Spellbound Cosmetics Swatches and Review

Boo, Mondays suck! So I figured I would help your Monday be a little less suck-tacular and show you a few things that totally DON'T suck.  And by don't suck I mean completely awesome!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the fabulous Jynx of Spellbound Cosmetics asking if I would want to review some of their eyeshadows. Well, duh! Of course I said yes.  She asked me what colors I wanted and I asked for her to pick for me, as long as they were a good representation of her line.  I was surprised when I opened the package and found she had sent 27 sample baggies! Wow, super generous! I recieved her package a few weeks ago and the reason it has taken me this long to review is just the sheer amount of eyeshadows I had to swatch and pictures to edit!  It was really fun, though! I'm such a dork and love swatching.

 Be prepared- this is a very picture heavy post.

I like that Spellbound Cosmetics has their own webstore, although the aesthetic is a bit sparse. I know the site is still in it's infancy, but I would like to see it develop it's own identity. You can find the shadow by color and size (sample or full size) so everything is laid out well.  Each listing has the complete ingredients for the shadow and a picture of the shadow worn on the eye.  The eye swatches frequently have 2 shadows worn at a time, which can be a bit confusing, even though the colors are indicated.  The eye swatches are helpful, but I really would like to see each listing have a non eye swatch as well as I feel they give a better representation of the product. That's just personal preference though!

The samples came wrapped nicely in this pink tissue paper.  It's just a small thing but I like this extra touch and that they weren't just shoved randomly into the bubble mailer.

Woo, look at them all!  Currently only the full size jars come labeled with ingredients and such but they are working on getting printed labels made for the sample baggies. Sample baggies come in a 2 inch square bag and contain 1/8th of a teaspoon. Full sizes come in a 5 gram jar with a sifter and a sticker over the sifter. Full-sized jars retail for $3.99 and sample baggies retail for $1 each.  I don't have any full sizes to show you, but I think the samples will look a lot better and more professional when they get the printed labels.

As for the shadows themselves, they're great. The line has a good mix of neutrals, brights, shimmers, and satin finish shades. About a third of the ones I received are more basic colors (but still gorgeous), and the other two thirds are more nuanced and different.  Just for those wondering, Spellbound says they don't repackage their shadows and I believe them. The owner, Jynx is very open, knowledgeable, and willing to work with her customers.  Check their "About Us" page here. (I hate to even mention the dreaded "R" word but it is a big issue in the indie makeup arena and I know people would be wondering).

Most of the shades impressed me with their intensity even swatched dry (they all looked great over a sticky base). But there were a few of them that dry it almost seems like they didn't have a base because they didn't "stick" at all to my skin and sheered out instantly.  Even packing them on didn't help. I only noticed this with a few of the shades (I'll mention which ones after the swatches of them) but swatching/wearing them over any type of base alleviated the problem.  The other 95% of the shades applied like a dream even dry.  I didn't experience fallout with any of shades.  Sometimes I feel that indie companies get a little overzealous with the sparkle and put more than the shadow can handle causing the excess to go everywhere, aka fallout. I know there isn't a separate ingredient called "sparkle" or whatever, but I'm just trying to make a point. These were formulated very well, especially for a newer company.

On to the swatches! I was going to swatch these by color, but I feel like the colors get lost amongst each other when swatched like this, so I decided to just go alphabetically. As usually these are all swatched dry on top and over a sticky base on the bottom.  Also, each is photographed in a group of 6 first and then broken down into groups of 3.

From left- Anubis, Apollo, Artemis, Compassion, Conspiracy, Creeper

 All of these shade applied gorgeously.  Look at how some of the shadows look almost exactly the same dry as it does over a sticky base. Sorry for the messy swatch of Anubis. Any mess is completely the fault of my fat, clumsy sausage fingers and not of the shadow itself.

From left- Anubis, Apollo, Artemis

From left- Compassion, Conspiracy, Creeper

From left- Demeter, Easter Bunny, Eruption, Fools Gold, Garnet, Hellion

Easter Bunny was one of those that was a bit sheer on it's own, but I actually used this one in a look I'll show you at the end and it came out great. It would also make a great highlight color.

From left- Demeter, Easter Bunny, Eruption

From left- Fools Gold, Garnet, Hellion

From left- Hestia, Jupiter, Lacey, Napalm Tang, Null, Phoenix

Jupiter was another one that was weirdly sheer dry.  But I don't care just because look how gorgeous it is in the bottom swatch! Napalm Tang is also really pretty and one of my favorite oranges ever (and I have a thing for orange eyeshadows). Hestia surprised me with it's unexpected depth and different colored sparkles. I also love Phoenix, the electric blue at the end.

From left- Hestia, Jupiter, Lacey

From left- Napalm Tang, Null, Phoenix

From left- Ruby, Saffy, Shaded, Smog, Stardust, Tangerine

Saffy was another sheer one, but it looks gorgeous over a sticky base like the others. I really like Ruby; it's super nuanced. Smog was another surprise favorite with it's pink shift.

From left- Ruby, Saffy, Shaded

From left- Smog, Stardust, Tangerine

And the last 3!

From left- Temptation, Venus, Vigilant

Temptation was the last shade that had the sheerness issue but as per usual it looked great over a sticky base.

This is Easter Bunny on the lid, Garnet in the crease, and Lacey to highlight. The eyeliner is Urban Decay's Ransom.

I used these colors- Artemis (yellow) in the inner corner, Napalm Tang (orange) on the inner half of the lid, Venus (pink) on the outer half of the lid, Phoenix (blue) in the crease, Temptation (green) below the lower lash line, and Lacey to highlight.

I need to work some more on my eyeshadow skillz, but not bad for a noob.

Would I purchase from this company? Most definitely!  And I would recommend them to all you guys also!

Available:

• Spellbound Cosmetics' products can be purchased from their website.

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

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided to me for review purposes from Spellbound Cosmetics. As always, all opinions are completely my own.