Review: Evil Shades Cosmetics
Before Ordering: I had never heard of Evil Shades until reading about them in Phyrra’s blog. Since she gave them a positive review and some of the colors grabbed my attention, I debated my order for awhile, then finally placed it after New Year’s.
What I Ordered: My first order: Deadly lip gloss, and Abyss, Acolyte, Banshee, Double Barrel, Myseria, Moonlit, Nymphette, Sinister, and Zombie eyeshadow samples.
My second order: full-size Acolyte eyeshadow, the Wonderland Eye Shadow sampler set (Cheshire, Heartless Queen, Mad People, Madd Hat, Sweet Alice, Twinkle Twinkle, Whooo Are U), and Erinnye, Suffocation, and 13th Hour eyeshadow samples.
Shipping Time: I placed my first order on January 4th, received shipping notice on January 7th, and it arrived on January 19th. There were no scans on the Delivery Confirmation number except for at my city’s sort facility and when it was delivered at my house, so it’s quite possible my order was tied up in the postal system for a bit.
I placed my second order on January 26th and I received a shipping notice later that day. It arrived on January 29th.
Packaging: Both orders arrived in plastic baggies via bubble mailers. No paper invoices were included. My first order did have two extra eyeshadow samples of unreleased colors (Rocker Chic and Punk Chic), and my second order included a size upgrade.
Ingredients: They are not listed on full-size jars or samples, but there are generic ingredient lists published on the FAQs page (ingredients for specific colors are not listed, nor as base ingredients and “may contains”).
The Product:
The shadows feel pretty smooth, the full-size jars are 5g jars and the samples look to be about 1/8 tsp (the size is not given on their website). I promptly dumped my full-size jars into bags, though, because when I opened them, I discovered they hadn’t sealed well and lots of eyeshadow was packed around the jar threads, etc.
Now, the swatches above are my first order. Notice anything missing? Maybe I would feel like swatching my second order if missing wasn’t the theme here.
Customer Service: I placed two orders for my review of Evil Shades because there was a small problem with my first order; I had ordered a sample of Abyss eyeshadow, but it was missing from my order when I received it. I contacted Andrea, the owner, explaining that I would be placing another order soon and if my missing sample could be included that would be fine with me, and she was quick to apologize and insist she give me a full-size Abyss for the mishap. I responded that it wasn’t necessary and I would be happy just to get the sample tucked in, but when I received my second order, sure enough a full-size Abyss was included.
But here’s the kicker: my second order was, once again, missing one of the samples I had ordered, this time being Erinnye. My notification that my first order was missing an item should have been enough of a reminder to doublecheck orders, at least my new order, more carefully.
Final Thoughts:
- Was I happy with my purchases? One word: meh.
- Would I order from Evil Shades again? If my second order had arrived complete, yes. In reality? Probably not.
- Rating? 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Edit: As of March 5th, 2010, Evil Shades has been added to my Companies I Avoid list. Please see the list for details.
A Girl and Her Shadows 
Hello! Just wanted to say your blog is thoroughly enjoyable to read and super helpful to me. ^^
It seems like the owner may just be a little unorganized, but at least with good intentions of correcting an error. It’s unfortunate it had to happen twice! D:
Good intentions, yes, but having stuff missing from two orders in a row, my first two orders ever, just kills it. I was all kinds of pleased about how she took care of the first order until I thought “Oh, I really want to swatch that new red I got,” went through my eyeshadow samples twice, doublechecked my order confirmation email, and realized I got jipped again.
On another note, thank you for your feedback! If I’m helping someone somehow with my posts, then I’m doing what I set out to do. :)
I too am enjoying your blog! What bothers me about this experience you had is not only that your products kept getting left out and that they don’t include an invoice, but that they don’t include ingredients listings on the full sizes! This is BAD news and not only says disorganized, but also not versed in the basic FDA requirements. I am just shocked at the slew of new (and old) MMU companies that are just sloppy and unprofessional.
I am amazed how one web site and a bunch of bulk packaging material makes a company nowadays. Evil Shades is ONE lady packaging/mixing this stuff out of her home, there are no sanitary or product garantees here. Same with many others-manufacturing cosmetics in their home god knows where. I would avoid any one person operation like the plague unless they could prove they have a seperate, sterile enviroment where they package their stuff
You definately make a point. On the other hand, I’m forced to avoid the majority of commercially-produced cosmetics due to certain chemical allergies. It’s a double-edged sword.