Ulta Eye Shadow Singles Swatches and Two Looks

Ever since I discovered Sephora Ulta has felt like the poor man's version of it.  But really, that isn't true.  What I like about Ulta is that they have a little bit of everything.  They have many things that Sephora doesn't like lower end drugstore makeup (including NYX!), nail polishes usually only available at salons like OPI, candles, and an extensive selection of haircare tools and products.  All of this along with higher end brands like Urban Decay.

Like Sephora they also have their own house brand of makeup which I have overlooked until pretty recently.  I was actually able to find a foundation from their brand that was light enough and had really cool tones for my super pink skin.  It also had light coverage which is what i was looking for.  I actually picked it over Laura Mercier's tinted moisturizer because I like the way it looked that much.

This post is about Ulta's eye shadow singles.  They retail for $7.00, but ALWAYS seem to be on sale.  I bought mine while they were 2 for $6.  I wouldn't pay $7 each for them (there aren't many single eye shadows I would pay more than $7 for because I prefer palettes), but at $3 they are a bargain.  The eyeshadows come in a large selection of colors and all that I have tried have been decently to impressively pigmented.

The colors I have are:

• Tempted- medium violet with pink shimmer
• Plum Noir- blackened violet with pink shimmer (very similar to Tempted, but slightly darker)
• Key West- a light cyan blue shimmer
• Luna- a medium cerulean blue with gold shimmer
• Sapphire- a blackened dark blue with lighter blue shimmer

Here are the swatches and two different looks I did with the shadows.

From left: Tempted, Plum Noir, Key West, Luna, and Sapphire

These are swatches dry with no base.

 On my arm Tempted and Plum Noir are nearly identical.  And Sapphire looks really blackened with most of it's shimmer lost.

Here are Tempted, Plum Noir, and Sapphire over a sticky base (Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy) to show the shade difference and nuances more clearly.


Here are two looks I did with the shadows.

I used Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy as a base for this look.  This is Key West on the inner third of my lid, Luna on the outer two thirds and smudged below the lower lashes, and Sapphire in the crease and outer third of my lid, as well as a random white shimmer to highlight and blend out the edges.  I used Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner in Perversion in a thin line on the upper lash line and on my water line.  I topped Perversion on the upper lid with Urban Decay's El Dorado eye liner.  I also used El Dorado  at the base of my bottom lashes.

And the second look:

For this I used MAC's Greasepaint Stick in French Quarter as an eye shadow base and a liner on the upper lashes and water line.  This is Key West in the inner corner, Luna all over the lid, and Tempted in the crease and smudged below the lower lashes.

 

Available:

• $7 each at Ulta's website and physical stores (where they are often on sale)

 Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!