Medusa’s Make-up – a gift from the make-up gods!
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photos: we heart this
I’m not sure if you know this or not, but I’ve been reviewing makeup for many years. Two years at another site prior to the two years we’ve been running we heart this. I can’t even began to imagine how many brands have passed through my vanity. So, believe me when I say, it takes a lot to wow me, and I’m talking an absolutely floored kind of wow. Medusa’s Make-up wows me.
I mean, look at these colors. How could one not be wowed by looking at these vibrant and sparkling shades? But that wasn’t even what did it for me, if you can believe it. It’s the formulas, oh my-the formulas! More on that in a minute…
One look at the Medusa’s Make-up site and you get an idea of what you are in for; color, and lots of it. I’m sure there are some subtle colors to be found somewhere, but meh-what fun is that? I look at this site, and I want to paint Adam Ant stripes across my cheek, put on my most ridiculous shoes and go out and misbehave. I think Medusa would approve.
We got two types of products to test, plus two “support” must-have products; Eyeliner Seal ($8) a liquid that transforms any shadow into a liquid liner, and Stick It! ($7), a clear, all natural wax based primer (both of which I am so glad to have been introduced to!)
Eye Dust ($6 yes, you read that right!) is the product Medusa’s Makeup is most known for. It comes in 48 shades and is a finely milled mineral makeup than can not only be used on eyes, but your entire face. True, you look at those bold colors above and you may not imagine using them anywhere but eyes, but how about a sprinkle of gold in the center of your bottom lip? Or a sparkly orange added to a coral gloss. This excites me!
But even more exciting, and what I promised above, the formula is unlike any I’ve ever tried. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge loose eye shadow fan because the fall out is such a hassle. I first tested my chosen shade (Penny Wise; bright, shiny cooper) with Stick It, which goes on smoothly, is sheer and leaves a bit of sheen on your lid. I dipped my brush into the pot, tapped the brush to removed the excess, and hoped for the best. Guess what? Stick It, it did. I had no migration. Zero. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. The next day I tried it without Stick It. To my shock, I had very little migration. So little that it really didn’t even need to be cleaned up. Normally with loose shadows I practically have to wash my cheeks afterward. Very impressive.
Penny Wise is beautiful, it looks like a melted penny. The pigmentation is so incredible; rich and vibrant (and what’s amazing to me is that they call it only a “medium” amount of pigment.) To dab this in the inner corner of my lid with a smoky eye is just gorgeous. Or, use it with the Eyeliner Seal (a bottle of clear liquid) and you get a perfect metallic liquid liner. And they don’t use the word seal lightly, this liner doesn’t budge until you are ready for it to.
Another impressive note about this company and their products, they realize buying makeup online can be hard and help by offering color descriptions. These are straight forward descriptions that even tell you about the level of pigmentation (light, medium or highly pigmented) Love that!
A few of our other testers will be by in the comments to tell you their thoughts on the other colors of Eye Dust we received:
Purple Rain – Shimmery super bright purple
Mary Jane -Shimmery medium jewel tone green
Wasabe – Shimmery super bright green
New Wave – Shimmery turquoise with slight green iridescence undertones
Recognizing that no matter how fab they are, loose shadows aren’t for everyone, they also make a traditional shadow called Electro Eyes. These are 12 highly pigmented shadows in a perfect rainbow of sparkling colors. I got to try the Electro Black, blackest black with a micro rainbow of sparkles, and I have to say, it makes one hell of a liner.
We also got to try:
Electro Turquoise – Intense teal with micro silver sparkles
Electro Purple – Purple leaning toward the redder side with micro silver sparkles
Electro Pink – Perfect neon pink with micro silver sparkles
I’m telling you readers, it’s taking every inch of self control not to scoop up all 48 eye dusts! (psst…you actually can for just $199, that’s $89 off.) I have been wowed, and I like it.
Disclosure: This review includes products that were provided by the manufacturer/PR firm for our consideration. It is also a This is a Sponsor Feature; a post highlighting an advertiser. For more info, or any questions, please see our disclosure policy.
Wow indeed! I tested Wasabe, described by Medusa as a shimmery super bright green, which only begins to capture the magical mermaid-y multi-dimensional color in the pot. You’re exactly right about the lack of migration, @stef. I’ve been using Wasabe as a shadow with no base and my previous disdain of loose eye shadow is a distant memory.
With a few drops of Medusa’s brilliant Eyeliner Seal, Wasabe becomes the most gorgeous metallic emerald green liquid liner. True story: on Halloween, when I was wearing a healthy application of Wasabe liner, a drag queen told me s/he loved my eyes. Now that’s impressive!
And these products are a steal! I’m eyeing (ha) several other eyedust colors I know I must have (hello, Atlantis), and I know Stick It is in my future, too. 5 stars for Medusa’s Make-up.
I was awe struck by how vibrant the colors are. WOW.
Dang, those are some fancy, flashy colors to play with! I can see what you ladies are talking about! I thinhk the Electro Black looks awesome, and so does the Electro Pink.. Wowza!
That Penny looks am-a-zing! I however, received the Electro Purple pressed shadow. I do like prefer loose shadows to pressed because, unlike @stef, I think they make less of a mess (dampen your brush, use a primer and these are high pigment magnets).
The Electro Purple is bright and shiny (two things I usually love), but a little too bright and shiny for me. The powder is highly pigmented for a pressed shadow but there’s just too much glitter. It reminds me a little bit of Urban Decay. I love Urban Decay’s Midnight Cowboy because the glitter is in a neutral base, making beige bad-ass. I just can’t wear bright purple plus glitter at age 41. I also love Urban Decay’s Stardust for its microglitter/ sheerness ability. Bright colors become wearable that way.
The product itself is a long-wearing and good quality. I would like to try some of their loose shadows. And, once again, Penny Wise looks wonderful.
3 stars
I had heard of Medusa cosmetics a while back b/c they are carried on one of the trendier plus sized sites, Torrid. I admit, I kind of shied away from them because the colors were a little bold and bright and I’m over 30 and not a rock star, so I figured I was too old for these colors. Then I got the eye dust in New Wave to test out. New Wave is described as a turquoise with green iridescence–in the jar it appears as a shimmery jay bird blue/turquoise shade. Upon opening the jar, I had some loss of dust because there is no sifter top, so minus one star there because I hate losing so much product just by opening the jar, even if the cost is so low. I first finger painted a sheer wash of this on my eyelids and this gave a very lovely, pale wash of turquoise on my lids–I was surprised it went on as light as it did, and pleased. I could actually pull this off as a look for Spring.
I then layered a little more and ended up with a very bold eye look that I, at my age, cannot pull off. I then tried layering this over other shades–this was especially lovely over olive green as it created a really subtle teal shade that I can actually wear in public. It was also lovely layered over steel grey. I didn’t get that eyeliner seal, but I used water–something I have used with other loose shadows–I had quite a bit of transfer using the water, but I got a glimpse at how pretty this would be as a liner–bright, shimmery turquoise–definitely too bright for me, but I’m sure it would make a younger or more bold girl very happy. Overall, I’m fairly impressed with this loose pigment–I’m going to have to check out some of the other, more tame shades (like Mary Jane, perhaps :) ). 4 stars from me!
Wow Penny Wise is gorgeous – I agree! That would be on my list…if I was one that could do loose shadows. I just can’t take the mess. But this mess is more tolerable than all others I’ve tried. I always open them over the sink and usually it takes water plus scrubbing to get them down the drain – but not with this. It washed away perfectly with just the water. Anyways, enough about the mess – because the mess that matters most wasn’t really there much – and that’s the fallout. I agree, there was barely any, and what there is cleans up easily. I tested Mary Jane, by the way. It is a stunning green – I thought somewhere between khaki and lime…so I guess jewel as they describe it is right on. When you spread it, yellowy-golden tones appear in the shimmer, so it kindof changes colors too. I’d say they’re right on with the “medium” description, too. It looks very pigmented in the jar, on your finger, and when swatching, but when it is applied to the eyelid (and I don’t have the primer)it does go on somewhat light. It is build-able though, for more saturation. It makes a really pretty fairly sheer all-over lid color, or for more oomph wet it and apply as liner – wow! It’s definitely a chameleon-color between green and yellow depending on the way the light hits it. It’s very fun. I personally would give it 4 stars because I’m just not a fan of loose shadows and wouldn’t buy it again in this format, but as a tester I’m giving it 5. I don’t think it’s fair to mark it down for a personal preference that’s inherent in the product – and seeing as how it is the best loose shadow I’ve tried and does clean up so quickly, is perfectly described pigment-wise – and oh, that amazing price – I just can’t mark it down!
Krista, you’re such a good tester! You’re right – they should have a sifter top. I still dislike loose shadows even when they have those, but it definitely would help. Yep, they should lose a star though for not trying to help with the product loss.
These are truly vivid and stunning colors! And the swatch of Pennywise was very impressive. And an endorsement from @stef is as good as gold for me. Many of my favorite products come from listening to years of her trusted reviews. So I must check Medusa’s Makeup out!!
Loose shadows scare me because I make such a mess with them, but these sound worth giving a try. The colors are gorgeous and if @stef is impressed, they must be good!
I actually don’t like sifter tops! I absolutely can’t stand when it all comes out of the holes when you travel with them. (It’s pretty mush the reason I get mad at my BE’s all the time!) I feel like that’s more messy than just plain ol’ loose.
But Medusa’s Makeup sells sifter tops separate; 6 for $3.
Thanks @Kellie76 and @tiffany glad I can help!
Oh, and if you haven’t figure it out already from my review, this is 5 stars from me! These colors are super bold, but I think everyone should own a couple of colors that make them want to misbehave. Plus, in small amounts (seriously, small! A dot on your inner eye) ANYONE can wear a wild color. Pinky swear!
When I first glanced at the picture, I have to admit I didn’t read the post right away because like most of you, I don’t like loose shadows either. But after taking the time to read, I’m actually wanting to try these colors out. Penny Wise looks gorgeous and I’m a fool for anything green, so I want to try Mary Jane too.
Anyone want to be my not so secret Santa this year? *wink wink* *nudge nudge*
I’ve actually heard of Medusa’s Makeup before/seen the website…looks pretty cool. The Eyeliner Seal seems interesting, and the Electro Black is a must have. Definitely putting these on my to-buy list.
I stubbornly refuse to ever go back to loose shadow again because of negative experiences with other brands, so I’m SUPER excited to see that Medusa’s Makeup does have pressed shadow as well. Although it might be worth pressing the loose shadows myself…
@melinda – Aw, thanks! *hugs* Also, thanks for making me want Mary Jane now :P
@stef – I used to hate sifter tops for traveling, especially since I have quite a few BE products, but I realized that if I take a little piece of tape and cover the sifter holes for when I’m traveling, I don’t get the mess. Yeah, it only took me YEARS to get to that realization. Go me! :)
For those ladies that hate the sifter top, though, I’m wondering if it would be possible to make a jar that had a lip that went in a little bit, that way when you open this jar, the dust doesn’t spill everywhere *ponders*
I just poke a few holes in the sticker over my sifter tops. It comes out in slow controlled portions that way. And it never spills all over during travel. It totally changed my relationship with BE.
Ahhhh, I’m late to the game commenting on this one but it by no means reflects how I feel about Medusa’s products because I LOOOOOVE IT SO.
I got to test Purple Rain Eye Dust and how could I not adore this one considering I’m from the hometown of the glorious “Purple Yoda from the Heart of Minnesota!”
I too was hesitant about the whole loose shadow thing, but like @stef, I didn’t experience fall out. Without the Stick It Primer (which I also got), it went on very sheer and shimmery. A lovely light purple that could easily be worn by any one no matter how shy they feel towards bold colors. Plus, extra points for being vegan!
But with the primer I got a fantastic bold sparkly bright purple depending on how much I built it up. Love! Not for every day wear, but a ton of fun when I’m going out at night! And that primer? Fantastic! It’s not only very very light but according to the site can be used on any skin tone! I put some on my lips and then dabbed on a light dusting of the eye dust and got a pretty sheer wine/purple/berry like shade.
Medusa’s Purple Rain has become one of my fave when I need a splash of color. Totally deserves 5 stars!
Like @kari I’m a little late with throwing in my $0.02, but it’s no reflection on my feelings about Medusa’s products!
I got to play with the Electro Eye in Electro Pink and let me tell you- it’s surprisingly wearable! At first glance the hot pink (super pigmented glittery hot pink at that) was a little intimidating, but with a light touch and some blending it’s completely appropriate for a playful daytime look! Add to it some smokey black shadow and let me tell you, it’s a fun and surprising take on the smokey eye. I’ve gotten so many compliments! Even for someone like me who tends towards neutral colors this shadow is a dream come true. Pink can be neutral after all!
The Electro Eye products do need a primer for me because I have rather oily eyelids, but the primer does keep the shadow from creasing and lets the pigment pop even more. Medusa’s products are so fun and the line is incredibly versatile.There really is something for every one, and the prices are amazing. 5 stars from me!