Overall Beauty Mineral Shadows

I have to say, these swatches do NOT give proper justice to the dazzle and coverage of Minerals by Overallbeauty.  I got to sample 4 eye shadows and they are AWESOME!!!!

First, I want you to know that I am a huge, huge fan of mineral makeup.  I seriously have about 200 different mineral shadows.  (Hey, you have to give me a break...they don't spoil and I've been collecting them for almost 8 years!)  And with that, I'm going to be a self-proclaimed expert customer on them.

Here's what I got...

The shadow brush is from Overall Beauty too.  It's a hypo-allergenic nylon brush that works like a charm!!  I haven't used any other shadow brush for overall shadow applications since I got this.  I did worry a bit that I had ruined it when I used my brush cleaner. But after it dried, I fluffed out the bristles and they fell right into place again.  Sweet!

That little, clear plastic bag that the shadows came in is cool too.  Not flimsy and I can use it over and over.

Here's a close up of the shadows...

Not a disappointment in any of these shades.  They sparkle, they shimmer and they perform.  If there is a downside, there is just one; there is a sticker on the top, as shown here.  And, one on the bottom of the pot too, thus, it's difficult to see what the color is in the pot.  But, the print on the top, labeling its name, is very easy to read and see.

My swatches do NOT show you the deep pigmentation and magical sparkle these colors have.  I'm really disappointed that I could not get a half way decent photo of these...

Gads!!!  My forearm looks damn scary!!  The bulge is a vein!!  I must have pumped iron on that day.  OK, moving on.  From left to right, Heart Breaker, Honeydew, Lavender, Fairy Dust.  This photo was taken indoors by the sunny window.

Same order here in the sun-shiny light...

I don't get it.  The Fairy Dust is super-duper sparkly and the others IRL were much heavier in color.  That's so sad because they are simply some of the most beautiful shadows I have in my collection.  I tried swatching them on my eyelid too but that didn't photo well, either (I'll get better at it, promise).  If you go to Overall Beauty's site, the swatch there is much better than my feeble attempt here.

The first color I swatched is 'Heart Breaker.'  It's a red brick, terra cotta color with those fab sparkles. I didn't think I'd like this color (terra cotta reminds me of when I unjoyfully lived in Santa Fe...everything was that color!), but once I got it on my eyelid, I seriously gasped.  Unlike terra cotta, this baby had shimmer...lots of it.  It applied like silk; not a bit patchy.  I did use Urban Decay Primer on my lids, and, did for all these apps.

Then there is Honeydew.  It surprised me too.  The color reminds me of vanilla ice cream.  You know the kind that has a 'vanilla' color to it?  That's this one and with that high shimmery sparkle.  I used it as a highlighter on my brow bone and got mega 'pop.'  This could be added to a body lotion and it would make a beautiful body shimmer.  I used it in some leave-in conditioner and loved the sparkles in my hair.  Just a tiny bit was used.  I didn't want to look like I had a collision with a fairy!  Perfect glide on app, here too.

The third color is Lavender.  I think of Lavender as pink's fraternal twin.  This soft purple doesn't have the sparkles as much as it has an iridescent sheen. If you are bold enough, it works as a brow bone highlighter.  I also tried it as an overlay on other shadows and it 'irridescent-ed' them.  (Making up words is perfectly normal in nail/makeup blog world, I have come to realize.)  I played around with Lavender and added a tiny speck of it to a powder blush to give it a dewy look.  I even brushed a bit onto a matte lipstick on the lips and that made a whole new color out of it. Nice!

Lastly, there is Fairy Dust.  Because I have already gone on and on, I won't list all the properties of this multi-tasker; there's just too many.  Maybe endless!  I used it as a brow bone highlighter but it didn't pull off the look I like for this.  However, it was a star when I patted it over a finished shadow look.  When you think of what color Fairy Dust could be, you're apt to be right on the money with this fun one.  Sparkly...check.  Twinkly...check.   Irridescent...triple check.  It flashes pink and lavender sparkles that are tiny so it isn't like glitter.  I did try this on with a lipstick and you need the tiniest, tiny amount.  My first use I used too much and looked like my lips where ready to be a stand-in for Lady Gaga. =o
But I loved rubbing a bit onto my leave-in hair conditioner.  (You know by now I LOVE me some...OK...a LOT of sparkle and glitter.  This blog could have so easily be called Glitter is My Crack but the exotic beauty Blix called dibs on it first.)

It's easy to see how much fun I had testing these mineral shadows out.  And having the perfect brush to use made it a winning team.  If you like your shadows to be bold, pigmented and go on easy...here's your grail.  But even if you like a more demure look, don't shy away from Overall Beauty's Minerals.  You control how much you want to apply.  Having said that, you get a lot of mileage on these shadows; a little goes a long way.

Oh, just one more thing to show you...

All these goodies where sent to me by Kim Snyder, owner of Overall Beauty.  And she sent them to me along with this handmade pouch!  Pink!!!  Cute!!!  Gosh, and it was even lined!  So, add quality in with the cuteness.  You can see the tag of Little Worm's Etsy site.  Not expensive either. 

Which color do you like the best?  Do you use minerals?  And, do you have over 200 different colors?  Just how would you use that cute pouch?

All these products were sent to me by Kim at www.overallbeauty.com for my personal use and honest review.