Urban Decay Loose Shadows Review and How to Use Them!

If you saw my Urban Decay Haul Post yesterday, then you know I stocked up on loose shadows! With beautiful colors and a pretty decent selection, I was already planning to pick a few up. Then…the sale hit. $1 for each? Yeah I couldn’t pass that up. With adorable packaging, unique colors, and the Urban Decay seal I knew it was too good to pass up. Everyone who follows me on twitter has been asking for how I use these because some people had issues. Keep reading and I promise I’ll explain how to use them to make stunning eye looks with less fallout AND less mess!

So here are the pigments I picked up, I got all 10 of them. Some of them are the loose form of my favorite Urban Decay colors (Shag & Smog especially!) so I knew I would love at least a few of them. The packaging is adorable, as with all Urban Decay products. Purple metallic tubes, fun bottle shape, and a peekaboo bottom section so you can see the pigment. Oddly enough, one of my favorite things is the sticks at the base of each pigment. Not only does it have the shade on it (duh) but the sticker is also the same COLOR making it super easy to differentiate between them!

First is No Flash & Second With Flash.

Urban Decay Loose Eyeshadows from left to right: Rockstar, Shag, Protest, Shattered, Smog, Asphyxia, Goddess, X, Graffiti, Gunmetal.

I had read a lot of reviews about these and here are some of the issues I was concerned about: fallout, difficult to use, messy. So after receiving them, these were the first things I wanted to evaluate!

Fallout: There’s always a bit of fallout with loose shadows IMHO. The best ways to counteract that is with a primer and (most importantly) application. You can’t apply loose shadow the same as pressed because its completely different. Instead, use a patting motion, taking care to tap of excess before applying. You can layer like with any eyeshadow, in some cases even better. You have a lot of blending options as well.

Difficult to Use: I think this relates back to my tips about fallout, but there is a bit more to it. With this product in particular, there is a learning curve. When you open the container you should immediately note that taking the included brush directly to your lids will be difficult. Why? You won’t have much control, you will make a mess because the pigment climbs up the sides of the bottle as it is moved around, the brush isn’t made for this. From playing around with this, 100% of this problem was cured by using this brush to “paint” the loose pigment onto my standard makeup brushes. If you use a smaller brush, you can even dip straight into the container which I prefer. Just don’t forget to tap off the excess!

Messy: If you combine tips from the above two issues, this should clear up a lot of the mess. With loose shadows, its hard not to have a little bit of a mess. Remember to use a primer and tap off the excess and you should be golden!

All in all, I’m thrilled with my purchases. Would I have bought all of them at full price? No. But at the sale price, it was well worth the leap of faith!

If you guys are wondering about Urban Decay’s customer service or if you’re having shipping issues, please check out my haul post where I explain how my experience went!

Questions & Comments are always appreciated! Any requested looks?