ColourPop Supernova Liquid Eye Shadow | + Pressed Single Shadows

I bought the five latest additions to the Supernova collection (Prelude, Lucky Penny, Over Again, From the Valley, Now or Never). The description on the website reads: "high-impact ultra-glittery shadows have a metallic base, are extremely long-wearing, and can be used as a base, alone, or as a topper".

Unfortunately, while I did find these to be ultra-glittery, they are not extremely long-wearing and don't sit on the skin all that well. They apply OK on the eye area. The applicator is nice, it's soft and bends easily, fitting to the shape of the eye, but they do not apply evenly. I use the applicator to get the product on and then use my finger to blend it out. You really do have to use your finger to blend these out to minimize the cracked looking finish, and you do have to blend them out before the product becomes sticky and dries, which is about 15 seconds. Once the product dries, it can become crusty and looks sort of cracked on the eyelid. Then it flakes off as the day goes on.

You can see in the below pic the chunks where it's starting to dry and crust over. It's especially noticeable in Lucky Penny (left-most swatch) of this pic:

L - R: Lucky Penny, Now or Never, From the Valley, Over Again, Prelude (Natural Lighting, blended out)

I also had trouble layering these. They seem to perform best if you get one layer on and leave it. If you try to add additional product to create more intensity, it will sort of create a "bubbled" look on the skin and end up looking flaky.

I found Lucky Penny, Over Again and Prelude to be the most pigmented. Over Again and Prelude were the most prone to flakiness and looking cracked on the eyelid though. Now or Never and From the Valley are the most sheer and "wet looking" of the five. Now or Never is a little more of a muted "neutral" color whereas From the Valley is more of a light, iridescent grey-lavender.

For $7 each, I know ColourPop's business strategy is to churn out loads of products, some of which are hits and some of which are misses. With this particular product, I would rather have spent more money to get a product that I would enjoy and feel good about using. For experimental purposes, to see how much I might wear these particular shades or to see if I even like a liquid eye shadow formula, then $7 is a perfect amount to spend on something I might use once or twice and then forget about.

Lucky Penny: Lovely color, a nice iridescent blue-green shifting to pink-purple in the light. Is on the more pigmented side but doesn't crack and flake as easily as Over Again and Prelude, which are also on the more pigmented side. Probably my favorite of the five.

Now or Never: Very sheer. Was difficult to apply as the applicator did not pick up much product. I felt like I was getting very little product and then when the applicator did pick up product, it was often in a large chunk that I had to spread out on my lid before it dried.

From the Valley: This one performed pretty well considering the performance of some of the others. I think it might be due to the fact that it's more sheer, ie. a thinner consistency and therefore less prone to flakiness.

Over Again: Color is as described and payoff is very good (comparable to the Stila Liquid Eyeshadows). It's a little scaly looking but not nearly as bad as Prelude. For $7, this one is worth it I think

Prelude: Became scaly looking and flaky shortly after application. Color is as described but payoff is not as intense as I would have liked.

L - R: Lucky Penny, Now or Never, From the Valley, Over Again, Prelude (Natural Lighting, not blended out)

Wearing "Over Again" on the lids

On the other hand, I took the opportunity to order a handful of their pressed single eye shadows and I am more impressed with these than the Supernova product.

While some of these don't quite compare to higher end single shadows I have, for $4 (and from a brand that does not take returns), I feel comfortable buying these even if there are a few misses. I picked an assortment of shades to try and gauge performance as best as possible, and will absolutely be ordering more unique shades to experiment with at this price point.

Sea Stars: Fantastic matte crease or outer V shadow. If you like Anastasia Beverly Hills shade in "Caramel", you will like this one.

Boxer: A great, everyday shade for my neutral-brown eye shadow needs. Applies evenly, has good color payoff, is a soft consistency and is not pressed too hard or too soft in the pan (it is juuuust right). I apply with my finger out of habit but it applies just fine with a dry or wet brush (wet will provide more color payoff).

Tea Garden: Unique shade that I'm loving for springtime. Applies nicely with a finger or wet brush as it has a loosely-pressed consistency (a dry brush may not work as well).

Paper Tiger: Unique shade that is making the rounds in the industry lately. Wonderful matte crease shade that builds up nicely (I apply two layers to get full pigmentation). It does fade by the end of the day. Soft texture with very little fallout. Looks fantastic with Sea Stars.

Take the Lead: A bit on the dry and dusty side; I could see some having issues with patchiness. If you have a few extra minutes to really blend it, pack it on, then blend some more, then it will look just fine. I found I had to do this when I wore it in my crease to really make the color show (about three layers were needed). Otherwise, I sort of ended up with dead-eyes due to it looking too faint. It does fade by the end of the day. Is great for a faded, transition shade for a grungy eye look.

Pinky Promise: Applies nicely, stays on well, and is a lovely color. Smooth and dense in texture with great pigmentation. I wear this on my lid and apply with my finger. A little fallout when blending in with the crease shade but nothing out of the norm.

Swatches, top row left - right: Sea Stars, Boxer, Tea Garden
Swatches, bottom row left - right: Paper Tiger, Take the Lead, Pinky Promise

Natural Lighting

Indoor Lighting

Overall, I will absolutely buy more of Colourpop's Pressed Single Eyeshadows but will skip other additions to the Supernova line.

ColourPop is a Cruelty Free brand <3