Okay, okay–I’m cheating just a teensy bit here.

This isn’t the actual, all-in-one Sugarpill Cosmetics Burning Heart palette, as you can see from the picture above. Rather, these are the individual shadows that make up the Burning Heart palette. You see, I had already purchased a few single shadows from Sugarpill Cosmetics and wound up owning some parts of this palette’s selection (as well as half of the Heart Breaker palette, which I will also review in the upcoming weeks). Rather than double up on colors, I decided to stick with the singles and collect them all that way because… well, it just seemed like the thing to do.

However you get it, this palette–or the single shadows that comprise it–is a purchase worth making. I have never seen such amazing shadows before stumbling upon Sugarpill! These shadows put some of the big names to shame. Seriously; if you are unfamiliar with Sugarpill Cosmetics and are a lover of intensely pigmented, wildly colorful eyeshadows then I command you to run right over to their website this very instance!

Or I guess you just hang around here and see what I have to say about them, too.

Sugarpill Cosmetics is a cruelty-free line of vibrant, richly pigmented eyeshadows that come both pressed–like the colors in this “palette”–or loose, as pigments. They are an indie brand that has fast become a cult favorite over the past few years. I was a little late to the party in experiencing them for myself. I had been on the hunt for some bright, bold colors for awhile and just wasn’t finding anything out there that really struck my fancy, even among my beloved Urban Decay or MAC. I really just wanted some out-there kind of colors to play with, when I wanted a vibrant pop of color in a look, or when I felt like going balls-to-the-wall and doing something all out colo

Enter, Sugarpill. I had never seen them in person, but the swatches and reviews online blew me away. I just had to try them. At first, I stuck to colors I knew I loved (namely the purples–Poison Plum and 2am–and greens–Mochi and Acidberry). That first order had barely arrived before I was kicking myself for now purchasing the full palette sets–I was back on the web, ordering more, within hours! Now that I have felt the amazingly smooth, superbly blendable formula of these shadows and seen just how incredibly vibrant their colors are on my own skin, I cannot help but compare most big-name brands to them whenever I try a bright, fun new color.

When purchased in the pre-assembled Burning Heart palette, these four shadows retail for $34.00. Individually, they sell for $12.00 each in their plastic clamshell packaging. Its a much better deal to get the palette if you enjoy all the colors offered–now I know better for future releases!

Let’s look at those colors.

Poison Plum

“Deep matte purple with a semi-pearly sheen.”

Guh. Poison Plum was hands-down my gateway drug to my Sugarpill addiction–I am in love with this color.

This is a purple lover’s purple. There is no subtlety to this color; it is an in-your-face vibrant grape purple that looks stunning when blended with the other colors in this palette. I have never seen a matte purple that is as vivid as this one, and I’ve gone through many purple eyeshadows in my time!

While some people might find this one a bit too bright for every day use, I have really been enjoying using this shade to punch up some of my more hum-drum, routine neutral looks for the workday. I’ve found that it plays really well with the colors in my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, and its been seeing a lot of use in my crease.

It is richly pigmented and finely milled, with just a touch of powdery fallout. (You can see a bit of powdery residue in the pan, from where I swirled my finger).

Love+

“Bright red! Not for the faint-hearted.”

They mean it when they say this one isn’t for the faint of heart! This is a bright, true red.

It is certainly the only red eyeshadow that I own, and at first I was wondering just what the hell I would do with this one. I had it in my head that wearing a red shadow would just make my eyes look raw or bloodshot but–thankfully–that was not the case. This shadow is absolutely gorgeous when blended out with Buttercupcake or Flamepoint–and don’t get me started on how dynamite the three look together!

This is probably not a shadow you are going to use often; it certainly isn’t something most people will use every day. As much as I love the dramatic flare of a flaming eye look, there really aren’t many situations I’d find myself rocking that look in (though thoughts of Comic Con always float in the back of my head). I see myself using this one more for fantasty looks or to blend with other colors to bring out their redness, but that’s fine by me.

I have never seen such a fabulous red anywhere else, and I am thrilled to have this color in my collection to play with!

Flamepoint

“Vibrant matte orange.”

Flamepoint is probably my least favorite in the Burning Heart selection.

It is bold, it is richly pigmented, it is buttery smooth–but it is orange. Bright, matte orange–like the skin of the fruit I do so enjoy in the summer. As much as I like the fruit, generally, I’m just not a fan of orange as a color. Corals, yes, but true orange–like this shadow? Not really.

This color works beautifully with the other colors in this palette, but outside of that, I am hard-pressed to think of what I will use it for. Maybe to add a bit of depth to some peachy looks, perhaps?

I’m just a bit baffled by this one. I’ll have to take it out for a spin and play with it a bit, to see if I can make it work better for me.

Buttercupcake

“The brightest bright matte yellow with awesome opaque coverage.”

Yup, this bad boy is bright!

I had always thought MAC’s Chrome Yellow as one of the richest, brightest yellows out there and that I would never find anything out there to take its place in my heart…

I was wrong.

Buttercupcake takes the cake (pun slightly intended). It is so smooth and creamy to the touch and it has a rich, golden opacity that damn near took my breath away. There is something brighter about this color on the skin than MAC’s Chrome Yellow–it doesn’t read quite as golden on me, instead being more of a bright, sunshiney yellow.

I love blending some bold yellow into looks that incorporate greens and greenier blues, so this shadow is going to be an excellent one to play with!

Swatches

Love at those colors, people! Each of the swatches below was a single swipe on bare skin (no primer)!

Verdict

Burning Heart was the first “palette” I completed but it certainly wasn’t the last–like I said, I just had to add all the colors in the Heart Breaker palette to my collection as well.

I really am just floored by how beautiful these shadows are. I have never seen such rich colors clear across the board as I have with Sugarpill. You’d normally expect one or two of these bright colors to be meh, with less color payoff than the rest but… Look at that swatch again!

(Go ahead. I’ll wait.)

Yeah–where is the dud in this lot? No where to be found, that’s where! These are simply amazing.

I think I’ve gushed enough, for now. I’ve had an eye on getting some of their pigments next, so maybe some of those will be making an appearance on this blog shortly–Goldilux and Magpie are calling my name and I don’t know how long I can resist!