An Italian Makeup Review: Collistar Beauty

“This new brand is wreaking havoc on my wallet!”

When recently searching for new new single eyeshadows, I stumbled upon Italian makeup, which, as you’d imagine, almost made me faint with its beauty. I remember audibly gasping at the site of Calla. In particular, the packaging of the Collistar singular eyeshadows are aesthetically gorgeous, and both their shimmers and mattes - but especially their shimmers - reek of luxe Italian goodness.

How is Italian makeup different from regular makeup, you ask? I’m not completely sure. All I know is that this new brand is wreaking havoc in my wallet.

Here are some of their gorgeous single eyeshadows:

Here is a look done by Parokeets.com:

So, what are their eyeshadow collections?

Collistar has a few different single ‘shadow collections, including 2 separate collections of Double Effect Wet & Dry (which is exactly what it sounds like - you can apply them dry or wet for more intensity) and 3 separate collections of Silk Effect, along with an eyeshadow stick and a couple of less aesthetically pleasing palettes.

What else?

Each single eyeshadow comes with a plastic applicator. Say what you want about plastic applicators - I know they’re not trendy right now - but I actually think they do a good job. I’m more of a max-3-eyeshadows-on-my-lid-but-usually-just-one kind of gal, so I rarely need to use a blush to actually blend out shadows, and I think plastic pointed sponge applicators serve an important purpose in the beauty world.

Which of these gems did I purchase?

I purchased two Wet & Dry shadows in Bronzes, a cool-toned shimmery brown that I couldn’t resist (because I don’t already have enough bronze eyeshadows), and Sage, a shimmery greeny blue. 

So, Are Collistar Eyeshadows worth the hype?

Yes… I think so?

BUT - there are cons. Besides Collistar’s beautiful packaging, the actual “Sage” eyeshadow is an almost exact Dupe for Nyx’s Prismatic Eyeshadow in Mermaid 6. When I say “an exact dupe,” I mean they’re pretty identical.

This was a let down because both Nyx’s and Collistar’s eyeshadows are not super impressive in the quality department. Collistar’s Sable ‘shadow was not the most longwearing, and although Bronzes was pretty high quality over all, it still did not wear for a super long time.

As for the Wet & Dry application, I did try to use Sage with a wet brush, and I think it worked okay - though both the dry and wet applications seemed quite vibrant to me. Both Sage and Bronzes have pretty good pigmentation for an eyeshadow rather than a pressed pigment.

But am I going to purchase a couple more? Probably. I’ve been wearing sable a lot, and the outer packaging is just gorgeous. The eyeshadows are outstanding. Of course, the patterned eyeshadows are bound to look more “regular” when applied to the eye, and ultimately, the way they look in the pan is the most alluring - but I love them anyway. I guess that’s just the makeup lover in me. And who can resist an Italian eyeshadow?