Review: Cake Mineral Makeup

Please be sure to read the revision note at the end of my review. Thank you!

Before Ordering: Cake is an Etsy company that I was starting to hear mention of yet wasn’t seeing reviews of. While the linup is still growing in size, I spotted some bright colors and thought I’d try them out.

What I Ordered: Samples of the following pigments: Silver Spoon, Royal Icing, Rose Water, Olive, Milk, Lime, Grape, Carrot Cake, Mocha, Butter Cream, and Blueberry Cream.

Shipping Time: I placed my order on February 6th and received it on February 11th. I did not get a shipping notice; more on that shortly.

Packaging: The samples came in little ziplock bags with name/ingredient stickers on them. The bags were tucked inside a little organza bag, which had a logo card safety pinned to the front, along with a 1-inch logo button. I have to note that I think the buttons are a cute and clever marketing tool; I haven’t seen any other indie makeup companies using them. Additionally, a sheet of paper with application tips and suggestions was included, which seems like a handy insert for those just starting out with mineral or indie makeup. No paper invoice was included.

Now, here’s the thing: this was all sent inside an unpadded, legal-size leter envelope, via first class mail with no tracking. I was slightly surprised that it didn’t arrive in a bubble mailer or something, but the sample listing did have free shipping so I wasn’t disappointed, per se. I can rationalize this in my head as it being very low financial risk if the package were lost, and easy for them to send out a replacement for. I expect, and hope, that jar orders and orders where customers pay for shipping are packaged in bubble mailers with additional padding and precautions as needed.

I also need to note that it looks like the safety pin on my bag may have been caught or pressed while going through the postal service’s sorting machines, as it seemed to catch the top ziplock bag and put a hole through it. It did leak slightly, discoloring the organza bag and getting a little on my fingers when I pulled it out, but I put some clear tape over the holes for now. I don’t know if I will use that particular sample past swatching, due to possible contamination.

Ingredients: Each sample bag and each Etsy listing give the ingredients. Cake makes it very clear that their products are vegan (no carmine) and completely mineral (no waxes, dyes, etc).

The Product:

I’m pretty happy with my color choices. The biggest surprise was Carrot Cake; the picture in the listing was so bright that I expected it to be edited, but it really is bright orange! I also like Rose Water more than I expected to, as well as Mocha, which is a lovely warm brown. Olive doesn’t match the desciption, in my opinion, but it does match the photo; I am confident in saying that Cake’s product photos are very true and can be used to judge colors. I think that the most disappointing color was Grape, as black iron oxide seems to come out pretty quickly in the rub. It isn’t too bad, though, and I still like the color.

For the most part the colors I picked out are unique to my makeup collection, which I take as a good sign (Lime might have some close dupes; I will have comparison swatches in the near future). Cake appears to be creating their colors themselves.

The formula seems pretty smooth, and you can tell by the ingredients list that it isn’t just mica; base ingredients are indeed utilized. This also shows in the fact that a number of these swatches came out rather intense, in spite of my using no primers or water.

Customer Service: I had no need to contact Cake for any questions or issues. I am pleased that I received my order less than a week after placing it.

Final Thoughts:

Was I happy with my purchase? Yes!
Would I order from Cake Mineral Makeup again? Yes!
Rating? 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Revision 02/17/11: I’ve received a report of someone receiving two different colors that were actually the same color, as well as having ordered full-size product and it arriving in the same paper envelope. While I had a good experience, unfortunately others have not, and I recommend everyone taking this into account before ordering.