Younique. There are Things Other Than Mascara.

 Press Samples 

Younique. A company most famous for scary eyelashes and oppressive sales tactics. Most people who are obsessed with cosmetics are skeptical of them, to put it nicely. Generally, anything that is superawesomefantastic will sell itself without someone having to post a picture of it every eight seconds. The aggressive sales people turned me off, and I wrote the company off all together...until I met a girl named Crystal in a beauty-centric Facebook group. (email me if this interests you) She wasn't pushy, and was actually willing to discuss the merits of this mascara...and told me about the mineral pigments the brand sells. She offered up samplers for anyone who wanted to check them out, and of course I jumped at the chance. 

source

I had no idea the company offered anything beyond the notorious fiber mascara. I'm sure you know the one I mean. The spidery lashes, the kinda creepy cropped shots of some frosty-shadowed eye. Yeahno. Do Not Want. Some people like this look. I am not among them. Even though my lashes are stubby, they are realistic looking...and I prefer that. I do know, for a fact, that these fibers can be applied tastefully. If some effort is put into them, they can actually look pretty amazing. 

nopls. kthnxbai.

I admit, I didn't have the highest of hopes for the pigments. Creepy eyelashes definitely left a lasting impression on me. But I wanted to give them an honest look. What if they were fabulous? What if I let my own prejudice keep me from shiny things? What if these are amazing, and no one else knows because they can't see around the oppressive advertising of the mascara? For science, I had to check them out with an open mind.

I am actually really glad I did.

The pigments are super...pigmented (I am not a thesaurus, yall). I applied them over Urban Decay Primer Potion with a natural bristle brush from Bare Minerals. I only needed two swipes for Glamorous and Innocent, the more pearl-satin-demi matte finishes. Devious, Confident, and Angelic applied completely opaque. For someone who is better at neutral "no makeup" makeup, a light hand is needed with these. A little bit will go a very long way.

They also seem pretty affordable. A full sized jar will run you $10, and is 1.1 grams. A loose shadow from Bare Minerals will run you $14 for a 0.57 gram jar. That seems like a pretty decent deal to me. (Though, if I'm honest, I've never finished an entire jar of loose shadow. Ever.) 

The only drawback to these, for those who care about such things, is that they aren't vegan/vegan friendly/cruelty free. I did see carmine in the ingredients list. For some folks, that is a serious deal-breaker. I'm not that serious (yet) about my cosmetics.

And now swatches!

over UDPP

over UDPP

I'd like to say thank-you to Crystal. Not only for sending me the shadows to check out, but for being cool about the whole Younique thing. She has never been pushy, or spammy, or rude. She is willing to honestly answer any question posed to her about the products she sells, without getting annoyed or irritated with the harpies girls in the Facebook group. Go check out some of her stuff...especially the pigments. Besides the fact that these pigments are affordable and pretty, she's actually a pretty cool person...which honestly influences my purchasing preferences as much as product quality.