it more accessible. No one likes to pay more for a fancy package, it's what's inside that counts! Except... I totally would pay more for a fancy package, it's part of the fun of makeup for me. But, that's just me.

I did remember to take pictures of one of the looks I did using Evil Shades (and there was also that look I did with Heartless Queen, my favorite... unfortunately I was using that damn Falsies mascara so my lashes look like crap!):



I don't remember everything I used for this look, but I do know that I used Acolyte and Devil's Bonfire mixed together in the crease. I think the lid color may have been Fyrinnae Electric Stardust. You can see how nice and sparkly and rich the crease color looks- that's not even used wet!

Evil Shades. Cool names. Creative colors. Nice formula on all the products I've tried. Very affordable prices. I also really, really love the dark alternative theme of the company- much better suited for me :)

Hopefully I'll find some creativity and get over my makeup block (kinda like writer's block?) so I can post some better looks using these!

(These products were sent to me for review.)