Josie Maran Argan Eyeshadow Quad

I was introduced to the Josie Maran brand back in my Sephora days. Like the case is with most brand debuts, we had a full-store training session, where a rep from the company did her very best to convince us that THEIR brand was everything we had dreamed of and more. It honestly didn't take much convincing. Josie Maran has simple, elegant packaging, a good range of products, lovely colors and an eco-conciousness that's easy to get behind. I haven't experimented much with it since leaving the store, but I recently ordered a few items to see if they lived up to my remembered impressions.

The limited edition Argan Eyeshadow Quad seemed like a good place to start, as it contains four eyeshadows, including one from the regular line.

The packaging is simple and sturdy, made from partially recycled materials. The colors inside are described as:

Partagas - a rich, spiced rum shade with flecks of golden glitter
Cloak - a pitch-black matte shadow with peekaboo silver glitter
Valencia - a warm copper color with a sprinkling of bronze glimmer
Cinnamon - our best-selling champagne pink shimmer

This is a fairly neutral palette, though Valencia might be difficult for cooler complexions. What's really nice is how well the shades all work together, and can be combined to create anything from a nude, subtle look to a fairly dramatic smoky eye. This is the kind of palette you can take traveling and have most most of your bases covered.

With flash.

Indirect natural light.

Partagas has wonderful pigmentation, applies and blends smoothly, and feels wonderfully soft. Dip your brush carefully, because it will kick up some powder if used too forcefully. The tiny bit of gold mico-glitter doesn't really read upon application.

Cloak is not what I would call pitch-black, it's more of a soft black. It applies well for a matte (no patchiness), even though it has a drier texture than all the others in this quad. The glitter does fall-out a bit, and disappears pretty much entirely when blended in. It is, however, the perfect shade to smoke a crease without going too dark, and adds a nice layer for evening versatility to this quad.

Valencia has a similar texture to Partagas, though softer and even more pigmented, and a shimmer/metallic. It's really lovely.

Cinnamon is a shimmer, again very soft, with sheerer pigmentation. Beautiful as a highlight, though it also work well as a lid color to brighten up the area. I have no idea why they named it Cinnamon, as it is the least likely color for that moniker.

All of the shades held up well over a primer, with no creasing, and only slight fading (for Cinnamon only) at the 8 hour mark.

Indirect light.

Indirect light, different angle.

Sunlight.

Availability: Can be purchased from www.josiemarancosmetics.com for 24$. The site does ship to Canada, and purchases over 25$ ship for free. Which is pretty damn awesome!

Pros: Soft textures, great pigmentation, and the shades work well together, making for a simple but versatile palette. Eco-friendly and very reasonably priced.

Cons: The slight glitter fall-out on Cloak, and Cinnamon could be a smidge more pigmented.

(I purchased this from the Josie Maran website.)

Josie Maran Natural Wonder Palette.

I was browsing the Josie Maran site a while back, and noticed a couple of great things in the sale section. Josie Maran is one of those brands that I wish got more notice. They have some great products with lovely textures and colors, and they're a nice option if you're looking for eco-friendly cosmetics that don't look like health-food store rejects.

See? The Natural Wonder palette is just so pretty!

It's a nice little mix of colors, and I can't recall if it originally came out for summer, but it definitely feels appropriate for that season.

No primer. Flash.

No primer. No flash.

The eyeshadows are soft, a little on the sheer side, but layer easily for more intensity. The bronze and gold are, of course, the most pigmented, the aqua the least. The cornflower blue is really beautiful, and actually has a faint violet duochrome that I wasn't able to capture in any picture I took.

No primer. Flash.

The blushes are, for some reason, more pigmented than the eyeshadows. The blush colors are absolutely lovely and blend very easily for a subtle look. The bronzer is probably lighter than anything I would normally call a bronzer. (I'm about an NC25/Chanel Pro Lumiere 20/MUFE 118, if that helps.) It does layer nicely with the pinker blushes, to give them a more gilded, sunny tone. Could potentially work as a highlight for deeper skin tones.

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Availability: Currently still available via the Josie Maran website, for 18$ (original price was 35$)

Pros: Mixed selection of fun colors that work well together. Soft, blendable textures. Very pretty, sleek packaging. Reasonable price, especially on sale. Eco-friendly.

Cons: Colors a little sheer, though that can be a preference for some. All of them have shimmer, which again can come down to preference.

(I purchased this from Sephora.)