When Inglot had their 20% off sale, I decided it was time to finally try out the brand. I spent days researching swatches and narrowing down my choices, and managed to convince L to split an order with me so we didn't have to pay for shipping, but when I went to place my order, the code was no longer working. My theory is that they were overwhelmed by the response, so they deactivated the code before they said they would, but I am a cynical person so take that with a grain of salt. However, when I tweeted them angrily, they told me to email their customer service, which I did, and a few days later I received a code for 30% off an order. Yay for additional savings, boo for delayed customer service response and hassle. Putting that tale of woe aside, though, here are my thoughts on the product itself.
The Freedom system is a nice way of customizing your own palettes, for less than the individual shades would cost bought alone. The palette and shadows come packaged separately, and you remove the shadow pans from the plastic cases they come in (this is sometimes a bit of a challenge, if the film on the back doesn't want to come off) and stick them into the palette however you want. The palette is really, really magnetized, so once they're in, they're not going anywhere, so I recommend being sure what order you want the shades to be in before you stick them in!
The colors I chose are:
352, a matte pale peach-beige. This is basically the color of my skin, and I had to swatch it a bajillion times to get it to even sort of show up. I've shown it swatched next to Too Faced Heaven, which is much more yellow; both are effective lid-evening bases and blending shades for my pale skin. The texture of this one is great––not too soft or powdery, but still very blendable and pigmented, and I like using it to soften edges.
32, a sheer seafoam green shimmer. This is an AMC Shine finish, which is meant to be sheer and shimmery, so in that respect it is as advertised! It's a lovely color, and I like that the sheerness means it isn't in-your-face green from the start (though it can be built up). Seafoam green is my most favorite color, so I knew I would like this regardless of how it performed, but fortunately it is really nice––shimmery sparkle but no fallout, sheer but not uneven.
415, a light aqua with seafoam sheen. It's a Pearl finish, so it's more pigmented than 32, but still shimmery. Guys, this is blue, and I find I have to be careful how I wear it to not look like a reject from an 80s sitcom, but I am a total weakling when it comes to colored eyeshadow, so don't let that scare you off! This shade is wonderfully pigmented and blendable, though the texture could be a wee bit softer.
428, a rich dark blackened blue verging on blurple on me. This is also a Pearl, and has a similar texture and finish to 415. It's really pigmented, but blendable, and would make for a great dark blue smoky eye––I tend to wear it applied lightly in my crease and blended with 352 to tone down the intensity, but you could definitely wear it full-strength.
439, a royal purple. Tarina Tarantino Fantastical has several purples, and is gorgeous, but the darker one is very red-toned and I thought it might be nice to have a cooler option as well (especially since purple is the only color I really feel completely comfortable wearing on my eyes). This is also a Pearl, and like 415 and 428 it's got nice pigmentation and texture. It's shown here with only one swipe, but it can be built up to true-to-pan color with additional layers.
All swatches above are single swipes done with my finger on moisturized skin.
The palette design is very nice in some respects––it's space-efficient, it's sleek, and it makes the most satisfying click when the magnets connect. It can also be a royal PITA, though, as sometimes the magnets require a lot of force to move, which has resulted in me jamming my nails into the pans of eyeshadow several times. If you're less of a spaz, though, that may not be a problem, and the palette is really great for travel because it is completely secure.
I also picked up a single pot of matte eyeshadow in 391, a rich black (swatch to left was done with finger on bare skin). Generally the Freedom System is much, much cheaper than the pots, but they had 40% off the round pots as clearance, and then I got my 30% off on top of that, so it ended up being comparably priced to the pans. It is huge. It's "only" 0.07 oz (still 0.02 oz bigger than MAC and UD shadows), but the diameter is so big! On the upside, there's a hope of hitting pan someday, since the product isn't very deep, but on the downside it does take up more space.
I'll have EOTDs up using this palette sometime this week or next, but as a preview: I really like the color combination, and have found myself reaching for this palette quite often, especially when wearing green, blue, or cool purple shirts (which is...really frequent, for me).
Overview
Freedom System: Palettes with space for 1-5, 10, 20, and 40 shadows ranging from $6-39; shadows to fit into palettes are $6, and range from 0.08 oz (Matte) to 0.09 (AMC, Pearl, DS) to 0.11 (Shine).
Individual pots: Still on clearance for $7.20, all 0.07 oz.
Available from Inglot USA.
Quality: 8.75
Effectiveness: 4.5
Ease of Use: 4.75
Senses: 5
Pigmentation: 5 (those that should be pigmented, are, and the same for those that should be sheer)
Duration: 4.25 (lasts all day over primer, but creases after a few hours on its own)
Consistency: 4.5
Price: 3 (a shadow duo costs $20, a quad costs $34, and a quint like mine costs $41, though obviously with discount; the single pots at their current price are a 4)
Value: 4.75 (value increases as you buy more, since the packaging has low marginal cost, but even at small quantities it's a good value because you get so much product!)
Packaging: +0.25 (very sleek and functional, though magnets can be problematic)
Grade: A-/B+
I'm not as blown away by these as I thought I might be, but they're still excellent eyeshadows at a palatable price, and the customization options are great. And they have a huge selection of shades!
Have you tried anything from Inglot? What did you think?
Inglot 352, 32, 415, 428, 439, and 391
The Freedom system is a nice way of customizing your own palettes, for less than the individual shades would cost bought alone. The palette and shadows come packaged separately, and you remove the shadow pans from the plastic cases they come in (this is sometimes a bit of a challenge, if the film on the back doesn't want to come off) and stick them into the palette however you want. The palette is really, really magnetized, so once they're in, they're not going anywhere, so I recommend being sure what order you want the shades to be in before you stick them in!
352, 32, 415, 428, 439
The colors I chose are:
 |
| TF Heaven, Inglot 352 |
 |
| 32 |
 |
| 415 |
 |
| 428 |
 |
| TT Fantastical bottom shade (top), Inglot 439 (bottom) |
All swatches above are single swipes done with my finger on moisturized skin.
The palette design is very nice in some respects––it's space-efficient, it's sleek, and it makes the most satisfying click when the magnets connect. It can also be a royal PITA, though, as sometimes the magnets require a lot of force to move, which has resulted in me jamming my nails into the pans of eyeshadow several times. If you're less of a spaz, though, that may not be a problem, and the palette is really great for travel because it is completely secure.
 |
| 391 |
I'll have EOTDs up using this palette sometime this week or next, but as a preview: I really like the color combination, and have found myself reaching for this palette quite often, especially when wearing green, blue, or cool purple shirts (which is...really frequent, for me).
Overview
Freedom System: Palettes with space for 1-5, 10, 20, and 40 shadows ranging from $6-39; shadows to fit into palettes are $6, and range from 0.08 oz (Matte) to 0.09 (AMC, Pearl, DS) to 0.11 (Shine).
Individual pots: Still on clearance for $7.20, all 0.07 oz.
Available from Inglot USA.
Quality: 8.75
Effectiveness: 4.5
Ease of Use: 4.75
Senses: 5
Pigmentation: 5 (those that should be pigmented, are, and the same for those that should be sheer)
Duration: 4.25 (lasts all day over primer, but creases after a few hours on its own)
Consistency: 4.5
Price: 3 (a shadow duo costs $20, a quad costs $34, and a quint like mine costs $41, though obviously with discount; the single pots at their current price are a 4)
Value: 4.75 (value increases as you buy more, since the packaging has low marginal cost, but even at small quantities it's a good value because you get so much product!)
Packaging: +0.25 (very sleek and functional, though magnets can be problematic)
Grade: A-/B+
I'm not as blown away by these as I thought I might be, but they're still excellent eyeshadows at a palatable price, and the customization options are great. And they have a huge selection of shades!
Have you tried anything from Inglot? What did you think?
