Backstreets Makeup Co. Review + Swatches

By Unknown

Nothing to Disclose

 

One of my favorite things about exploring indie companies is when you stumble across a new company that's discovering their "voice" and finding their niche.  It's pretty exciting, and doubly fun because early customers can help steer the company's direction for the future.

Backstreets Makeup Co. is a lovely little gem with an ever-growing catalog of colors.  At this time, they only sell loose pigments for eyes and even use as blushes (some are safe for lips as well, meaning you can mix them into a gloss as well).  From neutral mattes to glitzy glittery shades, there's definitely a little something for everyone.


As the owner April describes on her site:

All of our products are vegan - and I intend to keep it this way. I've found that most people (including myself) like to keep animal cruelty and by-products off of their faces for many reasons. 

There are many brands that do crazy brights - often with too much pigment to base ratios that leave the final product streaky/messy/hard to work with. Not a lot of brands do great neutrals in many different shades. My idea and how I formulate my products for ultimate wear is by testing each one (I only wear my own shadows!) to make sure that they can go on in an everyday wearable fashion, and can be easily built up to be a stronger night/fashionable manner. 

 There are a couple of nice bonuses about Backstreets Makeup Co. (BMC? It's a bit of a mouthful!) In addition to having vegan products, they are located in Vancouver, B.C., meaning if you're in Canada this is probably wonderful news.  But if you are in the United States, don't fret!  BMC will ship anywhere in Canada and to the US as well. Unfortunately, at this time there is no international shipping, so you'll have to hang tight.

Anyways, let's cut to the chase!  Recently BMC had a generous 25% off sale for all users on Reddit.com, so what better time to check out some samples?  If you're feeling particularly brave, BMC offers 10 sample baggies for $5, which is a pretty stellar deal.  I selected my ten samples (it was hard choosing just ten!), shot off my order late-day Thursday, and I received it exactly one week later.  I'm in the states, so this was a pleasantly fast turnaround time!

How cute is that?  I love branded stickers!

I couldn't wait to check out the sample baggies I selected.  I was very conservative in my color choice: lots of neutral mattes. So I was surprised to find six extra baggies thrown in, bringing my total number of sample baggies from 10 to 16.  Then you factor in the 25% off coupon... it definitely felt like I was making off with some sort of scandalous steal.

Extras and a handwritten thank you note? Even better than branded stickers.

I love that April tossed in some flashier colors to offset the neutral shades I picked, and I feel I got a more well-rounded look at what BMC has to offer.

I find with BMC, while their colors are super pigmented and all sorts of lovely, they really don't "grip" too well on their own and need a primer underneath.  It's not that the colors don't show up without one - it's just I find they easily fade away and even the darker colors can quickly be wiped off without a primer.  I have my swatches over a layer of Silk Naturals's Stick Em' Eye Shadow Enhancer.

Paying homage to my beautiful province. A lovely jade green, lots of shimmer, no glitter. 

Jade Bear is a cool, muted jade green.  It's a nice green if you're looking for something cool and understated, and it could definitely pass as a work-safe color.

The prettiest black you've ever seen. Its soaked with colour shifters. From the front, it's a regular black with a bit of sparkle. As it moves and shifts from light sources and angles, it takes on a purple sheen then settles on a beautiful aqua bluey teal that glimmers like the night's stars. Trying to capture it in photos was difficult.

Shame on me for not knowing the origin of "Lugh's Chain" - if you're like me and have no clue what this pigment is referencing, it's worth checking out the mythological Irish deity Lugh on Wikipedia for a quick read.  Apparently his chain is the Milky Way, and looking at BMC's pigment the namesake makes lots of sense.

This was one of the freebies tossed in, and it's definitely the most visually interesting.  In the baggie it looks like a deep, shimmery teal sea-green.  They're not kidding about patting over a sticky base... the sparkles will fly everywhere.  Swatched out, it's more a smoky blue-grey with lots of little teal sparkles, although I didn't personally see too much in the way of purple sheen action.  Milky Way indeed!

 A beautiful bright purple with shimmery eye-catching pink/purple shimmer that is unlike anything. A photo cannot truly capture the magic.

After the twinkly sparkle-fest with Lugh's chain, I think I've learned my lesson about BMC's sparkly shadows.  Luckly, Corcra isn't nearly as intense but still every bit as lovely in its own way.  On their site it appears more of a warm purple, almost like an orchid-y shade, but in my baggie and swatched out it's like a twinkly periwinkle.   This was another freebie, and while I can't see myself personally using it, I don't have anything like this color in my collection

A lovely coral with greeny shifts that are more sheer-shimmer than glittery. The photos for this product have both flash and no flash due to the flash picks up the shimmer shift - the no flash picks up the actual colour of the eyeshadow! Talk about difficult to photograph!

Who can't resist a fun play on words? Hardcor-al is pretty hardcore in its crazy shimmer power, and there's no denying it's pretty pink coral color either.  Yet again another freebie tossed into my order, I can see this making for a fun lip color as well (the baggies will say if they are not lip-safe).

Chabunz is a cinnamon coloured wonder. It's great for layering - not too red, not too brown.

Like I warned earlier, the glittery shades are VERY glittery - and Chabunz is definitely a no-nonsense matte, so any little sparkly flecks are fallout from other colors and not Chabunz.  "Cinnamon" is definitely a fitting description for this color.  It's one of the most pigmented shades from my entire order!  It leans a little more brown on the site swatch, whereas for me it looks redder.

A rusty red, very pigmented. I love this as a crease definer! It has glimmer to it, but no glitter. 

If Chabunz is a bit too red for you, Rusty Nail might be more up your alley.  There definitely is a wee bit of glimmer, but it is very subtle.  This is an awesome color and super versatile.  I really like it!

Crown is a mid tone brown with blue undertone and shimmer. I love this colour - it's a daily crease for me!

 I think a straight-up, no-nonsense brown matte shade is one of those "must-have" colors for every collection.  It's pigmented and has nothing too crazy going on.  Definitely a nice staple for anyone who wants a nice brown matte.

Copper Thief; it's a matte brown with copper glitz. 

Copper Thief and Crown are kind of like siblings.  However,  I find Crown to actually be more coppery than Copper Thief somehow.  Copper Thief is a bit on the cooler side, so if you want a brown matte that's not as warm, this might be a good choice.  I can't see owning both of them though, since they are so close.

Algae where I live is always a great mixture of fresh green, magnificent brown, and beautiful water. I love the combination in water, I love it in eye shadow. This packs the most killer punch, especially in the light!

I distinctly remember seeing this one in the store and thinking, "Wow, that looks so pretty!  But sparkly..." and passed on it.  It's like April read my mind when she tossed this in as another freebie.  The base is a cool, shimmery brown layered with sparkles and blue-green interference. For some reason I also didn't experience quite as much fallout either compared to the other sparkly shades.

 Bruised isn't a duochrome shadow, but it comes really close. It's a deep plum with brown undertones; the light does change how it looks - from brown to purple to a bit green - the sheen and gleam is crazy. This is a colour to see to believe!

I don't notice a ton of "sheen and gleam" compared to the store's swatch, but it's definitely a lovely, cool brown.  If Bruised and Chabunz got together and had some lovely pigmented babies, their offspring would definitely be Copper Thief and Crown.  I like this one best out of all my browns.

So apparently this shade is nowhere to be found on BMC's store page, but it's quite a shimmery surprise.  (It had a shimmery explosion all over when I first opened the baggie.)  It's sort of a pearlish peach with tons of sparkly silvery blue speckles scattered all throughout.  Even though I applied this over a layer of primer, there was still a lot of glittery fallout though.  I can see this making a fabulous single wash with a bright swipe of liner.

Burnt Vanilla is a burnt white colour with some sheen. It's great for highlighting without being too brash of a white.

I imagine naming makeup shades is a tricky job.  How do you pick names that coincide with your label's "brand"?  Do you even use your color names as an extension of your branding?  Some companies get very frou-frou-frilly with their names (TWINKLING BUTTERFLY KISSES AT DAWN and whatnot), but sometimes you come across a very straight-forward name that gives you pause and makes you think, "Hey, that does look like its namesake!"

Burnt Vanilla looks like a burnt vanilla. That sort of dark, creamy shade hiding underneath the crispy crème brûlée crust (sans yellow).  If you're very pale, this might not cut it for a creamy base shade, but otherwise I can see it working very nicely in a variety of ways.  It's also very modest in its sheen--nothing outrageous going on here!

Rinky Dink is a pinky-salmon-masterpiece. It's shimmery, it's bright - and not neon. Eye, cheek, lip. It's perfect for them all!

Oh boy, wouldn't this make a lovely blush?!  Not too pink and not too orange, the Goldilocks of salmony shades with a whisper of shimmer.  I can think of plenty of ways to use this color, can you?

Where do I start? This is called perfect because it's perfect. It's the perfect nudey peachy pinky colour. Eye, cheek, lip. It's perfect for them all!

With a name like "Perfect," you know they mean business.  It's even more intense when they add a period at the end.  Perfect.  That's not a typo - it's on the product's listing and on the packaging.  So when your name is that lofty, you know this better be good.

Lucky for Perfect., it is that good.  If Rinky Dink isn't your cup of tea, and you're looking for something that's a bit more peachy-nude and less "darling salmon," this is the color for you.  I've already used it three times all over my lid as a nice colored base to darken things up a bit.

A neutral toned sand with copper glitter. It is sheer, it has sheen, it's amazing. It has glimmer to it.

Aww, Skinny Latte... I really wanted to love you, especially when I read "copper glitter" (coppery shades are supposedly a great way to brighten blue eyes, right?)  Alas, our glimmery love was not meant to be.  This is a sheer, pinky base with a TON of red glitter that's just yearning to be free from its pigmented prison.  Even over a sticky primer, these sparkles could NOT fly away fast enough.  The sparkly fallout was wild.

An amazing peach - sheer on one swipe, opaque on more - this colour is amazing. Lip Safe!

So Rinky Dink isn't your thing, and "Perfect." just isn't perfect enough for you?  Nectarine Sheen might just be your jam then.  It's a bit softer and peachier without the brown undertones of Perfect.   It's soft easy to build up or wear as a more sheen layer.  I can see this working as an awesome blush as well!

Everyday look using Burnt Vanilla, Perfect, and Crown over primer.

I'm not a magical makeup artist.  I'm actually pretty novice-y.  However, what works so well in my favor with BMC's colors is that they're very, very forgiving.  They also blend pretty easily!  In fact, it might be a bit too easy to accidentally over-blend!

Look using Nectarine Sheen, Chabunz, and Rusty Nail.

Pros: Quick turnaround time, ever-growing collection of colors, generous samples and extremely frequent sales.  Lots of mattes if you're into that sort of thing, but enough unique shades and glitzy glittery colors to satiate more adventurous tastes as well. Easy to navigate the storefront, painless shopping with StoreEnvy.  Very active on social networking sites. Extremely attentive and receptive ownership, so your feedback will be heard.  All-vegan selection.

Cons: Currently only offering pigments, glittery shades struggle with sparkly fallout and really do need a primer underneath, no shipping anywhere outside of Canada/US.  It's still a young company, so obviously its catalog of colors might not have as much variety as more established brands.

Verdict: Backstreets Makeup Co. is still young and growing, but for a shop that isn't even a year old, it's off to a great start!  I highly recommend checking them out and jumping for some samples - the baggies are very generous, so you'll have plenty to swatch and wear.  Give it a go!