Geek Chic Cosmetics Review

(It's been a while since I've written a review, I hope I'm not too rusty!)

 

I've seen Geek Chic mentioned a lot on on blogs (particularly one's that feature a lot of indie makeup) but not seen many reviews, and those I have seen have just mentioned the eyeshadows. After checking the website I was very intrigued by their lip products and as they were having a good sale at the time (can't remember how much it was not though :/)  I decided to place an order for a few bits.

Geek Chic, like Shiro, are themed around geekiness (clue is in the name I guess :P). Weirdly, unlike with Shiro, I don't find it as alienating and confusing, even though the theme is just as strong. I have no idea why, maybe I just stopped being so stupid! :P They have many collections of shadows based around games and tv shows as well as lipsticks, glosses and balms, glitters, blushes and face powders. The website is easy to navigate, with a clean, clear and fun design and checking out was a breeze. There's plenty of information about ingredients and all their powder products are vegan (the lipsticks and balms contain beeswax).

I had some concerns before ordering because some of the lip products had flavours I worried I might be sensitive to (I have lips that are very very sensitive and strong mint or spicy flavours can really bother them. Looking at the ingredients I doubt it would have been a problem as the contain only flavouring, no essential oils, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry!) so I emailed to ask if it were at all possible to get some unflavoured versions. There was a prompt reply saying it was fine and to just remind them in the paypal notes. I picked up 2 lipsticks, 2 lip glosses and a glitter pot. Shipping time was fine, 2-3 weeks to the UK (which I find is about average) but it was very expensive. They currently only offer an international flat rate of $13.95 if you order anything full size (orders with only samples are $4). Flat rate can be great if the box is full, but for orders like mine I think it's overpriced.

Upon arrival I found that one of the lipstick bullets had broken. I emailed to tell them and they apologised and got a replacement out to me really quickly. As they were in the process of switching over there lipstick packaging they asked if I would prefer the old or new sort, which I appreciated. They also sent me some samples to review.

 

My order came packaged inside the flat rate shipping box in that nice purple organza bag, with a free eyeshadow sample and a really nicely designed pop-art business card.

 

The back of the card has one of those scannable things, but I have no idea what it does as my phone is definately not smart :P 

Please travel beyond the cut for product reviews!

 

The eyeshadow samples come packaged in little clamshells with labels containing the shadow name, collection information, ingredients list, whether or not the colour is lip safe, weight and so on. They cost $4.99 for a 5 gram jar or $1.25 for a sample.

 

Left: Princess in Distress (from the Mushroom Kingdom collection) - This is a lovely light, dusty toned pink with lots of silvery-goldy sparkle

Right: The Imp (From the Win or Die collection [yay, game of thrones!]) - My favourite, a reddish toned goldy-coppery-bronzey colour with a hint of gold, silvery and red glitter.

Left: Mind Meld (from the Go Boldly collection) - A semi matte grassish green with a gold sheen.

Right: The Spider (from the Win or Die collection) - a matte, pinky-purply-lavender colour.

 

Naked Wedding (from the Go Boldly collection) - My free sample. A medium purple with a slight tuquoisey shift and sparkle.

 

Here I'm wearing The Imp, which is my favourite of the shadows. It's a really lovely and unique shade of gold and I think it makes my eyes look super blue!

 

Here it is freshly applied (no primer or foiling)

 

And here it is after about 6 hours. You can see that it has faded and creased a little but not terribly.

All the eyeshadows were super pigmented and didn't take any layering to become opaque. I found Mind Meld and The Spider slightly tricky to apply. They weren't chalky or anything but they felt a bit 'stiff', they were hard to blend or 'spread' over my eyelids. The shimmery colours applied beautifully, they were soft and creamy. There's a lovely range of colours varying in complexity and finish.

 Next the glitter pot, called a 'Glitter Grenade'. I bought the full size of this which comes in a 5 gram pot (samples come in clamshells like the eyeshadows). They cost $2.99 for a full size, I don't think samples are available to buy.

 

  

Left: swatched dry Right: swatched over some lip balm

The colour I picked was Plasma. The main colours are bright green and purple with a smattering of purple. It reminds me of The Joker :D

  

Left: swatched dry Right: swatched over some lip balm

I also got a sample of EMP. This is a light baby blueish colour with reflects of silver and aqua. The glitter is finer than in Plasma

There's not really anything you can review with glitter, it's the same no matter who sells it :P All the glitters Geek Chic sell are safe for eye use. I really like the colours I got, I can imagine Plasma would look awesome thickly applied on the eye, and EMP would be lovely layered over some shadows as a highlight :)

I bought two Lipglosses, which Geek Chic call 'Geek Glosses'. They come packaged in long rectangular tubes with pretty clear labels including all the ingredient infomation and apply with doe foot applicators. The glosses cost $5.99 for 0.28 ounces.

  

 

Mana Potion - a nearly opaque milky sky blue colour. I was slightly disappointed in this one as the website describes it as sparkly with a 'sprinkle of rainbow glitter' but there was no sparkle nor glitter in mine, it was just a plain blue.

 

Tentacle Grape - a sheer purple lipgloss with a medium strong green duochrome.  

The formula of these was nice, it's liquidy but not runny and not at all sticky. I did have to apply quite a bit of gloss to get the colours pictured, but if you wanted a sheerer finish that wouldn't be a problem. These are usually flavoured but I requested they were left plain. The Tentacle Grape is an amazing colour, I can't wait to try it over a purple base! These weren't super long lasting, but they're glosses, they very rarely are. They probably needed reapplying after about 1-2 hours.

Finally I bought two of their lipsticks, called 'Joysticks'. At the time I bought them they came packaged as shown below, but they're now in lip balm style tubes. They cost $5.99 for 0.07 ounces (? it says that on the website but it seems very small!)

  

I love that little Space Invader guy :)

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Toxic Unicorn is a nearly opaque chartreuse colour with yellow tones and slight iridescence. It is usually green tea flavoured but I asked for it to be left out.

 

Electric Rat is a bright, opaque yellow that tastes like tropical fruits. The flavour is very subtle.

These lipsticks are lovely! They're really creamy and smooth to apply and feel ever so slightly moisturising.  The pigmentations is fantastic and wear time was really good to.

 

Here is the lipstick after 4 hours, during which time I ate and drank. Obviously it has faded and needs reapplying but it's still a lot better than a lot of lipsticks!

All in all I'm pleased with my order from Geek Chic. The turnaround time was fine, communication was great and they were really helpful and happy to go out of their way to make sure I was happy. The lipsticks are great and I'd love some of the other colours available, Tentacle Grape is one of the coolest colours of lipgloss I've seen, the glitters are very pretty and the shimmery eyeshadows are really pretty and wonderful to use. The prices are very reasonable. The only concern I have is the shipping, because the price is so high I'd be hesitant to order again myself, unless I wanted to order a huge amount that would justify the flat rate box. I guess I'll ask an american friend to CP when I next want an order. Still, a really good company that I would happily recommend :)