Inglot Eyeshadows - Overview

As noted in my last haul, I had an amazing run of swaps. One of my best swaps was for a complete 10 pan palette of Inglot's neutral shadows. I've been playing with them for the past 3 or so weeks, and have finally decided they're pretty awesome.

Let's first review the palette it's self. It's extremely well made, heavy, and thick. MAC's palettes feel flimsy when compared to this, and very cheap. The top, or lid, of the palette is held in place by very strong magnets, one in each corner, and several palettes can be stacked together, and held together by the same magnets. Pretty nifty. My only beef here is how hard it is to remove shadows from the palette. I had to use a thumbtack to leverage the shadows out of their cells.

With regards to the shadows... I'm extremely impressed. MAC may need to step up their game. 9 of the 10 shadows I have are pigmented, creamy, blendable, etc. The only one I have issues with is Matte 378, and those are minor (it's a touch chalky). Pearls seem to be my favorite finish. I wish they shadows had names, but, with a seemingly endless number of shadows, I can appreciate the simplicity of numbers in this case. I also find Inglot's website to be a little... irritating. I couldn't find a description on their website for some of their proprietary finishes... like "Double SP" and "AMC." At least MAC describes what veluxe pearl means.

Color descriptions! Yay! I took pictures of each set of swatches with and without flash, because the pearl finish is like the veluxe pearl finish from MAC - metallic and beautiful. Shine 110 is a lot like Shroom on me - not visible, but the effect is lovely. A soft, sheer, slightly golden glow. Pearl 430 is a very true gold. Pearl 406 is a bronze with a touch (a very light touch) of taupe. Double SP 460 is a slightly chalky purple-brown. Pearl 423 is a shimmery version of Double SP 460. Here they are with the flash:

Pearl 393 reminds me of MACs Nylon shadow, only not as pigmented (which is good for me). It's an orangey highlight. Pearl 405 is a peached or rose gold. Matte 360 is like a more pigmented version of MAC's Wedge eyeshadow. Matte 378 is a little chalky on the swatch, darker, cooler version of Matte 360. AMC 53 is a satiny brown. In the pan, the sparkles looks sort of blue, but that does not translate. Here they are with the flash:

Pricing on these is all sorts of awesome. No, really. Buying potted eyeshadows means you'll have to pay $12. Buying them as part of the "Freedom System," what Inglot calls their palette system, is a much better deal. Eyeshadows like what I have are $5 each. Yes. $5. The palettes range in price from $6 for a 2-pan palette, to $35 for a 40-pan palette. MAC, for comparison, asks for $15 for a potted shadow, and $11.50 for a propan, plus $7 for a 4-pan palette, or $16 for a 15-pan palette (gah, when was the last time I bought a palette? I don't think I've ever paid more than $12 for one!).  

Rereading this review, it seems I used the word "awesome" so much that it needs a vacation. But, honestly, these shadows are worth the hype. They're cheap, the quality overall is great (and even those I noted as chalky are absolutely workable). Their texture is divine, and their color selection cannot be beat. I'm sold on them. Am I swapping away my abundance of MAC shadows? No, but I don't forsee buying any MAC colors that are not unique to my collection. Inglot's minimum for free shipping is rather high ($150), but their standard shipping fees aren't outrageous ($7 - $10 to me). They current sell online to the US, the UK, and Australia. They also have a handful of stores in the US, including a counter in a New York Macy's. I assume they're more plentiful in Europe, especially in Poland, where the brand originated.

Overall, these are worth it. If you're trying to find a variety of finishes, shades, and like the idea of palette systems, Inglot is definitely the way to go.

Haul! Woooo!

Okay, so this isn't the smallest haul, and it isn't the largest. It's medium sized, I suppose, in terms of monetary investment on my part. Almost all of this haul was collecting through swapping, which is awesome for my bank account!

My Fred Meyer still had the Wet'n'Wild summer trios! I couldn't believe it, so I grabbed two (I think a giveaway may be in order!), along with two of the Fantasy Makers nail polishes, Black Magic and Purple Potion. I also picked up a few things from Essence, one of the "holographic" (their word, not mine) nail polishes in Blue Ray, and a gel liner in Berlin Rocks. I finally managed to swap for Deborah Lippman's Across the Universe and MAC's Studio Tech creme foundation in NC15 (I think it's too dark, but I'll try it anyway). While perusing Etsy, I found a relatively new shop called Muse Minerals, and I picked up a few samples as well as 3 larger sized eyeshadows.

Missha had an amazing offer available through Facebook to buy their Cho Bo Yang BB Cream for $9.99, where the "normal" price is $45.99 or so. Because I registered with the site, and this was my first purchase, they also sent a full size of their Perfect Cover BB Cream in shade No. 23, which is a bit too dark for me, but again, I can at least try it around the house to see what I think. I also chose the Tea Tree Sheet Mask, mostly to try it out (and it's $1.99!). Finally, they included a nice selection of samples.

I've been dying to try Inglot, and was very lucky to set up a swap for a complete 10-pan Freedom palette (I'll add the color names in my full review later on). And, I was able to work MAC's Pro Longlash mascara in the deal! In a separate swap, I was also able to get a new in box They're Real! mascara from Benefit! So excited to try these... which mascara to try first, though?

Finally, the swap I'm probably the most excited about! My swap partner has not yet received her end, but I can't help but be super excited about this.... Sleek! The entire nude collection include Bare Minimum pout polish, Suede blush and Au Naturel palette. She also picked Life's a Peach blush, Pink Cadillac pout polish and the Oh So Special palette... and Cadbury chocolates! I hope my package arrives soon!

So... all in all... yeah. I have a lot new stuff to try. Out of pocket, this wasn't too bad at all, because a lot of it was swaps. What've you recently added to your stash? What would you most like to see reviews of?