Review: NEW ColourPop Fall 2015 Forever Freshman and Back to Cool Sets

Press Sample 

The brand new ColourPop Forever Freshman and Back to Cool sets JUST became available today (9/14) on the ColourPop website. I received both sets for review, so of course I want to share my thoughts with you while these are available. So let's get right to it!

ColourPop Fall 2015 Forever Freshman and Back to Cool Sets
(retail: $30 each; six full-size items per set)

I took all of these photos during one of our latest heatwaves here in SD, and I couldn't photograph in my regular light box because it was 1000 degrees in that room. So I took these photos in my dining room with natural lighting and those photos above are admittedly soooo bad, but now you know why! The rest of the photos turned out pretty well though, so don't give up on me just yet.

Let's start with Forever Freshman set, which contains six full-size Super Shock Eyeshadows (0.07 oz. each):

Ingredients
(click to enlarge)

Top row: Crimper (Metallic), As If (Matte), Melrose (Matte)
Bottom row: Koosh (Ultra Metallic), 90210 (Satin Luxe), Baby T (Matte)

First of all, I love that all of the Fall 2015 items (in these two sets and of course the rest of the Back to the 90s collection) have fun 90s-themed names. Any eyeshadow named 90210 immediately has my attention because Kelly & Dylan (#TeamKelly forever; sorry to those of you who are #TeamBrenda).

I kept each shadow in its original slot in the pic above, but these are just like all of the other Super Shock shadows, meaning you can pull them out and use/store them individually.

Swatches (on bare skin, no primer; one swirl in each pot with my finger per swipe):

Left to right:

Crimper (Metallic), As If (Matte), Melrose (Matte), Koosh (Ultra Metallic), 90210 (Satin Luxe), Baby T (Matte)

The swatches above just do not show you the true beauty of Crimper, so here's another angle:

Top to bottom:
Crimper (Metallic), As If (Matte), Melrose (Matte), Koosh (Ultra Metallic), 90210 (Satin Luxe), Baby T (Matte)

Crimper (Metallic)

Sheer light goldish-yellow shimmer with tons of iridescent glitter.

As If (Matte)

Medium taupe-ish brown matte.

Melrose (Matte)

Rust/burnt orange matte.

Koosh (Ultra Metallic)

Extremely metallic taupe with lavender-pink undertone.

90210 (Satin Luxe)

Warm grayish-brown matte with yellow undertones and iridescent glitter.

Baby T (Matte)

Deep navy blue matte with subtle, fine iridescent glitter.

As with the other ColourPop Super Shock shadows I own, these six shades are beautifully pigmented, with not one dud in the mix. If I'm being picky, I would say Crimper is sheer by nature, but you can most definitely see it on the skin without the need to build for intensity. As If isn't quite as pigmented as some of the other shades in this set, but I did not have any issues with getting it to show up on my NC20 skintone. And can we just talk about Koosh for a second? If you love metallics and you love cool taupes, meet your new dream shadow. She is a beauty!  

If you are new to SuperShock shadows, let me repost what I wrote in my original ColourPop Metamorphosis quad review, because it absolutely applies to these new shadows as well:

ColourPop has great instructions on their site about application:

For maximum coverage: Use fingertip and tap shadow onto eye lid. A flat, fine tip synthetic brush will work fabulously as well and is actually better for a more detailed application close to the lash line. However, your fingertips make for the most intense application. To blend: Use a fluffy brush that has good movement, dip tip of the brush into the shadow and blend with a “wind shield wiper” movement throughout the crease of the eye. This will make your shadow softer and more diffused (like a total pro). When finished, close that sucker up tight! Don’t leave the jar opened for long periods of time, you may lose some of the magic that makes the Super Shock Shadow so amazzzing.

You can also Google "How to apply ColourPop eyeshadows" for lots of additional tips but for me personally, applying with my finger and using a fluffy blending brush to blend from there has been the best method. I feel that applying these shadows with a brush diminishes the pigmentation and leaves me with patchy application, so I definitely recommend applying with your finger and then using a blush for blending.

To prime or not to prime? That is truly the question! I have read a zillion different reviews about ColourPop shadows and their staying power. Some people prefer to wear them over primer, while others say that they perform better without primer. You know I have oily lids and I almost always wear primer before I apply any color to my eyes, but I find that the formula of ColourPop shadows actually performs better for me WITHOUT primer. I can get a full 10+ hours of wear with just very minimal creasing/fading after ten hours when I wear these without primer. For some weird reason, when it comes to my skin's chemistry, primer doesn't help these shadows stay on for me, and I actually get better wear without primer. I also find that the color is very vibrant without primer, and primer doesn't really intensify things too much for me. This could be completely opposite for YOU though, so I suggest trying these with and without primer to find out which way is better for your own chemistry. 

Next up, the Back to Cool set, which contains six full-size Lippie Stix (0.0352 oz. each):

Ingredients
(click to enlarge)

Left to right:
Choker (Creme), Mosh Pit (Matte), Baewatch (Matte), Out of Sync (Matte), Too Sexy (Satin), TGIF (Matte)

Left to right:
TGIF (Matte), Too Sexy (Satin), Out of Sync (Matte), Baewatch (Matte), Mosh Pit (Matte), Choker (Creme)

Swatches (on bare skin; one swipe each):

Left to right:
TGIF (Matte), Too Sexy (Satin), Out of Sync (Matte), Baewatch (Matte), Mosh Pit (Matte), Choker (Creme)

TGIF (Matte)

Matte brick red (looks a bit cooler in my swatch but in real life, it is a true, midttone brick red). 

Too Sexy (Satin)

Purplish-berry satin (on me this appears more matte).

Out of Sync (Matte)

Fuchsia matte.

Baewatch (Matte)

Mauve-ish dusty rose matte.

Mosh Pit (Matte)

Midtone nude-ish brown matte.

Choker (Créme)

Light nude creme.

I absolutely love this set because all of these shades are extremely wearable. There's nothing too bright or off the wall here (Out of Sync is the brightest shade here but even that color doesn't read as SUPER bright on my lips), but there's also nothing boring here. All of these shades are gorgeous on the lips, with great pigmentation (some require a little building for even coverage, but there's nothing here that is weakly pigmented). The only shade in this set that I can't see myself reaching for on a regular basis is Choker, because on my lips it reads as a VERY light nude, and I just can't pull off light nudes. But if you can, you might enjoy it. I think I could use it to tone down deeper browns though, so all is not lost.

Speaking of mixing, I actually have been mixing Baewatch with Mosh Pit and, for me, it creates the most perfect pinky-brown I have worn in quite some time. It's not too pink, it's not too brown, it's not too nude...I swear it's perfection. I apply one shade to my upper lip, one shade to my lower lip, smoosh my lips together and BAM. Deep, luscious, pinky-brown heaven. If you get this set, YOU MUST TRY THIS COMBO.

I also want to mention that I absolutely love the Lippie Stix formula. These are not super light on the lips, as far as texture goes, but they're also not heavy or cakey. There's a slight tug during application, but they're not super dry. I think they're similar to Bobbi Brown lipsticks, texture-wise, which I LOVE because I prefer a drier lipstick (as opposed to something super creamy, emollient, and slick on the lips) when I'm concerned about staying power. I can apply a Lippie Stix and three or four hours later my lips are still looking great. So they're wonderful for me when it comes to both the work week or a night on the town. Plus I love the vanilla scent. To me, these don't smell like vanilla cupcakes--they remind me more of a rich vanilla bourbon. I don't really get any flavor to these; just a scent.

FINAL VERDICT: To me, both of these sets have an underlying theme that can be summed up as, "Wearable, but never boring." That's exactly how I feel about every color here. There's nothing shockingly crazy here, but I think that everything is very wearable without having a "been there, done that" feel. Even though there's no cost-savings in these sets, I still think they're a steal at just $5 per item. If you're drawn to these colors and finishes, I think you'll be quite pleased with either set.

Don't forget that you get free shipping on orders $30 plus on the ColourPop website, so both of these sets will ship for free. I'm not sure if code THANKSBABE still works for $5 off, but definitely give it a try if you place an order.

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