Venomous Cosmetics Pressed Shadows: Swatches and Review

Pressed eyeshadows! They're something rarely done by indie companies and I am pretty sure Venomous Cosmetics was one of the first (or the first to my knowledge) indie brands to offer pressed indie eyeshadows. What's even better is that they offer pressed eyeshadow samples in weensy 15mm pans so you have the option of trying out the formula/color and seeing how you like it.


Venomous Cosmetics Pressed Eyeshadows

I received three pressed eyeshadow samples in Box Jelly, Phoenix, and Yellowjacket. I then purchased two more in Centipede and Midnight Crowd. Box Jelly, Centipede, and Yellowjacket are part of their main collection, Midnight Crowd is part of their Black Friday matte eyeshadow collection and  Phoenix is part of their Legendary Collection.

Packaging: Full size pans are 26mm wide and sample sizes are 15mm wide and sold without a compact. The full size pans have the names underneath but the sample pans are too small to fit the names so instead they're given a code consisting of the initial of the collection and then a number and the corresponding number is given on your invoice.

Price: $6.50 for a full size pan and $2.00 for sample pans. I was told that the samples have about 1/2 tsp of product and the full size pans have 1 tablespoon of product.

Where to purchase: Venomous Cosmetics

Cruelty Free? I believe they are cruelty free.

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time:

I think I should preface my review by saying that I think indies selling pressed eyeshadows have to walk a fairly fine line balancing a soft shadow that picks up easily on the brush and swipes on well and a firm eyeshadow texture that will last through shipping. It's probably why so few indies sell pressed eyeshadows (or pressed products in general). 

That being said, these eyeshadows are quite firm, and the shimmery shades required a few swipes to pick up enough product on the brush but these build up to even, opaque coverage. 
As they are shipped as pans as opposed to in a compact (which does bring down the cost of the eyeshadows as a whole) the formula needs to be quite firm. I found that Box Jelly and Yellowjacket tended to be a little more crumbly than the other shimmery eyeshadows. Midnight Crowd as a matte wasn't powdery, didn't dislodge lots of powder when picked up by a brush, and worked best being patted onto the eyes. These shipped to me in perfect condition, wrapped several times in a plastic zip bag and then encased in bubble wrap.  

I am the type that prefers softer eyeshadows so I wish I didn't have to do a few swipes to pick up enough product but it's compensated by the fact that I get even coverage. I'm also surprised at how well Midnight Crowd applied, especially since it's a pressed matte. The rest of the Black Friday Collection eyeshadows are matte and I think they're worth checking out!



Venomous Cosmetics Box Jelly, Centipede, and Midnight Crowd

Box Jelly: "Dreamy white shimmer" Though this tended to be sheerer than the rest of the eyeshadows, I think that makes it easier to wear as an inner corner or browbone highlight. It makes it that much easier to blend with other colors.

Centipede: "Shimmery teal" Centipede tended to photograph more blue in the pan that it actually is in real life, the swatch is very accurate to the color. I absolutely loved it, it's kind of the teal I've been looking for.

Midnight Crowd: "Deep matte blue" The color appears much more neon blue in the pan but applies darker on yourself; the website swatch is actually pretty dead on. It is like a deeper cobalt blue. Venomous Cosmetics does sell an eyeshadow named "Cobalt blue" but that one is shimmery instead of matte. This is one of those eyeshadows that performs better on the eyes than in the swatch and best when patted on. This wasn't powdery at all and I had minimal fallout. I really want to try more of their mattes.

Venomous Cosmetics Phoenix and Yellowjacket

Phoenix: "Pink based red shimmer" This is part of the Legendary Collection. Phoenix looks quite bright in the pan but the pink shimmer helps subdue the color a bit.

Yellowjacket: "Medium golden yellow" I really liked the color but I felt like Yellowjacket was a little too crumbly in the pan so it was a little messy to apply. I also noticed that there were a few chunky bits in the pan that didn't smooth out onto my lids.

Final thoughts:

I was hoping for a slightly softer, more pigmented in one swipe eyeshadow and though the shimmery ones aren't my favorite, the matte most definitely was. The shimmery eyeshadows take a few more swipes but they luckily do build up to even coverage your eyes. I loved Centipede and Midnight Crowd and I really hope they expand their matte eyeshadow collection. I think they're worth trying out and getting samples, if you end up not liking them you're not out much money.

Disclaimer: I was sent three of the pressed eyeshadows for review and I purchased two of the pressed eyeshadows myself. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for writing my review. The link in this post to their website is not an affiliate link!


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PS. Do you guys like my new collage way of presenting swatches?  I thought that the single swatches was making my posts too long so I'd love to get your feedback on this and the new layout in general!

5 comments

  1. The matte looks great! Props to them for offering these tiny cute pans, must be very time consuming!

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    1. Yeah seriously, it takes me maybe 15 minutes to do one of the big pans so doing tons of them must take up a lot of time!

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  2. I like the new layout and the collage presentation of swatches. I also really like the matte blue! Thanks for introducing me to a new indie company! :)

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    1. Thank you! I hope you end up liking Venomous Cosmetics too!

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  3. Those are lovely, especially the teal and the blue! I've wanted to tr their pressed samples since I heard of them a long time ago. I think the little sample pans sound adorable^^ Thanks for the swatches!

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