Hi everyone!
Do you remember my sort of ranting post on glitter from a few weeks ago?…You can find it here, in case you are interested. To summarize, I was a bit disappointed with my lower-budget glitters, happy with high-end glitters and was expecting some new glitters to arrive…
Well, now that everything is here, and I think I am all set with glitter for at least a couple of lifetimes, I decided to just swatch and show you everything properly 🙂 I am going to share a few personal views on the matter, which you may not necessarily agree with. And lastly, explain why my original opinion has not changed.
Let’s begin in chronological order…
I sparked a romance with glitter fairly recently, and my very first purchases were actually glitter liners. Love them! However, I didn’t always like the way they looked when patted on the lid. So, logically, I wanted to try out some loose glitters. At the time, it was still possible to get sample sizes of MAC glitters on the Makeup Geek website (sadly no longer) and I ordered Reflects Pearl because it seemed the most versatile one.
What I love about Reflects Pearl is that you just pat it on top of makeup and it already looks awesome…no need for a glitter base of sorts. Just apply dry and it looks glamorous… but subtle.
This is a swatch on bare skin:
The photo doesn’t do it enough justice but in reality, trust me, it’s really pretty!
I have the same feelings about my Inglot and Make Up Forever glitters 🙂
Again, bare skin swatch:
Then, however greed kicked in..and I felt like getting more colours of glitter.I went on ebay and ordered a bunch of Chinese glitters (I think a pack with 12 for 5$) on a whim.
When they arrived, I was kind of let down because the gave me the feeling of finely-cut confetti put in a small jar…They didn’t have the exquisite-tiny-diamonds effect of MAC and MUFE glitters, if I may say so.
However, they look quite spectacular when applied on a brush with some sort of a sticky base, or applied directly on top of the base…the trick being apply them like an eyeshadow, cover the area thoroughly.
Applied over a layer of Essence colours arts base which I use as glitter glue (this is a nice, sticky colourless base meant for pigments and loose eyeshadows):
If you apply them too sparse, you can immediately notice the confetti effect…
Of course, my instant reaction was, “blah Chinese stuff…can be a hit, can be a miss”. This was a miss!
The quest continued…Online, I discovered two famous brands for glitter: LA Splash and Eye Kandy.
I will start with LA Splash. I have two different types of glitter from them, and I feel differently about them too. The face and body glitter which you can see below is exactly the same as the Chinese stuff; swatches over Essence colour arts base:
..Meaning if you want this kind of glitter, save yourselves some money, and adventure on ebay. Much cheaper, same effect!
On the other hand, the LA Splash crystallized glitter is another species. It’s still not MAC, but at least the effect comes a lot closer; swatch over Essence colour arts base:
Applied dry it looks quite nice too 🙂 So, LA Splash, I have mixed feelings for you!
FYI, the crystallized glitters are only like a dollar more expensive than the face/body glitters. I bought mine from the Makeup Geek web store…Marlena liked them too, which is always a good sign!!!
The last company that supplied me with glittery goodness is Eye Kandy.
I ordered three Eye Kandy Sprinkles from the Makeup Geek website.
Applied dry over bare skin (sparse), or wet over Essence colour arts base (dense):
I have two sugars and one fine-cut glitter. The sugars are more translucent, they don’t have much pigmentation on their own, but pick up a lot of the colour underneath them. That makes them a bit more versatile. I really like the Sugars! They are perhaps the perfect middle: average in price (7$ a piece) and quite ok quality-wise.
It seems like I prefer to apply glitter dry for a more subtle bling-bling, which is why the confetti stuff bothers me so much. It works, but you have to be generous with it. At least, I find it prettier and more “wow” in that case.
To each his own, but I do love my high-end MAC, Inglot and MUFE glitters most. Eye Kandy sugars and the LA Splash crystallized glitters are a recommendable cheaper alternative. And for the rest… go on ebay!
I hope this post was helpful, and I promise to show you makeup looks using these glitters!
longlivemakeup 
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