Review: Aromaleigh Mineral Eyeshadows

A few weeks ago I wrote this post and I asked for your help to design an Aromaleigh eye look for me. I received so many beautiful samples to try from this legendary mineral makeup company that I just could not decide what or how to use them. Thank goodness for you, my lovely readers, because you gave me SO many amazing ideas and tons of inspiration!

Sadly, my eyeshadow skills were just not good enough to pull off some of the wonderful looks that you suggested, but I did finally decide on a look, suggested by Melissa the Dilettante (whose adorable beauty blog can be found here), and I am SO happy with how it turned out. Thank you SO much, Melissa!

In her own words, here is the eye look Melissa suggested:

"use ambre and chantal and do a smoky gold arabic/egyptian look!"

So that's exactly what I did, using both Ambre and Chantal! I used Ambre from lashline to crease, and Chantal for my outer "V" area. I blended both shades up into just above my crease area, and then I used Ambre to line my eyes (with a wet brush). Also, for more impact, I used a black eyeliner pencil just on my waterline. I am loving this look so much--all I need now is a fancy event to go to so I can rock this look for an entire evening!

(Please excuse my mascara in these pics--I had already applied mascara earlier in the day and then tried to apply more later which resulted in clump-city.)

In case you missed my original post, here are the samples I received from Aromaleigh (click to enlarge):

And even though there are TONS of other blogs where you can find much better swatches and exquisite eye looks (do NOT miss Fresco Phyrra if you want to see amazing eye looks using Aromaleigh shadows), I still wanted to show you some swatches of the shades I received because, truly, each shade is lovelier than the next:

From top to bottom: Glow, Bouganvillea, Longing, Chocolate Heart, Persian Kitty, Thalia's Return, Love Note, Moth, Calliope

From top to bottom: Circe, Chantal, Silk Stockings, Ambre, Petit Fours, Pique, Fragile Charms, Coppelia, Jewel

Not pictured: Verdigris (somehow I forgot to photograph this one, but it is a beautiful mint green-gray matte)

Also, please note that you will get a completely different look if you use these shadows wet (applied wet, some colors change completely while others just become intensely vivid), which makes them an even better value because it's like getting two shades in one.

So how do I like my Aromaleigh samples? Honestly, I need to first explain that I am a total mineral makeup novice. I've used a few mineral eyehshadows over the years, and my experience has ranged from good to ridiculously awful. I've used some shadows that were so dry they just would not adhere to my lids, and others that lacked pigment altogether. I've used other shadows that were loaded with sparkle to the point where I could not control the fallout, as well as other shadows that applied OK but didn't have me running back to order more.

So...that's where I stand with mineral eyeshadows. Or at least that's where I used to stand. After playing with these Aromaleigh samples for a few weeks now, I can honestly say that I fully understand why this company has such a large and devoted following. If you have avoided mineral eyeshadows in the past because of any of the reasons I talked about above, you can pretty much throw those fears out the window if you choose to order from Aromaleigh. These shadows are top notch, high quality, pure luxuriousness. Honestly, they apply like BUTTA. They are so smoooooth and easy to work with, and the pigment, well, let my photos speak for themselves. I didn't use a primer for the eye look posted above, and these shadows had amazing pigmentation, blendability and staying power. I just can't say enough good things about Aromaleigh, and I can quickly see myself becoming a junkie who can't wait for her next fix (at least I know I won't be alone!). I mean, just look at the color selection and, most importantly, the prices! Full-size eyeshadows are around $8 each, samples are just $1 each (and will last you a long time, believe me) and you also get free shipping on sample orders. Here are tons of other benefits, taken directly from the Aromaleigh site:

Oh and I almost forgot--Aromaleigh makes other types of comestics as well (not just eyeshadows)! Can you tell I'm seriously feeling the Aromaleigh love right now? If you haven't visited their website, I highly suggest you click on over and be prepared to stay awhile because you'll find tons of goodies and lots of eye-candy for sure.

So tell me, are you already an Aromaleigh devotee? If so, I'd love to know what your favorites are so that I can add them to my shopping list!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.