Indie Spotlight Review : Meow Cosmetics

Who's that sexy cat? The one with the flawless skin, those sultry eyes... Oh Meow Goodness! It's me!

I want to, no I need to tell you about a fabulous new find of mine. I've been looking for a great foundation, since my Physicians Formula Organics has been very difficult to find up here. So, I asked around, and just before St Patty's Day, I received a few suggestions to try Meow Cosmetics.

Now, finding foundation for my skin is no easy feat. I call myself the fishbelly white princess. My skin is so pale, almost all foundations make me look yellow, pink, or blue. It's not cool. Not cool at all. Most of what I've bought years before now have been given to either my sisters, or my Mom. Very little works for me. Now, I'm Italian and a touch of Irish, and contrary to popular belief, not all Italians are olive complexioned. My ancestors hail from the northern mountains of Italy- so we're fair skinned, and some even have lighter hair. (In truth, I am a natural blonde... Hard to believe, but it's true!) Throw a little Irish in from my Dad's side of the family- and there we have it... I get the fishbelly white gene. My sisters? Pretty ivory skin. My Mom? Beautiful beige complexion. Me? I get the palest of the pale genes in my entire family line. Most of my cousins? Olive skinned. Yep, out of a flock of ivory sheep... I'm the cotton ball white one. Ok, not that pale, but I think you get the gist of what I'm trying to say by now.

Well, it just so happened there was a sale at Meow's shop in celebration of the "Kiss Me I'm Irish" day. Since I'm impulsive, and totally impatient at ordering samples to match my skin tone, I browsed through the colors. I really don't have any undertones to my skin- I'm not yellow or blue. I'm just pale. At first glance, I knew the palest of the pale foundation would work. Click, it's added to my cart. I can't just order one thing. It's like opening a bag of chips- you cannot have just one. Sample baggies of eye shadows are a buck. One dollar. I snagged three. Reviewed order, paid, patiently waiting for my goodies to arrive.

When they did, my goodies were delivered in a well padded bubble mailer. Inside was the most adorable leopard print fabric drawstring bag with my products, and detailed invoice with a handwritten confirmation of my order signed by two people. Their logo on the top of the invoice made a very pretty personalization of what could have otherwise been a plain old paper with my order info on it- and at the bottom, a "handwritten Thank you for your order" which put a smile on my face.

 

The color I ordered was Pampered Puss (medium coverage) in Siamese 0-Inquisitive- palest one in stock! It has neutral undertones, so I knew it would work beautifully. Up it goes for closer inspection. The jar is shrink wrapped, which personally I love to see when I receive cosmetics. To me, it states that nobody has been able to tamper with the contents from when they were packed in the lab/workspace, stayed sealed on its way to me, and eagerly awaiting to be opened by it's new owner. It's a very good sanitizing practice. Once the wrap has been removed, I opened my container and was pleased to see a sifter sticker there. This means no product leaking out during transportation, and the risk for contamination in it is most likely zero. I had a very happy face!

When I fished the foundation out of it's cute little bag, I was impressed first off at the size of the container, and how much product was described as being in there. I know the product description online is explained- but for some reason, I couldn't quite think of how much foundation would be in there. When I actually held the container in my hands, I was very pleased by the packaging, presentation, and amount of minerals in the jar. Full size foundation jars are a whopping 3 ounce containers, while many other companies offer foundations in 30 gram containers. How much of a difference is that? A 30g container will hold roughly 3 tablespoons of product. Meow's 3 oz containers hold 22-30 grams of foundation, or a rough translation of about a 1/4 c of product. Which means it's an 85 gram container. Um, hello! Yes please! This will definitely last a while! Also note the full list of ingredients on the bottom of the jar- and the fact that the web address is there too for easy ordering next time!

And take a look at that lid! Sure, I think the logo and information on the top is wonderful... But flip it over, and it's a wonderful place to swirl your brush in, pick up the foundation, tap extra off and not have to worry about making a huge mess of things. Genius! The next day, I decided I was going to try it out.

I did my usual moisturize and concealer regimen before applying the foundation. I picked up some powder on my kabuki brush, and brushed my face with small circles. Since this is a medium coverage formula, I was expecting it to maybe be a bit more sheer as I've experienced with some other companies. I was pleasantly surprised when buffed into my skin, the color corrected and evened out my skin tone with very little effort from me. The best part about it? Once applied, it literally feels like I didn't put anything on my face! Some powders are heavier than others, and compared to my usual Physicians Formula Organics- this was like applying air to my face. And it covered beautifully. No visible powder on my face, except a spot on my nose, because I had wiped at a sniffle and it smeared some of it...  Yuck! Cleaned the smear up, and buffed right back out to perfection! No complaints in this department whatsoever. Hands down, at this time, I have to say this is the best foundation I've ever found and used. Additionally, you can purchase "Munchkin" sized foundations for when you're on the go and traveling. It's the same diameter container that the regular size comes in, but a lower profile 25 gram jar. They hold roughly 6-8g of product, and fit much better into a travel kit, especially if you're on the go and don't have the space to take a full container with you.

Now, I was very tempted to order some of the full sized eye shadows, but they run a little on the pricey side for my budget right now.  The upside to being pricey is actually a good thing- because full sized jars are 10 grams for the majority of the available shadows. And since I'm not exactly employed at this time, I was not able to splurge and get a full size... Or 10. Or all of them. So I picked out three samples to try from the Scandal Eyes collection. I just couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't on this occasion, however I am looking forward to sampling some more of their colors, and discovering other products Meow carries. All products are swatched over Shadow-Poxy on the upper half, and clean bare skin on the lower half. Let's continue on to the shades themselves...

Scandal-Eyes in:

Neuter- Described on their website as Lemon Lime with Gold shimmer. Indeed- this is one of the most unbelievable gold-green colors I've ever seen. Applied by patting, you catch both colors when observing it. When blended out, the green tone becomes more apparent and darkens, while the gold hovers at the edges of where it's applied. A quick swipe of a touch more color, and you get the gold-green sparkles over the darkened green- and it's absolutely stunning.

Feral- Described on their website as Dark Grey. Applied to my skin it looks black, with sparks of gray and silver shimmers throughout. I have a feeling it's because I'm so pale- but I still enjoy this color as dark as it is. The sparkle in the shadow as the light catches it really is quite beautiful. When blended out, or worn without primer, the gray is more easily seen. It buffs out to a pretty dark gray color over primer, and even though it looks a little "streaky" in my swatch picture, to my eye when worn they had no such discrepancies. I think it's just my camera being finicky with me.

Prissy- Described on their website as a Smokey Light Grey. Exactly right on target with the description- and even prettier once applied. This color is a beautiful combination of true grey and silver shimmer and sparkle, and when blended out on the eyes it turns a slightly darker grey. It seems to be a pressure sensitive grey, which is why I think it darkens the more it's blended. Again, picking up a little more color on your brush and applying it back over the darker portion will restore that pretty grey back to it's lustrous glory.

To my surprise, there were also two free samples tucked into my package as well:

Ideal Eyes in Cat and Mouse- Described as a light Forest Green on their website. On my skin, the color applied is one of the most beautiful green colors I've ever come across. It's complex, it's beautiful, and surprisingly enough has a gorgeous pewter base. When blended out, it fades nicely with the pewter being more dominant than the green- but a quick swipe of a little more will put the green right back on if you want it! Here in my pictures, it definitely shows up as more pewter-toned, but trust me when I say this is a green eye shadow.

Tinted Glow Powder in Quartz- A wonderfully soft, subtle, transparent shimmer which gives you a faint blush of color and makes it seem like your skin glows naturally. It's light, airy and doesn't make you look "oily" like some tints seem to do. I know for myself, personally, when I've tried in the past to use glows, I end up looking like I need to put some powder on to cut down on shine. It's a disaster. This product, however, is the perfect balance between shimmer and glow. I can wear it and finally achieve that "dewy" look I've been after for years!

And here you have it- swatches, descriptions, eye candy and lots of pictures!

Pros:

Prices: Great-Excellent

Excellent pricing for the majority of Meow's offerings. The foundation is a fair price, considering how much product you receive in both sizes of the jars. All sample orders are a dollar each, and a maximum of two samples of the same item are allowed per order.

All Eye Shadows are 10g with roughly 2g of product, priced starting at $8 - 10.25

Vandal Eyes Shadows are 6g shaker jars for $7

While it may seem a bit much to pay that "much" for an eye shadow, consider the fact that these are hand made colors, and they're in larger jars than many other sellers offer. Typically, 5g jars are used and sold for around $5 as an average. So twice as much product, for less than half to a touch more than double I think is plenty fair to be charging.

Foundation's have three different coverage options:

Purr-fect is light-medium coverage

Full sized is $21.95, and Munchkin is $10.95

Pampered-Puss is medium coverage

Full sized is $23.95, and Munchkin is $12.95

Flawless-Feline is heavy coverage

Full sized is $26.95, and Munchkin is $14.95

Crystalline Cat Glows

20 gram jar with 7g powder is $15.95

10 gram jar with 2-3 g powder is $8.25

Sample bag is $1.00

Of course, there are a TON more cosmetics on Meow's site- but I only have these products so far!

Customer Service: Great

Since I was impatient and didn't want to try a sample of foundation before committing to purchase the full sized one, I didn't personally speak with anyone at Meow. However, I did notice on my invoice slip that two people did indeed initial my order- which means it was checked twice to verify that what I ordered would be delivered to me with the correct products enclosed. Awesome! That alone speaks volumes to me- paying attention to details.

Shipping: Excellent

I ordered my products on March 15th. Since there was a Saint Patrick's Day promotion (17% off orders), there was a disclaimer on the site that due to the possibility of a rush of high volume orders that they may be slightly delayed. My order shipped on March 23rd (notification by email), and I received it on the fourth business day later on March 28th. Safely in it's little bubble packaging... Rock on!

Presentation: Excellent

I was pleasantly surprised to find my products tucked carefully in a very cute leopard print drawstring bag. I think it's adorable and fitting that Meow Cosmetics uses leopard print fabric bags! It's got me wondering now if there are any different cat inspired bags... Like tiger, jaguar, etc. I also like that my invoice was neatly folded also tucked in to the bubble envelope next to the fabric bag.

Product: Excellent

My big jar of foundation was shrink wrapped, and had a sifter seal as well. Upon first looking at the baggies, I thought... Wow, those are pretty colors. They don't look so different than some other colors I have. How wrong I was! I've since learned that because of the bases used in colors, the matte color tends to stick to the side of baggies. Once they're opened up- it's holy cow welcome to sparkling, daring, and shimmering colors! The ones I have procured already and shown you above in my review, I will be ordering full sizes of them when I have the chance. The colors go on easily with hardly any fallout, and blend easily to lighten (or darken for pressure sensitive ones) the color, or to combine with other ones. They're definitely more intense when applied over eye primer, but are also pretty and subdued when applied without it. Scandal-Eyes are the glittery, shimmery packed shadows which are quite dramatic with their colors. Ideal-Eyes are pearlized colors and don't have the same dramatic shimmer and sparkle that Scandal-Eyes does- but it's no less pretty, I assure you! There are many different types of colors offered by Meow- glittery, sparkling, pearlized, matte, etc.

Con:

It would be nice to have a smaller eye shadow size to purchase from instead of only 10g or sample size, instead perhaps introducing a 5 gram jar.

This isn't a deal breaker for me and certainly doesn't affect my overall opinion of Meow Cosmetics, just something I wanted to note as a personal observation.

Conclusion:
Would I purchase products and/or recommend this product to others?

Yes, I absolutely would. 

The foundation was the main product from Meow I wanted to try after hearing nothing but rave reviews from some of my online friends. I figured what the heck- I might as well try, right? Yes! I'm so glad I did. The Pampered-Puss formula goes on like a dream, blends into skin effortlessly, keeps shine down and provides the right amount of coverage I've been trying to find. Since I've been using it for a few days already, I've noticed an overall improvement of my skin as well- my blemishes are disappearing, there's less irritation and redness, it washes off clean each time... So whatever it is that's in this formula, I love it.  An added bonus is that once applied, your face feels like there's nothing on it! Score!

The eye shadows I used are so intricate and complex, it's hard to describe and capture how good they look on camera. Application was a dream, they were very easy to blend, and for the amount of shadow you receive in the jar for the price, it's well worth the money in my opinion.

I'll gladly recommend Meow Cosmetics to family, friends, and anyone else who asks! For those of you wondering, I'm wearing Meow's products in the pictures of myself scattered throughout my post. Foundation over moisturizer on my face.

Eyes:

UDPP Eye Primer

Neuter on inner 1/2 of eye

Cat & Mouse on outer 1/2 of eye

Prissy in crease and blended up to my brow

Stilts by Linnaeus Cosmetics on my brow as a highlighter

WnW ColorIcon kohl pencil in black on waterlines, and upper lid

Meow Cat Glow in Quartz on cheeks

Get your ROWR on ladies- it's time to be the fierce, sexy kitten that's begging to come out and play!

Have you tried Meow? What do you think about their products?

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P


**All products used in this review were purchased by me. I have not in any way, shape or form been compensated for writing this review, and all opinions are my own.**