Review: Does Smashed Makeup Work Better?

Well, I bit the bullet the other day and ordered some makeup from GoodGoth.com.  The items were pretty inexpensive and there was a 15% discount on all makeup, so it should have been a deal, but the shipping took care of that.  Grrrrr.

Anyway, I've been wanting a different look, so I went for some stuff I haven't seen in the stores.  I ordered three items: Hardcore Black Metallic Eyeliner and two Utopia Baked Eyeshadows, in Game (swirls of purple and different shades of fuschia and pink) and Danger (swirls of gray and white with hints of silver), all by Klean Color.  Each shadow comes in its own compact with a mirror and applicator.

"Danger"  (Doesn't this look like a black & white pic of the Earth?)



  
"Game"  (I'm still trying to figure out a reason for this name.)

Shipping was very quick; ordered on the 5th, mailed on the 7th, and received by me on the 9th.  (Add 3 Goth Points!)  The items were in a fairly small box, loosely wrapped in some paper.  Unfortunately, everything was covered in purple and pink dust!  There was Game shadow everywhere...  When I checked the compact, it was still sealed but the shadow was broken and in chunks, and about a quarter of it had leaked out into the rest of the box.  Obviously the packing was NOT sufficient.  (Subtract 1 Goth Point.)

When I opened the compacts, I had no trouble actually opening the top to get to the makeup.  However, I was unable to figure out how to open the bottom section to get to the mirror and applicator.  More Grrrrrr...  After checking the website for clues, I was finally able to get to the compact mirrors and applicators.  (Add 1 Goth Point for visuals, as the makeup itself did not come in a package and had NO instructions.)  But more crumbled chunks of Game were in the mirror/applicator section (take back that Goth Point!).

Since I was in a hurry the next morning, I didn't try the shadows, just used the liquid liner on top of a nasty eye pencil that I'm getting rid of because it rubs off and smears.  I was hoping the liquid liner would hold the pencil down and make the whole thing stay on longer without smearing.  Live in hope, die in despair...  well, it DID stay on better, just not quite as well as I'd hoped.  So I figured, hey, tomorrow is another day.  We'll just start over then.

Next day:  I tried the Danger eye shadow, as I've been wanting to try a gray shadow for some time now.  I LOVE the color!!  It comes out (on me, at least) as a darker, slightly metallic gray, which is just what I was looking for.  The applicators are nice; you can use BOTH ends instead of just one, and the tips are not that cheap stuff that falls apart quickly, but good sponge that should last a while.  I used Mary Kay's Eye Primer as a base; it's a bit thicker than other primers I've used, and it tends to hold the shadow in place a bit better.  

Results:  At the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my eye makeup was almost completely intact!  The shadow was a little smeared in the crease, even with the primer, but not so much that it looked bad.  And my eyeliner was also almost completely intact!  (Definitely 2 more Goth Points for this.)

Today I tried the Game eyeshadow.  Much different than I expected!  The darker purple bit didn't show up much, but it mixed a bit with the lighter fuschia/pink, which dominated the look completely.  And I actually liked it!  Not as much as the other one, but I will definitely use it again.  (Another Goth Point.)  However, the crumbled bits of shadow still got ALL over the place, and I had major cleanup to do on my fingers before I was finished applying it.  I did manage to salvage most of them for later use, though.  And no, the "smashed" makeup did not work any better than the unsmashed one.

So, overall, I like this makeup, both the way it looks on me and the way it stays on me.  I'm still not very fond of GoodGoth.com, though, and doubt I'll buy much else from them.  The "discounts" usually don't make much of a dent as the shipping is so high.  Three small makeup items cost $7.99 to ship???  Really??  I don't think so...  

What new makeup have YOU tried recently?  Did you like it?  Why or why not?