VERA: Crushed Metallic Pigments Review, Swatches, & Photos

 

Textile designer Vera Neumann’s brilliant colour palette is translated into a limited edition set of four stackable jars of Crushed Metallic Pigment. Highlights eyes or skin with a striking colour wave of gold, pink, and blue reflective metallic sparkle.

VERA: Crushed Metallic Pigments

Release Date:  February 9, 2012* / March 2012 (International) *It’s currently available online right now at MACCosmetics.com.  To locate, search for the products individually by name.

VERA: Aloha Crushed Metallic Pigment x4

| ALOHA CRUSHED METALLIC PIGMENT X 4 | Frost | $34 US, $40 CAD | Limited Edition | 12 grams

• Lantern Light | Metallic gold bronze
• Shifting Sands | Metallic champagne
• Aloha | Mid-tone cocoa brown
• Campfire | Rich copper

This stack is definitely the JEWEL of the Crushed Mettallic Pigments! Lantern Lights is a true yellow-gold with a pink bronze undertone.  Shifting Sands is the most silvery and frosty shade, but it’s a slightly warmer silver, so it doesn’t fully disappoint.  It was also the flakiest, but it wasn’t too terrible.  Aloha is cool medium brown with a slight silver undertone.  Campfire is a lovely, saturated coppery-gold.  It’s incredibly warm and very saturated.  Except for Shifting Sands, these were all relatively easy to apply.  Not as chunky and flaky as some shades in the other two stacks.

| STRAWBERRY PATCH CRUSHED METALLIC PIGMENT X 4  | Frost | $34 US, $40 CAD | Limited Edition | 12 grams

• Star Crystal | Pink champagne
• Rose Light | Metallic yellow pink
• Strawberry Patch | Light blue pink
• Moon Rose | Bright dark pink

I wasn’t too excited by looking at this stack since I don’t like the way light, frosty pinks look on me.  When I swatched it, I was reminded why.  Star Crystal is a very, very light, silver warmed slightly with a kiss of soft pink.  Rose Light is a typical soft baby pink with a shiny-frosty tone.  The silvery tones of both of these can look a tad ashy on deeper, warmer skin tones.  Strawberry Patch looks like a lilac-rose shade on me.  It’s only when I tilt my hand this way and that do I see a bit more of the pinkness.  I love how pigmented and gorgeous Moon Rose is.  It’s a rich, deep magenta and is the most Brown Girl Friendly colour out of the bunch.  I’d buy this shade, on it’s own, in a heartbeat.  Both Moon Rose and Strawberry Patch were chunky and uneven to apply, but Stawberry Patch was the flakiest and hardest to work with by far.

| BUTTERFLY PARTY CRUSHED METALLIC PIGMENT X 4  | Frost | $34 US, $40 CAD | Limited Edition | 12 grams

• Desert Cloud | Deep blue purple
• Butterfly Party | Bright lilac
• Rain Drop | Metallic teal
• Moss Garden | Metallic silver green

This pigment stack is soooo pretty to look at.  As soon as I saw it, I had to have it… until I swatched it.  The colours are way too silvery, reflective, and not as jewel-toned as I first thought they would be when I saw the jars.  I found Moss Garden and Butterfly Party textures to be flaky, chunky, and very uneven to apply, even with a brush and Fix +.  Desert Cloud reminded me too much of Violet pigment, and wasn’t a “deep” shade on me as the description says.  Rain Drop wasn’t the saturated teal colour I expected when I first looked at it.  I’ll admire this stack from afar.

LOVES:  

• The Aloha stack!
• Very sparkly and shimmery as crushed pigments are designed to be
• Good variety of colours to choose from
• Stackable

LOATHES: 

• SUPER flaky and can be messy to apply (some shades)
• Uneven, chunky texture (some shades)
• Silvery-ness of some of the shades can look ashy
• Some shades do not show up very colour-saturated
• The grooves on the containers can be tricky to match up when you are twisting them together into a stack

FINAL WORD:

In terms of colour and texture, Aloha is the clear star here and is absolutely BrownGirlFriendly.  It’s the only stack I got, since the other two stacks left me wanting more on all aspects (colour, warmth, and better application).  I didn’t find any noteworthy difference when these were applied wet or dry.  Silvers don’t flatter my skintone, so I didn’t love Strawberry Patch or Butterfly Party.  If silvers look good on you, then check the other two out instead!

VERA: Lantern Light Crushed Metallic Pigment

VERA: Campfire Crushed Metallic Pigment

VERA: Shifting Sands Crushed Metallic Pigment

VERA: Aloha Crushed Metallic Pigment

Strawberry Patch Pigments (Top to Bottom): Star Crystal, Rose Light, Strawberry Patch, Moon Rose

Butterfly Party Pigments (Top to Bottom): Desert Cloud, Butterfly Party, Rain Drop, Moss Garden