Makeup Geek pigments! Swatches and review!

Recently I received a message from a Makeup Geek employee asking me if I wanted to try out their new pigments.  This was a no-brainer.  I stinkin love pigments.  They make me very, very happy.  So of course I jumped at the opportunity to try them out!  And since they are brand new, I figured it would be a good time to show them to you and tell you what I think about them!

So onto pictures!

Here's the packaging:

It's the normal, cute Makeup Geek packaging, just in blue.

And here are the pigments!

These do not come with a sifter.  So be prepared for that because you can make quite a mess!  And just a note, some pictures were taken with flash, some without, some with both.  I wanted you to see as clearly as possible what they look like in person.  All swatches were done with no base.  The left swatch is dry, the right swatch is applied wet, just using water.

"Afterglow"

Makeup Geek site's bottom line: "Soft shimmery champagne"

What I think:  I think the MUG's bottom line description is a fair one.  Definitely one of my favorites.  It's got a gorgeous shimmery glow to it!

"Birthday Wish"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Shimmery light gold peach"

What I think:  Definitely another favorite!  I couldn't wait to use this one!  I'd call it more of an orangey-peach than a gold peach though.

"Enchanted"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Light plum shimmer"

What I think:  To me, this color comes off a bit more neutral than it appears on the MUG site.  Still a beautiful color, though.  I was impressed with how well this one applied dry.

"Insomnia"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "A dark chocolate brown duochrome with blue/teal reflects"

What I think: Pretty color.  I expected a lot from this seeing as how I have another very similar color from Glamour Doll Eyes called "Dino Spotz."  This is a beautiful teal color when applied wet, very disappointing dry.

"Liquid Gold"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "True Metallic Gold"

What I think:  It's not a pure gold, it's got a little olive in there.  Definitely one of the best performers dry.  A very interesting, unique color.  Just beautiful.

"New Year's Eve"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Light Gold Reflective Glitter"

What I think:  Super pretty.  Definitely more of a glitter than a pigment, but not a glitter that you need a glitter glue for.  Would be perfect for a sticky base like Lime Crime's Eyeshadow Helper.  It's a great way to dress up everyday makeup.  The worst one when applied wet, it got very streaky and milky.

"Paparazzi"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Glittery Smokey Grey"

What I think:  MUG's bottom line is a very fair description.  It's a charcoal grey with glitter.  It's super pretty!  I can't wait to try it over a black base!

"Prince Charming"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Metallic Cool Silver"

What I think:  A true silver.  Gorgeous, gorgeous color.  I did notice, though, the more I rubbed the color onto my skin, the more apparent the black base of the color became, you can see it in the dry swatch.  Not a big deal, just something to be aware of.  If you don't want that to come out, be sure not to rub too much.

This color is a good example of why I show some with flash and some without, so you get a good idea of what it actually looks like! 

"Sweet Dreams"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Light flesh toned beige pink with slight shimmer"

What I think:  This is the least shimmery pigment of the bunch.  This is perfect for everyday wear, as it's a beautiful, soft color.  You can wear this anywhere and not look overdone.  When applied wet, it really brings out the gold in the color.

"Utopia"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "A mixture of deep brown and antique gold shimmer duochrome glitter"

What I think:  This color is to die for!!!  Love love love.  In the jar, it's very chunky looking, the more you pat it on, the more it breaks down into a more fine glitter.  You need a sticky base for this, or to apply it wet. You will get fallout but it is so worth it.  

Makeup Geek pigments retail for $6.99 for 1.4g of product.  In comparison, MAC pigments retail for $21 for 4.5g of product, Sugarpill loose shadows are $12 for 4.5g of product, and since I mentioned them, Glamour Doll Eyes shadows retail for $6 for 2-2.5g of product.  This chart is from the Makeup Geek site to show you how they compare:

However, I don't think this is a totally fair comparison as the bottom of the MUG pigments say they contain 1.4g of product and they did this math saying they contain 2g of product.  You can check out their swatches and descriptions here.

Overall I think they're really great.  I mean, it's not hard to sell me on pigments or loose shadows anyway as I just love them, I think they're so versatile!  I actually like that they only have 1.4g of product in the jars because it will take me many lifetimes to use up the three MAC pigments I own haha.  I will honestly have them the rest of my life and that seems almost wasteful to me.

I did a couple of looks using these pigments (I've done more than what I've photographed, I just don't always remember!).  So here they are:

For this I used "Birthday Wish" applied wet on lid.  I blended it up slightly with some dry "Birthday Wish."  I used a little bit of MUG's "Cocoa Bear" shadow in the crease and I used "Afterglow" pigment as my highlight color as well as on my cheekbones.

For this I used "Utopia" over Lime Crime's Eyeshadow Helper primer (because it's such a good, sticky base).  I blended that up using MUG shadows in "Pretentious" and "Hipster" with "Bling" as my highlight color.  I wish this picture showed how sparkly and amazing Utopia actually is.

If I had to pick my very favorites that I say you must own they would be Utopia, Birthday Wish, Afterglow, Paparazzi, and New Year's Eve.  The only one that I felt kind of let down by was Insomnia and that's just because it didn't apply as nicely dry as I was expecting it to.

I hope this is helpful to someone out there!  Are you planning on getting any Makeup Geek pigments?  If so, which ones?