Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow Review

Mudcake's official product photo

I received this loose eyeshadow oh, I don't know, maybe a year ago, in one of my Topboxes. Usually I test out makeup items like eyeshadows shortly after I receive them but this item was different. Marsk offers its "100% natural, mineral based" eyeshadow in 10 shades that pretty much cover the rainbow and then some. The colour I was sent is called Mudcake and if you look at its product page, it looks like an unimpressive brown shade. This photo is really underselling how this colour looks on.

Marsk describes Mudcake as being a "a sweet chocolate" but it's more of a reddish brown. It also has a green iridescent finish to it. It's unlike any colour I currently own and I cannot understand why Marsk doesn't play up how distinctive this shade is. All Marsk shadows can be used wet or dry and with Mudcake, using a wet brush definitely brought out the green shimmer effect.

It's a beautiful and vibrant shade but it's also one that isn't the easiest to wear. It's too much for most daytime situations but not quite right for more formal evening events like say, a wedding. While Marsk says that it's, "the perfect brown for that sexy, sultry smoky look," I think it's too playful for that. Instead, it seems like a better fit more a fun, party situation and that's not somewhere I often find myself nowadays so that's why it's taken me so long to test out.

How it actually look on; sorta

I have mixed feelings on this shadow. While I do love the colour, and in particular that gorgeous green finish, this product was far from perfect. According to Marsk, "these highly pigmented powders" have a "creamy texture" and "are easily blendable," allowing you to "create depth and intensity around the eye." While I struggle to call any loose powder "creamy," I do agree with the rest of the claims. This eyeshadow was very easy to apply and work with and once on, it looked great.

Unfortunately, it didn't stay on. And because this colour in particular is so vibrant and eye-catching, its disappearance off my eyelids was quite noticeable. While it didn't "shed" or smear (at least not easily), it did migrate up into my creases. Wearing a primer under the shadow did make a huge difference but it didn't completely fix the problem. I also noticed that the longer I wore the shadow, the duller it became, which made me sad because its green iridescent finish is my favourite aspect of this product.

This eyeshadow is my first experience with Marsk, which describes itself as "an all -natural cosmetics line with a colour range that makes a rainbow look dull." Based out of London and Sydney, it offers cruelty-free foundations, blushes, bronzers, eyeshadows and liners and brushes. It's also a brand I've never seen in stores. It offers its 1.2g jars of eyeshadow for $22.50 USD, which wouldn't be a bad price if this item had more staying power.

Besides the lack of staying power, my biggest complaint with this product is the packaging. Like many (most? all?) loose eyeshadows, the plastic screw-top jar it comes in is messy, inconvenient and wasteful. The jar portion has one of those holed caps on it that in theory, should make using this product easier. But instead all it does it create a layer of powder that spills all over when open the lid up.

Would I buy this product: As much as I do like the colour, that's not enough to convince me to buy it online. And unless I saw it at a great price, and in another amazing colour, I doubt I'd buy it from a brick-and-mortar store either.

Should you buy this product: It's not a bad item but it's also not a great one.