Something I feel that’s been requested multiple times/ I’ve promised is coming more times than I’d care to admit is my Makeup Geek collection! Makeup Geek is such an incredible, high quality, affordable brand and is definitely a brand I support. Whilst some products I don’t love as much, the majority I absolutely adore and use on a regular basis!

I have a Large Z-Palette filled with their eyeshadows, both Foiled and regular formulas, as well as some of their blushes and their brushes.

Let’s talk eyeshadow first. My first foray into MUG were their eyeshadows, and they mostly haven’t let me down!

1. EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW (almost) Today I am sharing with you my Makeup Geek eyeshadow collection! I didn't realise until editing the footage how much my nails actually needed repainting - I'm.
2. All together I have a total of 43 shades in 2 Large ZPalettes if you haven’t heard of ZPalette it’s a customisable palette created to store your makeup it has a magnet base that you can clip your pans onto for safe keeping. I also this from beauty bay as well at the price of £15.95, you can fit 27 makeup geek shadows in the large one.
3. After showing off my makeup geek palette in my last video I wanted to do a in-depth video showing and talking about all the shadows in my palette. (excuse my half washed out face,lighting was.

Swatches bottom to top: White Lies, Vanilla Bean, Shimma Shimma, Beaches & Cream, Peach Smoothie, Purely Naked, Barcelona Beach. This row is definitely my more neutral row out of them all. As you can probably tell from the swatches, the more matte shades are a lot harder to swatch, and require more work on the eyelid to bring up pigmentation.

I have an absolute love for their Foiled formula – the pigmentation and shine is fantastic, and comparable to higher end eyeshadows!

Swatches bottom to top: Whimsical, Starry Eyed, High Wire, In The Spotlight, Grandstand, Mesmerized.
Each of these eyeshadows have a one swipe formula, and the pigmentation can easily be built up on the lid – not that it’s necessary! My most used is probably Grandstand, which stands out as a rose-golden bronze on my eyelids and is an every day colour for me. Some of my other absolute loves are Starry Eyed and Mesmerized.

Swatches bottom to top: White Lies, Vanilla Bean, Shimma Shimma, Beaches & Cream, Peach Smoothie, Purely Naked, Barcelona Beach.
This row is definitely my more neutral row out of them all. As you can probably tell from the swatches, the more matte shades are a lot harder to swatch, and require more work on the eyelid to bring up pigmentation. That being said, it really isn’t much effort and they all work well together. Shimma Shimma is a very soft eyeshadow, easy to overload the brush with and therefore probably the eyeshadow I’ve used up the most! I usually rotate between Peach Smoothie, Purely Naked and Barcelona Beach as my transition shades.

Swatches botton to top: Latte, Homecoming, Cupcake, Petal Pusher, Cinderella, Twilight, Sensuous.
This row is more of the colours I tend to use most regularly. Latte is another shade I often use as a transition shade, or as a substitute for a black for a slightly smokey eye. Homecoming is definitely a shadow I want to use more of, it’s bronze goodness is right up my ally! I’ve found myself loving the purple shades of Twilight and Sensuous more than I originally thought.

Swatches bottom to top: Cosmopolitan, Roulette, Cocoa Bear, Goddess, Bitten, Bleached Blonde.
These are my more warmer eyeshadows from my collection, and they’ve been getting a lot more love recently. I’m a huge fan of Roulette all over my eyelids with Bitten as a base, something that really makes my eyes stand out, especially with wearing glasses!

I definitely love their eyeshadows. I’m a shimmery eyeshadow girl, and that is definitely the brand’s strength. I’m not a huge fan of their matte eyeshadows, but I’m not a fan of matte eyeshadows in general, so there is that aspect weighing down my opinion!

I feel like everyone raves about their eyeshadows, but not enough about their blushes! I have the shades First Love, Honeymoon and Romance (swatched bottom to top) and I love the formula. They’re pigmented, but are easily blendable and aren’t the type to give you clown cheeks from the get go! They’re a great formula, and if I didn’t already have too many blushes I’d definitely want to purchase more!

Finally, their brushes. I have four overall, the face brush I have being currently MIA. I have their Outer V Brush, Dual-Ended Brow Brush and Soft Dome Brush. The Outer V brush is good for what it says. I’m not a fan of the Brow brush, I feel that the bristles are too flexible to use with my pomade and I prefer something a bit stiffer like the Anastasia brow brushes. The Soft Dome Brush isn’t my favourite either. I don’t know whether I’ve got a bad batch, or whether I’m spoilt for choice with my Sigma, Real Techniques and Faboosh eye brushes that I use on a regular basis.

As a whole, I absolutely love and support Makeup Geek as a brand. I think Marlena and her team have created some absolutely exceptional products and I’m happy to own what I have from them! I’m really happy with what I have from the brand, however if money wasn’t an issue I’d happily own all of their eyeshadows, and I do have my eye on their new Contour Powders!

Ever since Makeup Geek launched within the UK in November last year thanks to Beauty Bay, I’ve amassed quite the collection. I’ve always been dying to try the Makeup Geek eyeshadow range as I’ve only ever heard amazing things about them, but I didn’t want to order directly from their website as I didn’t want to be stung with hefty customs fees so I was elated when Beauty Bay began stocking their products.

I will just say this is going to be a huge post with lots of photos of my Makeup Geek Eyeshadow collection, so I apologise in advance but figured it’d be better to have all of the swatches in one place rather than breaking it down into a number of posts. I also need to say that I wish another UK retailer stocked Makeup Geek as I really dislike Beauty Bay, as their customer service is atrocious and I’ve had endless trouble with them.

I might be able to rave about Makeup Geek as a brand, but I simply cannot recommend Beauty Bay as a retailer, but I only order items from them that I cannot buy elsewhere within the UK as I’d never order from them if I had my way but needs must and all that. I really hope my Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Collection Review and Swatches post is helpful to you, so here goes…..

I store my Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Collection within an Makeup Forever XL Magnetic Palette which I reviewed here, and compared it to the Z Palette. In a nutshell, the Makeup Forever Magnetic Palette is considerably better value than the Z Palette and it can hold a lot more shadows too which is perfect.

I have arranged the shades loosely by shade but I haven’t finished my collection yet so this layout isn’t set in stone.. it’s just what’s working for me currently. I have a mix of the standard Makeup Geek Eyeshadows £4.95, the Makeup Geek Duochrome Eyeshadows £4.95 and Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows £7.95, and I have swatched every single shade for you…

Vanilla Bean – described as being a light shimmer with peachy beige undertone. I found Vanilla Bean to be quite boring as it’s essentially my skintone with a tiny amount of shimmer. I usually use this shade to tone down my eyeshadow if I’ve gone a little OTT with my smokey eye.

Beaches & Cream – described as being a creamy matte neutral beige with just a hint of peach. Beaches & Cream is a good transition shade for my cool skin tone.

Peach Smoothie – described as being a light peach beige with a soft matte finish. I know everyone loves this shade but I just don’t find it very complimentary on my skintone, and I much prefer Beaches & Cream.

Creme Brulee – described as being a medium sand colour with a soft matte finish. My favourite matte shade from all of my Makeup Geek eyeshadows.

Barcelona Beach – described as being a medium sand shade with a matte finish. I really like using this as a transition shade for cool eyeshadows, but it works for warmer tones too.

Latte – described as being a matte medium brown. I’m not a fan of the quality of this shade.. I find it to be so dusty and hard to blend which is a shame as it’s a nice shade.

Frappe – described as being a medium maple brown matte. I would recommend Frappe over Latte as it’s much better quality, and it blends so beautifully. I really like that Frappe leans a little warm, and to me it’s more of a milk chocolate brown.

Mocha – described as being adeep matte brown. Sadly Mocha is another disappointment for me as it’s very chalky compared to the other matte shadows. I do use Mocha a lot in the crease and outer corner but it creates a lot of fall out.

Cocoa Bear – described as being a matte reddish brown. I think everyone should own Cocoa Bear, it’s a beautiful easy to blend warm toned brown.

Shimma Shimma – described as being a metallic champagne. I don’t know why but I expected so much more from this shade as it’s so hyped, but it’s an average champagne shimmer which I have in many eyeshadow palettes already. It’s pretty, but it’s not a must have in my opinion.

Rockstar – described as being a medium silver base with purple-pink reflects. This is such a subtle shade, but when applied over a pale cream eyeshadow, the purple/pink reflects become a lot more noticeable but it’s a really pretty all over the lid shade.

I’m Peachless – described as being a buff base with peachy-pink reflects. I would describe I’m Peachless as being a rose gold when used with a primer, but without a primer it looks like a pale gold. I love that you can get such a different look depending on whether you use a base or not.

Confection – described as being a blush pink with very subtle gray undertones and a matte finish. My swatch doesn’t do this shade justice, it’s a really pretty pinky toned grey which I use a lot with Petal Pusher for when I want subtle shadow and winged liner.

Petal Pusher – described as being a medium rose brown with a matte finish. Similar to Confection in tone, but it’s a little warmer in tone and a touch darker.

Unexpected – described as being a matte pale pink brown. I feel that Unexpected is very similar to the effect you get when you mix Confection and Petal Pusher, so I’m not sure I really needed Unexpected within my collection.

Purely Naked – described as being a shimmery tan. I can’t see this on the Makeup Geek website anymore so it might have been discontinued? Which would be a shame as it has almost a duochrome effect with a matte brown base and gold shimmer shift which I love wearing all over my lid.

Bedrock – described as being a medium gray with strong brown undertones and a matte finish. Bedrock is a straight grey shade which reminds me of a slightly darker, matte version of Rockstar. I think Bedrock and Rockstar work really nicely together.

Makeup Geek Swatches

Moondust – described as being a metallic silver taupe. I don’t know if I’m alone on this but I find Moondust to be a silvery khaki rather than a silvery taupe – there’s definitely a green tone to it which I love as I find it compliments my green eyes.

Twilight – described as being a pale shimmery muted purple. Another disappointing shade for me, it’s so pale when on the eyes but if you swatch it with your finger it’s really pigmented. I just don’t find myself gravitating towards this shade as it’s so muted it’s barely visible.

Cupcake – described as being a matte medium pink. Love this shade! It works nicely with the pinky tones like Confection and Petal Pusher.

Bleached Blonde – described as being a shimmery pale gold. I would describe this as being a dirty gold which I know doesn’t sound very nice but it works well for a bronze smoky eye but it’s not the most pigmented shadow in the palette but it performs best when applied with a synthetic brush.

Gold Digger – described as being a true metallic gold. This is a true yellow gold, which in all honesty I struggle to use as I find it to be a little too yellow for my liking. I think it would look gorgeous on skintones which are darker than mine, but on my lids it looks like a shiny yellow. Shade aside, it’s a beautiful shadow in terms of texture and pigment.

Glamorous – described as being a shimmery bronze gold. I think this shade is so similar to MAC’s Amber Lights except Glamorous is perhaps a touch less shimmery than Amber Lights. It’s a beautiful bronze with a subtle shimmer.

Chickadee – described as being a matte yellow orange. I really don’t know why I bought this shade as I don’t like it at all. It looks horrible on my very pale, cool toned eyelids and I can’t make it work for me at all sadly.

Taupe Notch – described as being a taupe. I don’t think the description does this shade justice, and my swatch doesn’t either actually. I think this is an amazing dupe for MAC’s Satin Taupe – it’s a shimmery taupey brown and it’s one of my most used all over the lid shades.

Prom Night – described as being a pale purple with hints of grey and a shimmery finish. I think Prom Night should be upgraded to being a duochrome shadow as it’s a gorgeous taupey brown with a silvery lilac shift and I absolutely love it – it’s so creamy and pigmented.

Homecoming – described as being a medium brown with gold shimmer. Homecoming is another of my most-used all over the lid shades as it compliments both warm and cool toned matte crease shades. I’ve seen people compare it to MAC Patina but I’ve never owned Patina so I can’t say for sure.

Pretentious – described as being a metallic bronze. I think this is a really unique shade as it looks like a bronze shade in some lights, but in others it looks like a metallic khaki shade. This particular shade has quite a lot of fall out compared to the other shades, but it’s very pigmented.

Cosmopolitan – described as being a Rose Gold with gold flecks and a shimmery finish. I just don’t see the rose gold in this shade, to me it’s more of a peach with gold shimmer but I love it nonetheless. Cosmopolitan looks really pretty when worn alone all over the lid as it’s quite multidimensional.

Goddess – described as being a metallic pale copper. Goddess is one of my top 5 Makeup Geek shadows – it’s a stunning metallic copper which almost looks like a foiled shadow, but it can be sheered out too depending on what intensity you prefer.

Roulette – described as being a rosy, burnt sienna with a silky, shimmery finish. I cannot rave about this shade enough – it’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s a very creamy, buttery and smooth burnt copper which applies almost like a cream eyeshadow with no fall out whatsoever.

Country Girl – described as being a shimmery pink brown. I don’t know if I got an off Country Girl, but the texture and pigmentation is awful – it’s dusty, hard to apply and blend. I would recommend skipping Country Girl and plumping for Goddess instead as they’re pretty similar.

Last Dance – described as being a medium to deep plummy brown with a satin finish. This is such a chalky eyeshadow which is such a shame as it’s really pretty, but I tend to use it to darken my outer corner rather than use it all over the lid otherwise it has the tendency to look quite patchy.

Sensuous – described as being a shimmering purple with flecks of silver. I’d describe Sensuous as being a silvery lilac rather than a purple, and it is my go to lid shade when I’m wanting a purple/lilac eye look.

Steampunk – described as being a blue-black base with rich copper reflects. This is a duochrome shade and it’s truly stunning and really multidimensional. It’s a very dark chocolate brown matte with a rose gold shimmer , and it’s unlike anything else in my collection.

Cherry Cola – described as being a deep brown with strong red undertones and a matte finish. In my personal opinion, I don’t think you need Cherry Cola and Bitten as they look identical when on the eyes, and I’d say go for Cherry Cola as it’s much more pigmented and easy to blend. Bitten is such a raved about shade, but I just don’t see the hype as it’s so disappointing compared to Cherry Cola. It’s a very dark burgundy matte.

Bitten – described as being a matte deep maroon red. See above ^^^

Typhoon – described as having a deep teal base with green and gold reflects. This is such a crazy pigmented shadow which wows me every time I use it. It’s a vibrant teal green with gold and green shimmer. I never feel brave enough to use it all over the lid like this swatch, but I do like to apply it over a shimmery brown base for a slightly muted effect but maybe one day I’ll be brave enough..

Karma – described as having a golden base with yellow-green reflects. Another duochrome shadow which is a yellowy green gold shimmer.

Ritzy – described as having a warm red-brown base with green and gold reflects. Yet another duochrome which is a pretty brown matte with a gold shimmer shift.

Makeup Geek Roulette Swatches

Corrupt – described as being an intense matte black with a very subtle sparkle. This is the most pigmented, intense matte black I’ve ever used. The pan does include silver sparkle but I don’t think the sparkle is very noticeable when on the lids which I much prefer.

In the Spotlight – described as being a soft pink with coral undertones and a foiled finish. The first of my four foiled shades within my collection – this is a slightly rosy gold shade.

Charmed – described as being a muted silvery light olive with taupe undertones and a foiled finish. I love this shade so much – it reminds me of money for some reason, it’s a gorgeous silver with a subtle green twist which really compliments my green eyes.

Grandstand – described as being a medium rose gold with slight taupe undertones and a foiled finish. Another of my favourites, and most worn – it’s a lovely coppery bronze which I prefer to apply with my fingertips onto the lid for the best effect.

Mesmerized – described as being a deep medium taupe with strong purple undertones and a foiled finish. Mesmerized is a dark brown with a silver shimmer and it really compliments Grandstand very well.

Phew that took a long long time, but I really hope it was helpful. I’ve already purchased new shades for my Makeup Geek Eyeshadow collection since I filled my MUFE Magnetic Palette so I’ll be sure to do another post when I have a decent amount to show you.

If you have any shade recommendations I’d love to hear them, but I’m going to try and venture into wearable colour as I know my palette is very neutral but I’m not very daring when it comes to colourful eyeshadows.

Makeup Geek Sparklers Swatches

I think the Makeup Geek Eyeshadow as a whole are amazing value, and I’d never buy MAC shadows again as they’re just not worth it when you can Makeup Geek shadows for £5. I have also done a post on my Makeup Geek Blush Collection if you’d like to see that too.

All products featured on Gemma Etc. are PR samples or gifted items, unless otherwise indicated. This post may contain affiliate links. If you wish to find out more, please see my Disclaimer within my navigation bar.