I know what you're thinking: this...this is not nail polish! My only explanation is that I had to share something I love so much even though it's not polish related*!
I've been wanting Inglot eyeshadows for a couple of years now, but they haven't been available in the US until recently. I discovered Beautylish.com, saw that they sold Inglot, and was really a hopeless cause after that. (Beautylish also sells Anastasia, Too Faced, Sugarpill, and a few other brands.)
So this post will include my experience with Beautylish.com, as well as a review and swatches of some of the Inglot shadows I picked out- as well as the customizable Inglot Freedom System.
Here's how a Beautylish.com order comes:
Everything is packed really beautifully, very boutique-like, and there are little handwritten notes. There was really a lot of attention to detail, and I was impressed.
Since I ordered twice from Beautylish in quick succession, I got a note that said, "So happy you are back so soon..." Haha, yep.
The packing material is this lovely shredded, accordion-style paper:
I was surprised to find that they threw in a free gift (I guess because this was my second order in two weeks?)
Again with a cute little hand-written note. Look at that packaging! I might never throw that away...
It's a full size Anastasia Hypercolor Brow & Lash Tint in the color 'In The Pink,' which is a hot neon pink. I love Anastasia already, so I was pretty excited-
Inside, it also comes with a mini size of their Lash Genius, which is a clear curling mascara that you can use as a mascara topcoat to waterproof any other mascara you use underneath.
So pink! Now, I'll probably never wear pink eyebrows, although who knows, but I am excited to try this as a mascara.
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Now let's get into the Inglot stuff!
Inglot's Freedom System basically consists of several variations of empty palettes which you can fill with your choice of eyeshadows, blush, brow powder, concealer, face powder- ect. It's the holy grail of customizable makeup, basically.
For eyeshadow, there are two-pan palettes, four (square) pan, five pan, ten pan, and twenty pan (also square) palettes. I believe there are also forty pan palettes (!!!), but they're not available on Beautylish.
The shadows are USD $6.00/e, and the ten-pan palette, for example is $16, by itself.
The palettes come packaged in a nice, modern cardboard box, and Beautylish wrapped all the separate shadow boxes together in a bubblewrap brick:
Here's the palette itself:
The packaging is super sleek. My favorite makeup packaging of all time! It's solid and sturdy, but modern, and not too bulky. Unngh.
There's a translucent lid that is connected only by magnets- one on each corner. The magnets are very strong, and to remove the lid you can pull it off, or just sort of slide it laterally.
The palette itself, and the eyeshadow pans, are also magnetized.
The individual shadows come neatly packaged in their own cardboard boxes:
Inside each box is the shadow, which is contained in its own protective plastic film casing, and a paper detailing each shadow's ingredients:
You bend the corner of the plastic, and then you can peel the film away to expose the eyeshadow pan:
On the back of each pan is the eyeshadow's name (which is a number), as well as the amount (2.3g- 2.7g, varying between finishes, but very generous!) contained, and Inglot's branding.
The shadows a relatively large! I don't have Mac shadows to compare them to, but I do know that they are bigger:
Some of the beauties that I chose:
I wanted mostly neutral shades that I could get a lot of use out of. Here's the palette put together:
Top Row: 350M, 330M, 312M, 502DS , 37M
Bottom: 390M, 402P , 444P , 498DS , 387M
Inglot has a few finishes, which are abbreviated on the end of each shadow's number/name. They are:
M= Matte
P= Pearl, a pearly texture with ultra-fine sheen but no glitter
DS= Double Sparkle, a matte with dispersed micro-glitter
AMC= (Advanced Makeup Component), a satiny matte finish with slight shimmer
S= AMC Shine, ultra-fine sheen, similar to Pearl, but frostier
Up close:
The peachy shade is 312M, a beautiful matte peach, which is very pigmented.
The dark bluish-grey is 498DS, a great crease or outer-V color.
I did a very simple eye look with both of those two, as well as a couple of the other shades from this palette:
Swatches! They are in the same order as in the palette, moving left to right, and are shown over naked skin with no primer.
Indoors, artificial light:
(I have to apologize for the quality of these swatches; I found it super tricky to photograph my own arm!)
Outside, shade:
Partial sun:
Up close:
The pearl finishes are just lovely.
About the quality: I find these to be very, very pigmented. They are soft and buttery, and blend very easily, with almost no fall-out. They do create powder when you drag a brush across the pan, but that doesn't translate to fall-out on the face, somehow. They have great lasting power! I do wear them with a primer, since I have very hooded eyes, but some people might not need to. They are true-to-color from the pan to your skin without being layered over a primer. These are really a joy to use, and are the nicest eyeshadows I own, period.
I don't have anything bad to say about Inglot eyeshadows or their Freedom System, but here are a couple of concerns, I suppose:
1) The shadows don't have names, only numbers. This makes it hard to remember which are which, and is just a general bummer.
2) The magnetization is very strong, and the pans are very difficult to remove from the palette once you put them in there. Do not try to pry them from the corner-
Here's a better way:
Go to the hardware store and acquire a very strong magnet. Your average fridge magnet is probably not strong enough, but give it a try anyway. Once you have a good magnet, rearranging the shadows is a breeze- they pop right out.
As you can see, the product is recessed slightly in the pan, so you won't damage your shadows this way when using the magnet.
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Finally, in case you are curious, here is my first Beautylish order, and the first Inglot palette I put together:
Still very neutral-oriented, but there are a couple more pearly finishes in this one, and I find the brownish colors really divine.
I don't know which is my favorite, but I do tend to use this one more, I think? I may yet end up rearranging the shadows between the two palettes, grouping more of the warmer shades together, and the cooler ones together, which is the beauty of the Freedom System: you can rearrange to your OCD heart's content!
If there is enough interest, I can swatch this one as well. Here is the link to the second palette (above) swatched!
Verdict: I think it's safe to say that Inglot is now my favorite eyeshadow brand, and I'm so happy I can now get it in the United States. (FYI, there are now a few flagship stores in the US, including NYC, here in Chicago, Vegas, and Miami!)
I'm just super impressed, and can't wait to get more!
Have you guys ever tried Inglot or ordered from Beautylish.com?
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*A Note:
I originally wanted Polish Hound to remain solely nail-oriented when I first began, but lately I'm thinking I might like to add other beauty-related things here and there. I love all sorts of makeup, and I bet many of you who love nail polish might also have an interest in other beauty/ makeup products. The non-polish posts would probably be few and far between. What do you think? If this is a terrible idea, please let me know!
