POP EYES! (Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics: Eye Colour)

Member Name: Skyedame

Product:	Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics: Eye Colour
Date:	19/10/07 (671 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Vibrant shades, feels silky smooth; easy to apply, versatile

Disadvantages: None - unless you prefer block powders for 'on the move'

*** Who is Lily Lolo ?***

Lily Lolo are an internet-based company (found at www.lilylolo.co.uk) selling only mineral cosmetics including brushes and sponges etc. Their range includes mineral
foundations, cover ups, blushers and bronzers, eye colours and lip and nail colours.

The site is simple to navigate and a pleasure to use and
includes pages of application tips, beautiful colour photos, and an in-depth FAQ page.

*** What are Mineral Cosmetics? ***

Mineral cosmetics are made from pure crushed minerals and contain no harsh chemicals, dyes or fillers.

I have reviewed their Mineral Foundation, Cover Up and Blush Pots and today, I am reviewing their Mineral Eye Colours.

*** Product Description ***

So, what's the difference between Lily Lolo eye colours as against traditional eye shadow?
Quote: 'Easy blend, multi-use pure mineral powders. Our vibrant colours make dramatic crease-free eye shadows but are versatile enough to use on lips, cheeks and nails…'

*** My Opinion ***

Lovely jubbly! I am very impressed with the sample colours I ordered from Lily Lolo (29p each Ziploc baggy, containing approximately 1/8th of a teaspoon of product - ample for many applications and experimentation).

The colours are indeed 'vibrant', and you only need a little on your brush to get an excellent result. As the marketing blurb says on the site, these Mineral Colours do give your eyes an extra 'pop'.

There are 33 available colours from the following shades:

Neutral
Browns
Pinks/Violets
Greens/Blues

Some have a higher sparkly content than others so with the eyes of a woman in her late '50s, I had to be very careful in my own choice. Some of the vibrant colours available looked gorgeous in the photographs but I daren't go near them with a barge pole! These colours had names like Smoky Brown, Choc Fudge Cake, Ripe Plum or Four Leaf Clover. But all of those contained a higher degree of shimmer than I could get away with (shimmer draws attention to wrinkles and fine lines) but for the younger woman, they'd be great fun to wear!

The colours I chose to sample were Mudpie, Brown Sugar, Soft Brown, Mystery (creamy, matt grey/green), Parma Violet and Witchypoo (which is black and makes a fab, dramatic eyeliner)

Mudpie is a medium-coffee brown colour in the sample packet but when applied to the socket area becomes a deeper brown and also makes a lovely, smokey eyeliner.

I loved all the colours I ordered and as well as Mudpie, I liked the Parma Violet colour very much - it looks a dense, medium lilac in the packet but when brushed onto the lid it is a lighter, very pretty lilac which I would wear for more dressy-up occasions.

For normal, everyday wear, I apply either the Soft Brown or Brown Sugar to the lid and use Mudpie in the socket to add definition. I discovered that the Witchypoo black colour was far too harsh for my eyes (an age thing again) but I would have worn it 20 years ago!

The difference between the mineral colours and traditional eyeshadows is that the minerals are soft in texture, gliding onto the skin smoothly. The product has a silky feel and the colours are, indeed, more vibrant.

*** How to apply ***

Gently dip your brush into the colour, tap the excess back into the container (or a saucer if you are using one of the sample Ziploc bags), brush the back of the hand first just to check you haven't loaded too much product and apply to your eyes as usual. There is usually enough on the brush to complete both eyes before adding more, if necessary.

Lily Lolo do sell their own range of cosmetic brushes but you don't need any specialist brushes other than your usual eyeshadow brushes.

*** The difference ***

I have never, in almost 45 years, gone out without my 'eyes' on and wouldn't dare stop to consider how much I've spent on eye makeup in that time!! So, I think I speak with some experience about the difference between traditional eyeshadows and this new, mineral product.

However, it has to be said that traditional powder shadows (the only kind I ever wear as I do find crème shadows shift position and crease in skin folds) are very handy to pop into a makeup bag when on the move.

Although the mineral colours come in sifter pots - there's a plastic top with tiny holes in it which is directly over the top of the powders - I would imagine you'd have to be very careful how you opened the pot up if it had spent any time being dragged from pillar to post in your handbag! But as I've never actually had to put a pot of mineral eyeshadow to the 'moving test', I can't say one way or the other if they are particularly messy.

*** Will I switch to the Mineral Colours? ***

I already have. After using the samples, I went ahead and ordered the full sizes of Mudpie and Soft Brown. I love all the colours I sampled but until I finish up the multiple choices of traditional eyeshadows already in my makeup drawer, I am trying to be good and not spend any more just yet. A full sized sifter pot of any of the Mineral Colours costs £5.00.

*** Worth the money? ***

I think so, yes. One pot of colour will last a very long time and the results are worth the money. Returning to traditional shadows for a moment, I have seen me scraping the top of a block of powder shadow to try and get a denser colour on my brush. Now with my Mineral Colours, I won't have to do that.

*** Ingredients ***

Each colour contain different ingredients but generally speaking colours will contain all, or a mix of, Iron Oxide, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide and in a few instances, Ferric Ferrocyanide.

*** Versatile ***

Like the Lily Lolo Blush Pots, a lot of the colours can also be used when mixed appropriately with lip gloss or a clear nail varnish, as lipstick or nail colour. For obvious reasons, the colours containing Ferric Ferrocyanide would not be suitable to mix with lip gloss. You would need to see individual product descriptions for suitability of colours for lips.

Although I have used my blush colour with lip balm to try it as a lipstick and the result was very good, the colours I chose in the eye colour range would not be suitable as lip colours - unless I was a Goth.

*** Price ***

Samples sizes of Mineral foundation ( 1/8th teaspoon in a Ziploc bag) = 29p
Full sized (1.5-4.5g of mineral colour in a 10ml jar) = £5
P&P = UK Orders weighing up to 50g = £1 (although I have only ever paid 85p at the checkout for both sample and full sized products)


Accepted methods of payment: Paypal or Credit Card.
Delivery: I have ordered both samples and full sized products on three occasions and have only ever waited 2 days for delivery - which includes during the recent postal strike! Excellent.

Full details of all products and p&p details can be found on the web site (www.lilylolo.co.uk) The website also includes some very good tips and techniques pages for all the products.

*** Finally ***

As mentioned in my other Lily Lolo reviews, I have picked three of the FAQs from the Lily Lolo website which might answer your immediate queries:

Are your products allergy-free?

Whilst our products are as simple as possible in formulation and made from the gentlest ingredients we can find no one product (or ingredient) is guaranteed to be allergy-free for everyone.

Do your products contain parabens?

No, none of the Lily Lolo range of cosmetics contains parabens, fragrances or fillers.

What is your animal testing policy?

We do not test any of our products or ingredients on animals or ask anyone to do so on our behalf. Our products are made from ingredients which have been used for cosmetic purposes for many years and are already considered to be safe. All our formulations have been assessed and conform to European Cosmetic Regulations.

Thanks for reading!

© Louise Saunders - 2007

Summary: Vibrant shades containing no harsh chemicals