When I popped over to Korea back in November, I went absolutely nuts in Nature Republic. I mean, that’s no surprise to anyone, but the issue remains that I seem to have more K-beauty products than sense. There’s bags in bags and boxes on boxes, and I want to make sure I’m appreciate all these pretty things… such as the Nature Republic Botanical Crystal Shadows that I’m going to talk about today.
My love affair with Nature Republic goes way back, and it never ceases to amaze me how many cute, unusual and decently-priced items I find there. Pretty much everything falls into these three categories, and I love it.
The thing that caught my eye with these shadows is that they are like powdered crystal, and I am a magpie who loves anything shiny. It really is a match made in heaven.
Here’s what they look like:
As you can see, they’re in circular plastic tubes (that sounds so scientific), and the bottom half is clear so you can see the product. They stand up on this end, and they’re about the same size as a lipstick. I really like how the bottom is transparent, so you can easily see which colour is which. It also looks really cool when the sparkly powder moves around… if you’re into that kind of thing.
These shadows are all about convenience, and that’s just one of the reasons why I love them. The applicator is a tapered sponge tip, which applies the product evenly and smoothly. It’s also a good idea to use a sponge with such loose product, as this would get everywhere with the brush.
Here’s the applicator:
I purchased these crystal shadows in two colours: #1 Crystal and #3 Pink Beige. The Crystal shade is much more luminiscent and sparkly than the pink, and it’s slightly glittery. The Pink Beige, on the other hand, is more pearlescent and shimmery. I was surprised that there was such a difference in colour payoff, as the Crystal shade isn’t as strong as the Pink Beige — but at the same time, it serves a different purpose: SPARKLE!
You can see a difference in the two colours here:
You can make out the pearlescent pink on the top, and the sparkly white on the bottom. I also want to point out that the Pink Beige looks quite different in the tube (particularly in photos) than it does in real life — it’s not so brown and much more pink.
(Btw, that’s my Fitbit Flex making a bit of an appearance — my mum bought it for me when I was back home, after I lost my previous one, and I am obsessed with it all over again.)
I took a picture in natural light to really show you what’s up:
It’s pretty obvious here that the opaqueness varies between the shades. As I mentioned, the Pink Beige is creamier and fuller, whereas the Crystal only has a hint of colour and much more sparkle. They’re for different purposes: Pink Beige is great for daytime, all over the lid, and Crystal works a pop of glitter at nighttime (because that’s the best time).
I actually had a bit of difficulty locating these babies online — I found #2 Pink and #4 Smokey Dia (both of which I haven’t tried) on Amazon, and also found the range on Q-Depot but they’re out of stock right now. I’ll let you know if this changes!
Have you tried these shadows? As always, I’d love to hear in the comments 🙂
Steph x