Glam Shop purchase part one – swatches
Glam Shop is a Polish brand that I heard about for the first time shortly before making this purchase in mid February. After watching a few videos with yummy swatches and positive first impressions I became intrigued. I subsequently browsed their website and found oh so many shades that got me really excited. New makeup rarely does that for me nowadays so when I find something that does just that I tend to follow that feeling (to some extent). Also, most exciting indie brands are in the States and shipping takes a while and customs is killer. That Glam Shop is located in Europe was a huge pull factor for me.
The purchasing process was easy and shipping was quick and efficient. I chose to get the UPS shipping alternative and got my order a week and a half after ordering (Poland to Sweden).
Glam Shop offers a variety of finishes and I purchased ten mattes, five turbo glow pigments, two glam shadows, one multichrome and one holographic shadow. The website was somewhat translated to English when I placed my order and I had no issues with my purchase except deciding what to get because there was so much to chose from. A pleasant problem. The translation is way better now as far as I can tell and even more new finishes have been added, like their velvet and marble eyeshadows. They have also released a plethora of new shades since I made my order.
The brand have also launched complexion products, such as concealer, foundation etc. But their shade range is lacking, three shades of very light beige for the concealer for example, and I sincerely hope they extend that shade range in the near future, including swatches of their entire range (shadows too) on multiple skin tones. We shall see….
A few things I noticed when swatching the shadows for this post is that the mattes are very soft and quite powdery. I had to go over them a few times to look good on the arm. However, this factor was not a problem on the eye (I’ve worn all of the shades at least once) and they blended beautifully. But I would recommend being gentle with the brush when picking up the product from the pan since it can easily kick up a lot of excess product if you use a stiff brush or anything other than a light pressure. Powdery shadows is not a problem for me personally but its worth noting.
Mattes
I knew there was a risk that I bought dupes for things that are already in my stash since I picked colours that I already own a plethora of like yellow, red and coral. But these specific shades looked unique enough for me to risk it and try them anyway. I also wanted to try the Glam Shop matte formula and what better way to do it than in a variety of colours that I knew I wear often. When prepping this post I did a little dig in my arsenal to see if I had picked up any dupes for the matte shades specifically.
Slomkowy (Straw) is a dirty pollen shade. Murky brights are so much fun to wear and I look forward to using this a lot. I love yellow and as I suspected, I did not have another yellow shadow with this murky undertone.
Kwasniak (Acidic) is a dirty lime and it is oh so good. This one is similar but not a dupe for shades I already own. It is a dirtier version compared to my other limes.
Slodki Nude (Sweet Nude) looked like a lovely rosy brown on the website. Swatched out it is not as unique and rosy as I envisioned and I did find a dupe for this in Delirium by Lethal Cosmetics. So in hindsight I could have skipped this one but now that I have it I’m sure I can get some use out of it.
Szefuncio (Bossy) is a burnt yet bright orange. Lovely shade that I have nothing like.
Nie Swiety (Unholy) is a bright red and one I suspected I might have a dupe for since I’m a sucker for red mattes but I really wanted to try the Glam Shop one. When I looked for a dupe in my arsenal I was pleasantly surprised that I could not find another tomato red like this.
Bergamotka (Bergamot) is a coral with a muted touch. A stunning shade and I could not find anything too similar in my arsenal.
Musztardowka (Mustard) is a soft honey cream. I have nothing like this one either.
Kolorado (Colorado) is like a browner version of Bergamotka. Another interesting and unique shade that I could not find an existing dupe for.
Brudny Zolty (Dirty Yellow) is a nice mid mustard and it has that murkisness to it that makes it unique and I have nothing like it.
Kaszmir (Cashmere) is a medium dirty cool purple. A useful crease shade for me and reminiscent of many other shades that I already own. But I could not find a dupe since most other similar shades had a lot less blue in them.
So after my initial reservation that I had bought dupes we can conclude that many of the shades have a murkiness to them that sets them tonally apart from what I already own. The only one I found a close dupe for was Slodki Nude. I am very glad that it played out well. The mattes are priced between 2,04 -3,06 € when there is not a discount.
Turbo Glow pressed pigments
Top Row L-R: Zyg-Zag – Bombowy – Laser
Bottom row L-R: Vegas Bis – Turbo Wata Cukrowa
Zyg-Zak (Zig Zag) is quite gritty and flaky to touch but almost turned oily when applied (when swatching). This is the most amazing of the bunch. The colour shift is so stunning. A ruddy base with a strong alien green shift that turns a reddish purple in certain lights.
Bombowy (Super Duper) is more subtle than the others Turbo Glows that I picked up. But this pinky bronze is very beautiful. It stained my arm slightly when swatching, but not as bad as Turbo Wata Cukrowa. A thinner formula than some of the others.
Laser has a purple base with a pale green shift that turns hot pink in certain lights. Such a beautiful and delicaate shade – I really look forward to wearing this.
Vegas Bis has a texture similar to Zyg-Zak. It’s a ruddy base with with a super intense blue to magenta shift. Oh so pretty.
Turbo Wata Cukrowa (Turbo Cotton Candy) has got a translucent green gray base with intense pink shifting reflects, in one light it is a mix of pink and gold and in another light is shifts solid pink. Worth noting is that there is another shade with the same name in the Glam Shadow formula but it is called only Wata Cukrowa without the “Turbo” in front. I did purchase the Turbo Glow version. This shadow did stain my arm after just wearing the swatch for a few minutes and the texture is very gritty and flaky.
I have worn all of these once and I did not have any issue with them on the eye. I find them rather amazing actually. My preferred method of application is with a finger initially and then I used a brush to extend my application where needed. They are priced at 5,54 € and my initial thought is that they well worth it. But I do want to wear them more before giving my final thoughts.
Multi-chrome pressed pigments
MULTI MULTI
MULTI MULTI is my first and only (as of today) multichrome eyeshadow and it shifts pink to gold to green on a dark base. I initially wanted to get a blue/green one but it was out of stock at the time so I settled for the next best thing. I had a feeling that this type of shadow is more fun swatched than on the eye so I did not want to buy more than one to try out. Looking at the website right now this shade is not longer available. They seem to have launched new shades and discontinued the old ones. The multichromes are priced at 10,86 € so they are a lot pricier than the rest of the shadows. I’ve worn it once and really liked the look. I do not know yet if the higher price tag is worth it but my initial response is positive.
Holo pearls pressed pigments
Efekt Holo
I chose the slate green shade named Efekt Holo (Striking Holo) and I am glad I did. It suits the holo effect well and works well as a topper on most base shadows. Glam Shop have recently launched more holo shades but I am still most drawn to Efekt Holo. Holos are priced at 7,76 € individually and the four new shades are sold as a bundle as well. I’m content with this one shade and I really liked wearing it.
Glam Shadows – pressed powder shadows
If you search under Makeup/Pressed Powder Shadows you will find these so-called Glam Shadows under both “metallic and pearls” and “Ultra perls (sparkly)”, but not all Glam Shadows shades can be found under the latter but rather a selection. A bit confusing. These shadows are normally priced between 3,10 – 4,43 €.
Unikat (Peculiar) has a translucent and almost yellow base that shifts from blue to pink.
Kandyzowana (Candied) has an orange base with gold and orange reflects. The base is another stainer and I found quite a dark stain after only a minute on the arm when swatching. I did not notice the staining being a problem on the eye but I have only worn it once so far.
Both colours are very pretty and out if the two Unikat is probably most alike things I already own. I have not compared it to my existing arsenal yet but I know I will wear them both a lot no matter what.
To summarize this Glam Shop purchase – did I buy things I already own? Not really. But since starting my makeup audit project I’ve noticed that owning too much makeup is a trap and it only results in me not wearing what I own and love. The brand creates unique shades and the formula seems overall to be great. The prices are fairly low as well and I will have my eye on this brand for the future. I am very glad that I bought these shadows in the beginning of the year and they make a nice addition to my existing arsenal. Now it is up to me to wear them…
Thanks for reading!