Makeup Geek Desert Sands Eyeshadow Review

Hello ladies,

I am back with another eyeshadow review this time and it’s from the Makeup Geek brand. I have reviewed the beautiful shades – Morocco and Burlesque earlier. Today, I have Desert Sands for you!

makeup-geek-desert-sands-eyeshadow-review

Product Description:
Unlike the actual desert, this shade won’t leave you high and dry. Richly pigmented and easy to blend, it’s the crease shade you’ve been looking for. The Bottom Line: Desert Sands is a medium camel brown with warm yellow undertones and a matte finish.

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About Makeup Geek Eyeshadows:

These are all highly-pigmented – just check out the swatches!
Half the price of high end shadows without sacrificing quality.
This kit is for the eyeshadow pans only — they do not come in com-pacts or a palette.
These pans can be placed in empty palettes such as Z-Palettes.
Eyeshadow pan weight is 1.8G / 0.064 oz.
With a separate palette, you can build your own custom palettes (and save the extra cost and the plastic that eyeshadow compacts bring).
All our shadows are cruelty-free — we do not test our products on animals.
These eyeshadows are paraben free.
We ship worldwide at affordable rates.

Price:
USD 6

Packaging:
MUG does not do individual compacts for eyeshadows. There is only these pans which come enclosed in a cardboard outer packaging. The cardboard packaging works well to cushion the product and i did not have an instance of these shattering in transit. The pan size is the same exact size as that of a MAC eyeshadow refill. They fit in very nicely into the MAC eyeshadow palettes. The only concern, the pans do not have a magnet – while MAC pro pan refills, do. So, they do need either a magnetic palette like a Z palette to place them in or a simple DIY can take care of fitting these into the MAC palettes.

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My Experience with Makeup Geek Desert Sands Eyeshadow:

Desert Sands is described as a “medium camel brown with warm yellow undertones and a matte finish.” To me, it looks like a medium brown, warm camel shade with yellow gold undertones. There is a bit of mustard in it – it’s quite a unique shade – can’t think of a dupe of this one.

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In the EOTD, I have used it in the inner half of the lid. I think it looks quite unique – there is a hint of shade but it’s not too brown and not too yellow.

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The shade would work very well in the crease as well – for fair to light skin. For medium skin tones, it will work well for crease or even transition – when used lightly. This is apart from its use on the lid, of course, as I have done in the EOTD. For deeper skin tones, I am not sure if the shade will work too well. It might work nicely as a transition shade or a soft all-over lid shade or it might look muddy! I am sorry but I am not in a position to comment; I think “Chickadee” might be a better option for deeper skin tones.

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The texture of this one is soft, smooth and quite finely milled, but it kicks up a whole lot of dust! Like a whole lot!! You have to ensure you dust off excess else you will have fallout while application. However, with so much dust being kicked up, you have to consider wastage of product. Having said that, it was easy to work with on the lid – easy to build up or blend out.

I am glad that this was housed in the MAC palette because had it been in a Z-palette, it would be a pain to get the dust off each time you use it!

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Pigmentation for the shadow is good. It takes a bit of building but not too much effort. It may have something to do with the yellow undertones of the shade itself and my yellow toned skin, but I do feel that it’s more of the pigmentation than my skin tone.

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Please note that when I say it takes a bit of building, I am comparing it to the likes of MAC, ABH and Viseart, which are probably the best in the market! So, it’s a comparative note, not just a statement that the shadow is chalky or something. On the contrary, it’s really good quality.

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I apply my eyeshadows over a primer because my lids are way too oily. Without a primer, anything and everything turns to mush within a couple of hours. With the primer, the shade gives 8-9 hours of wear time. These definitely give you a full day wear.

makeup-geek-desert-sands-eyeshadow-eye-makeup-look

Pros of Makeup Geek Desert Sands Eyeshadow:

A very unique camel brown with yellow undertones.
Matte finish which is smooth and finely milled.
Does not feel dry or get patchy.
Excellent pigmentation.
Long wearing.
No creasing.
Does not transfer.
Builds up and blends out easily.
Decent packaging – for shipping.
Talc and paraben free.
Individual pans allow you to customise what shades you want in your palette.
Not tested on animals.

Cons of Makeup Geek Desert Sands Eyeshadow:

You do need a palette to put this in – and that too a magnetic one, so additional expense.
It does kick up dust, way more than other mattes in this range, but if you tap off excess – there is no fallout. However, there is continued wastage of product.

IMBB Rating:
4.5/5. I definitely like this shade and I am quite enamored by its uniqueness.

Overall, I think Makeup Geek shadows are pretty good, especially at the price point they are. I like how pigmented they are and the beautiful array of shades they come in. I would not say they are in the same league as a good MAC shadow but they are definitely better than theBalm one. I mention this as a point of reference – not as a means to put any brand down. And again, this is my opinion – yours may vary based on your experience!

Do I Recommend Makeup Geek Desert Sands Eyeshadow?
Yes, from its uniqueness perspective, but is it a must-have shade in your kitty? Maybe not!