BUY THIS NOW: Colourpop Super Shock Shadow - Not a Box of Chocolates Collection + So Quiche Single

Colourpop, for those of you who haven't yet heard of them, are a new, makeup brand out of LA.  They're somewhat unusual in that they a) are very reasonably priced b) keep the number of individual products low, and the number of shades very high and c) spell colour the correct way.

When I went to the US recently, I bit the bullet and bought a collection Super Shock Shadows, called Not a Box of Chocolates, and a single shadow in the form of So Quiche.  I also bought some lip stuff (obviously) but we'll talk about those another time.  It turns out that Not a Box of Chocolates was a Christmas collection, which means I must have bought one of the very last ones in September, but hey ho, it's still a great introduction to the brand - particularly at the very reasonable price of $30 for 6 shadows.

The packaging is pretty basic:  screw top jar, transparent plastic window, uniform brand embossing, colours labelled with stickers underneath.  It's a pretty classic move for a company trying to keep prices low to have simplistic packaging, and Colourpop have managed to keep their packaging both simple and also rather stylish.

Inside the jars, the shadows have a pattern embossed into them - this isn't really a decorative effect, but part of the pressing process these shadows go through when they're made.  They have that weirdly cool, bouncy-slippy-creamy-powdery texture, you see, and that means two things - one, fingers are a perfectly acceptable way to apply them (and actually preferrable, because of the glitter content of some of the shades), and two, that they are incredibly easy to apply with intensity from soft-whisp-of-colour to double-rainbow-intense.

One down side of this texture, unfortunately, is that they're incredibly soft and fragile - the boxes they arrived in were very, very padded, and yet another single shadow I ordered for a friend arrived broken.  Still usable, but a little messy, and not quite so pretty in the pot.

And now, on to the swatches.

Halo, Tinsel, Partridge

Halo is a pale, peachy gold with subtle shimmer to it.  It's a nice subtle option for a pared-down eye look.   Tinsel is a gloriously metallic icy mauve pink, which is incredibly flattering on green eyes.  Partridge has that green/red/brown duochrome thing going on, and is probably the strongest ever duochrome I've ever seen in an eyeshadow.  It looks stunning on the lid.

Sleigh, Drift, Doe-a-Deer

 Sleigh is a cool, green tinged pale gold with champagne sparkle.  Drift doesn't have any glitter in it, but does have a slight pearlised sheen to the finish - it's a gorgeously rich colour which can double up as a blush if applied very sheer.  Doe-a-Deer is an unusual one - a deep, bruised plum shade, it's matte, making it a good option for the base of a smoky eye.

So Quiche

So Quiche is unusual and absolutely beautiful - I've never had someone compliment my eyeshadow whilst they were threading my eyebrows, but the day it finally happened, I was wearing So Quiche.  A slightly greenish, slightly bronzed golden brown, it's packed full of pale pink glitter that makes for a really unique twist on a neutral eye.

So there you have it.  The shades are amazing; the metallic finish ones have incredible impact and intensity, and the pearlised and matte ones are just as lovely, albeit less in your face.  I also love the bouncy-slippy-cooling texture, which makes application a breeze, particularly if you just want an eyeful of one gloriously intense colour, and the fact that they cost a mere $5 a pop.  What a shame that they don't ship to the UK yet - I can certainly see Super Shock Shadow being very, very popular when it finally lands on our shores.

Disclosure:  Purchased, gleefully, by me.

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.