US Beauty Haul & First Impressions

It's been absolutely ages since I did one of these US-themed hauls but I recently did an order or two and wanted to share my thoughts so far on the products I picked up!

I always order ColourPop directly from them - I feel like I end up repeating myself on stuff like shipping and customs, so I'll be as brief as possible. Essentially, if you only want 1 or 2 products then you'll pay $10 for shipping and no customs (just ensure your order stays under £15 in value). If I'm going to spend more than that then I just go all out and spend the $50 needed to get free international shipping, though that means paying customs. This is £8 (a pesky 'handling fee' from Royal Mail) + 20% of the value of your order (VAT). So make sure you understand how much this will cost you before you order.

Your order will be shipped from US to UK by courier but then passed to Royal Mail to deliver, so if your tracking info drops off; don't panic! I don't think I've ever waited more than a week between dispatch and delivery, which is pretty good, though at busy times when there are big launches ColourPop can take a while to actually send out your order! I've never had any problems and usually pay via PayPal.

I was a huuuuuge fan of the original KaePop collection so really wanted to check out the new additions, plus I wanted the Yes Please palette after it sold out in minutes on its original launch.

ColourPop x Karreuche FemRose She Eyeshadow Palette | $16 | What really attracted me to this palette was the interesting duo chrome finish of several of the shades. The first half of the top row is a bit of a 'much of a muchness' to me; I don't think it's necessary to have 3 similar light-coloured highlighting shades. All of the mattes are neatly arranged on the bottom row and they all work nicely with the warm rose-mauve colour theme going on here. The only shade that's a little tricky to work with is Gal. It's odd because it's billed as 'metallic', which is the same as most of the other shimmers but it's more like a pressed glitter pigment that you have to pat on with a flat shader brush. Overall, I really like the shades and the formula is a lot nicer than the original single shadows I tried from ColourPop. They blend very smoothly, including the mattes, and have great colour payoff. The longevity is decent but not the best. However I still think this will be a favourite of mine going into autumn.

ColourPop x Karreuche Fem Rosa Ultra Glossy Lip in Polished | $6 | This was actually a free gift when you spent a certain amount on the collection. It's such an interesting product but I have no idea how I'll wear it yet... It's a gloss but is very pigmented and opaque. The colour itself is a warm brown-bronze with a subtle golden shimmer. I'll keep you posted once I've experimented a little. 

ColourPop x Karreuche Fem Rosa Ultra Satin Lip in Mrs | $6 | I love the Ultra Satin Lip formula; it's like a liquid lipstick but less drying! They're very long-wearing and I'm happy that they've brought back the old doe foot applicator. This is described as a 'deepened coral', though it's definitely brighter than I expected. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as I think it'll look great when I'm on holiday!

ColourPop Gimme More Highlighter Palette | $18 | I really didn't need this but curiosity got the better of me! I actually don't find the formula to be the same as in the pressed powder duos, which was a little disappointing, as I did thought that they were slightly smoother and more pigmented, however for the price it is still pretty good. The shade Total Package is slightly glittery, but otherwise, these add a nice dewy sheen to the skin.  My favourite so far is Bigger and Better, a champagne-gold. One drawback is that I can't imagine anyone who would use every single shade on their face. For me, I can wear them all except Upgrade, which I use as an inner corner eye highlight. The other shades are really pretty and warm-toned too, plus look very similar to the Anastasia Nicole Guerriero palette.

ColourPop Yes Please Eyeshadow Palette | $16 | This is a super-affordable rumoured dupe of the Natasha Denona Sunset palette. The shades are colourful, without being anything too crazy, so were perfect for dipping my toe out of my comfort zone. I've had mixed fortunes with ColourPop's powder shadows; these are pigmented and they blend smoothly. I haven't played with every single shade yet but none of them seem to be duds so far! I do still think that they aren't as long-wearing as they could be. I use my usual primers with them and I still feel like things look slightly faded and muddy by the end of the day. I also think this palette is in desperate need of a darker liner colour and a shimmery champagne highlighting shade. The pan size is quite small and I also don't like the white packaging as it stains easily. However, for the price-point, I do still think this is a lovely collection of warm shadows and I can't wait to use it for some fun, summery makeup looks!

Small Empty Palette | $7 | Colourpop eyeshadow pans are actually very slightly smaller than most, so I wasn't sure how this would work but decided to give it a go! Luckily, this is perfect for any standard eyeshadow pans (I have a mix of MAC, Makeup Geek and Anastasia Beverly Hills in the below image) and it's so compact. It also looks a bit prettier than most of these kinds of magnetic palettes, whilst remaining very affordable.

Frustratingly, literally a day after ordering from Juvia's place (after weeks of deliberation), BeautyBay announced they were stocking their products! With the shipping and customs, I only paid about £8 extra as I had a discount code (the delivery is just like ColourPop's, as is the website's interface, which had me wondering if the two are in some way affiliated) but of course I've linked BeautyBay down below now. I love what this brand stands for and it's great to support black-owned beauty brands when so many of the household names are still far from inclusive. 

The Nubian palette was my natural ally within the collection, however I just wanted to try something that was different from all the other eyeshadow palettes I own. There are a lot of really colourful palettes that Juvia's Place create, however I wanted something that was still going to be sort-of within my comfort zone.

Juvia's Place The Saharan Palette | £28 | This palette is just beyond beautiful! It does come in cardboard packaging but it feels sturdy I like that the shades all have names that fit in with the feel of the brand and that they're printed beneath each eyeshadow. The colour and design is stunning and so unique in my collection. I'm so impressed with the formula of these eyeshadows; they're just so beautifully pigmented and there's not a single dud in here! (But annoyingly Katsina is pretty much the same colour as my skin tone, thought's fine as a transition.) It's actually quite a well-balanced palette, though there are more shimmers than mattes. The shimmers have such a gorgeous, almost foiled effect and the mattes are nice and easy to blend. Although the shades are colourful, they're also pretty wearable and I can't wait to try more looks with them! So far, I've found the longevity to be pretty good (if 5/10 is average, I'd give these a 6.5) and there isn't much fallout.

Have you tried any of these products? Are any of them on your wish list?

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Disclosure - products marked * were sent to me for consideration however all opinions remain my own.