Review -- Sigma Creme de Couture Collection

 Disclaimer: I am a Sigma affiliate, but I paid for all of these products with my own money. The post contains affiliate links.

I have been a big fan of Sigma's brushes for several years now.

I own the Essential Kit, the Premium Kit, the Mr. Bunny Essential Kit, several of the Sigmax brushes, and a few other singles, and I'm happy with all of them.

I hadn't tried any of their makeup products, though.

I'd been curious about some of the palettes that they put out and some of the shadow bases and eye liners totally caught my eye, but I never pulled the trigger for whatever reason.

When I saw the Creme de Couture Collection that came out recently, though, I finally caved and made my first Sigma makeup purchase.

The packaging alone, designed to look something like candy or pastry boxes, totally sucked me in.

That's how easy I am.

Of course, the colors in the collection were also pretty tempting.

While I'm not someone who rocks totally bold, bright shadow looks on a regular basis, I do like to play with color, even if it's just as liner with an otherwise neutral look. So when I saw the shades in the eye shadow palette, I was smitten.

The blue, purple and green shades alone -- Oh my goodness!  So much pretty.

I decided to purchase the entire collection, which includes the shadow palette and the three blushes, Strawberry Ambrosia, Cherry Apple, and Blackberry Essence, and retails for $55.

I've already mentioned the adorable packaging, but it bears repeating -- Sigma knocked it out of the park with these lovely little boxes. Even the inside of the lids feature cute patterns.  And nothing is too bulky or big for storage.

The eye shadow palette contains 16 matte shadows: Redberry Rose, a hot pink; Apricot Flower, a bright orange/peach; Passion Fruit, a rosy terra cotta; Cherry Blossom, a baby pink; Meyer Lemon, a bright yellow; Ginger Pumpkin, a deep orange; Cafe au Lait, a chocolate brown; Blueberry Cream, a light aqua; Violet Whip, a light lilac; Lavender Honey, pinky purple; Cassis, a royal purple; Elderberry, a dark plum; Blue Chocolat, a sky blue; Almond Pear, a deep mint; Creme de Menthe, a blue green; and Citron Pistachio, a bright lime.

Creme de Couture Eye Shadow Palette

 (Note: Please keep in mind that no base or primer was used in photos for swatches.)

First two rows of Sigma Creme de Couture Eye Shadow Palette

From l. to r.: Redberry Rose, Apricot Flower, Passion Fruit, Cherry Blossom

From l. to r.: Meyer Lemon, Ginger Pumpkin, Cafe au Lait, Blueberry Cream

Bottom rows of Sigma Creme de Coture Eye Shadow Palette

From l. to r.: Violet Whip, Lavender Honey, Cassis, Elderberry

From l. to r.: Blue Chocolat, Almond Pear, Creme de Menthe, Citron Pistachio

As I mentioned, all of the shadows are matte, and as a result, they can be somewhat powdery when swatching them.  However, I've found that they're very smooth and creamy when actually applied to the eye.

The pigmentation on most of the shadows is really good too -- some of the light shades like Cherry Blossom and Violet Whip can go on a little sheer, but you can build them up really easily.  If you want the colors to be even more intense, though, using a white base like the NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk can make a big difference. Though Even over a nude base like the M.A.C Paint Pot in Painterly, these shadows can look really bold and bright.

As expected, my favorite shades are the blues, greens, and purples, though the peachy and orange-y shadows are very flattering on my blue eyes too.  I love the way that blue and brown look together, so my favorite look so far is Blue Chocolate on the lid, a mid-tone brown in the crease (I've been using Naked2 from the UD Naked Basics Palette) and Cafe au Lait in the outer V -- it's such a pretty, fresh look.

If you're not a fan of brighter colors, then this is certainly not a must-have palette.  If you're someone who has tons of bright colored shadows already, then you can probably skip this one as well since I wouldn't say the formula is so amazing compared to other shadows to justify the purchase. 

However, if you're like me and enjoy brighter colors but don't have as extensive a collection of (matte) bold shades as you do of neutrals, this is a great addition to your collection.

 That said, I think the blushes may be my favorite part of the collections.

All of the shades are somewhat unique, and like the shadows, they have a matte finish so you don't have to worry about them calling attention to large pores on your cheeks or making oily skin look even shinier.

Cherry Apple is a warm, reddish pink, with some earthy brown/terra cotta undertones. It is perfect blush shade for when you want to fake that fresh-from-the-winter-chill flush.

Strawberry Ambrosia is a cool light baby pink, which is very pretty, but it's probably the most easily duped of the three.

Blackberry Essence, a cool pinky purple, is probably the most unique of the three blush shades. When I first looked at it in the pan, I didn't think that I would like it -- I'm not really a purple blush kind of girl -- but I absolutely love the way it looks on the skin. More of the pink tones seem to come out when it's applied to the cheeks, so it has a really lovely natural look that still stands out from your standard pink blushes.

Creme de Couture Blushes: Cherry Apple, Strawberry Ambrosia, Blackberry Essence

Blush swatches (l. to r.): Cherry Apple, Strawberry Ambrosia, Blackberry Essence

 I've really enjoyed using all three blushes in the month or so that I've had them.

You can purchase each of the items separately -- the palette is $32, while the blushes are $12 each -- or buy the entire collection for $55, which seems like a really good deal for 16 eye shadows and 3 blushes.

All in all, I think this is a lovely collection. It isn't probably what comes to mind when you think of fall or winter makeup shades, but I think you should wear whatever colors you like regardless of the season.

If you like colorful shadows, it's definitely worth checking out.

If you're not into bold, bright shadows, you might want to take a peek at the Cherry Apple and Blackberry Essence blushes instead.

If you're interested in purchasing any of the items in the Creme de Couture collection, you can use the code FALL2013 throughout the month of October for 10% off at Sigma.

Have you purchased any of the Sigma Creme de Couture collection? Do you change your makeup colors based on season or do you just rock whatever you like regardless of the time of year?