Glamour Doll Eyes is an indie company based in Las Vegas and specializing in eyeshadow. Founded in 2008, it's one of the larger (selection/business-wise, not in terms of employees--it's a one-woman show) and better-known indie companies out there.
Packaging:
Eyeshadows can be purchased in a sample baggie (0.5 g), a sample jar (1 g in a 5 g jar), or a full-sized 5 g jar (either 2-2.5 g of product if you choose a jar with no sifter, or 1.5-2 g if you choose a sifter jar).
Blush comes in a 20 g sifter jar.
Hydraglazes come in a squeeze tube with a doefoot applicator.
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| Check out our swatch post for more detailed pictures! |
Actually, if you want to see exactly what they have, they offer a clever "gotta catch 'em all!" Collection Card with a listing of all their current products--a free download you can use to enable a collector's mindset and fuel your purchasing of GDE products.
They also offer a primer called Control Freak, Glamour Doll Eyes makeup bags, and what appears to be a glitter glue-type product called Foil Me.
Branding-wise, I feel like GDE runs a bit more gaudy and less nerdy than my favorite indies--I personally get a distinctly "young" feeling from the brand, with its logos adorned with colorful paint splatters and stars, and as I near my mid-thirties, I suspect I'm old enough to be the mother of much of their target audience. However, the colors we requested from them are eminently wearable even in a professional environment, so don't judge a book by its cover.
There's a lot of hullabaloo and outrage in the indie community about undisclosed repackaging/reselling, and I find it quite interesting that GDE repackages/resells openly, with their practices plainly disclosed: shadows with a * next to the name contain unblended pigments that have been mixed with a base for ease of application, but which are not complex or unique to GDE, and their Foil Me primer is repackaged. This openness extends to other aspects of the business, such as sponsorship and affiliate opportunities or ties to bloggers/Youtubers. Their site is professionally done and easy to navigate, with swatches of their products provided on each page, and very clear details about product ingredients and sizes.
Having collected or tried some ungodly number of neutral eyeshadow palettes in my lifetime, I like the conceit of "leveling up" one's neutral shadows!
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| Plastic sealed jar |
Samples:
Samples are available for eyeshadows but don't appear to be available for blushes or lip glosses. Since we received our GDE shadows as a free press sample, I'm unsure of what free samples or extras are typically included in a paid order.
Kristin adds: I've done a purchase with GDE before! They included two free samples in plastic baggies.
Quality:
I was very pleased with the quality of the shadows I received. They were smooth and easy to apply and blend--no patchiness or fallout. The colors were shimmery but understated rather than over-the-top glitterbombs, and I absolutely loved the complexity of colors like Rocket, which seemed to change before my eyes as I applied it and blended it. I did find that every color I tried creased on me by the end of the day if I wore them only with primer (Urban Decay Primer Potion), but they were fine if I combined the primer with Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This isn't unusual, though--my lids are oily and crease-prone, although some of my shadows do hold up fine with primer.
Cost:
Eyeshadows are $1.25 for a sample baggie (0.5 g), $2.50 for a sample jar (1 g in a 5 g jar), or $6 for a full-sized 5 g jar (either 2-2.5 g of product if you choose a jar with no sifter, or 1.5-2 g if you choose a sifter jar).
Blushes are $9 for 4-4.5 g of product in a 20 g sifter jar. Unlike the eyeshadows, you are not given an option of a heavier non-sifter jar for these.
Hydraglazes are $9 for 8 mL of product (roughly 1.5 tsp).
There are often various coupons and discounts available.
Customer Service:
We were sent GDE's products for review, so we can't speak to this aside from having a positive experience in corresponding with them about the press samples, but their Contact Us page offers several means of getting in touch (no phone number, but email, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram accounts are all listed, along with a web-based contact form).
TAT:
The stated turnaround time is 48 business hours from when the payment clears, unless otherwise stated, with orders shipping Monday through Friday. I am not entirely sure if this is intended to mean 2 business days or 6 business days of 8 business hours each--I assume the former!
Shipping:
Shipping details are here.
Personal Thoughts:
Although GDE's branding doesn't appeal to me that much (unlike brands like Shiro... I mean, Miyazaki? LET GIVE YOU ALL MY MONEY), their products are really lovely, and I would absolutely order from them if I were looking for a particular color or finish of eyeshadow. I also really appreciate their transparency with regards to things like repackaging, and the fact that they're running their business with an eye to practicalities and financials--it makes me feel less worried that they might suffer a sudden meltdown and fake their own deaths/start spitting in jars of eyeshadows/run away with all their customers' money/insert other indie cosmetics company drama here.
A final note: we did sign up for their affiliate program, but most links in this post are non-affiliate, and the review was my honest opinion and written before we signed up for the affiliate program (but after receiving press samples). The first link in this post is an affiliate link, and you can also click on the banner below if you'd like to buy something and help support us with our web hosting fees.
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