MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette

Makeup Geek eyeshadows are one of the most affordable and high quality eyeshadows around. I haven’t reviewed any Makeup Geek products on the blog before, which is kind of odd because it’s actually my favorite eyeshadow brand!

To my excitement, Makeup Geek and the Youtuber MannyMUA have collaborated to create the MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette. I have been following Manny for quite some time, so I’m really thrilled to show you this palette today.

The MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette comes in a matte black box and has holographic falling stars, a crescent moon with Manny’s logo and the Makeup Geek logo in the corner. The palette itself is black embossed rose gold stripes. I love holographic rainbow stuff, I love stars, I love abstract designs, I love black so yeah.. I just can’t really say anything else than that I friggin’ love the packaging to death.

The back of the box has a crescent moon with a picture of Manny and some explanation about the palette. The back of the MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette shows the names of all the eyeshadows, again with crescent moons. This is because Manny loves how they look and he is a huge fan of Sailor Moon, which will be evident later once I go and explain the custom shades.

The MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette is made of hard cardboard and has a mirror as big as the palette itself. There are nine shades in this palette in total. Five shades are custom made and exclusive for this palette, the other four of are in the permanent range and are chosen because they’re Mannys favorite Makeup Geek eyeshadows.

The back of the palette is rather confusing. Instead of showing the names in order, the names are underneath the shades themselves. So the names of the left and right shades are switched. For example, Artemis is the shade in the top left corner, Luna is on the top right corner. I will explain all the shades and their names individually. The names were all explained by Manny himself in a Youtube video.

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Top Row:

Artemis – a muted champagne yellow with a shimmery finish. This is a custom shade and was named after the white cat in manga/anime Sailor Moon that has the same name.

Beaches & Cream –  a soft peachy beige with a matte finish. This shade is permanent and Manny’s favorite shade to use as a transition shade.

Luna – a medium rose gold with a foiled finish. This is a custom shade. Manny wanted to create an eyeshadow that was a hybrid between the shades In the Spotlight and Grandstand, but a little more pink. This shade was named after the black cat in Sailor Moon that has the same name.

Middle Row:

Cosmopolitan – a gold-flecked medium rose with a shimmery finish. This is a permanent shade that Manny has added because this shade fits perfectly with the rest of the palette.

Sora – a medium earthy terracotta with a matte finish. This is kind of one of the biggest reasons why I purchased this palette. This shade is named after main protagonist in Kingdom Hearts because the shade looks just like his hair. Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite videogames of all time. When I heard that Manny named this shade after this character and having the same beautiful experience with the videogame, I freaked. It made me feel connected with him in some weird way, and I’m so happy to see that there are many other nerds around that love make-up!

Frappe – a medium maple brown with a matte finish. This is a permanent shade and again, a shade that Manny loves to use as a transition.

Bottom Row:

Insomnia – a warm red brown with blue reflects and a foiled finish. This shade is already present in Makeup Geek range however, this is normally a loose pigment. The pressed version is only found in this palette, which is in my opinion a nice custom addition. I really suck at using pigments so this is a great way to still enjoy the shade. Manny chose to have this in the palette because he loves the original pigment and thought this shade would match perfectly in the palette.

Mars – a deep cherry red with a matte finish. The other big reason why I wanted this palette. Red eyeshadow shades like this one are really hard to find. This is a custom shade and was named after the red planet Mars and again after a Sailor Moon character, Sailor Mars. She is a bad-ass in the manga/anime and so is this palette.

Aphrodite – a deep plum brown with a matte finish. He wanted to add a dark shade that would be different than the usual black or dark brown shades. Manny really likes Greek mythology, so he named this shade after the goddess Aphrodite, which was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility.

Here are the swatches of the MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette from left to right: Artemis, Beaches & Cream, Luna, Cosmopolitan, Sora, Frappe, Insomnia, Mars and Aphrodite.

As expected from Makeup Geek eyeshadows, all of the shades are super pigmented. The formula per eyeshadow is somewhat different, most of them feel very soft and buttery. Some of them like Aphrodite has a bit of fallout, because it’s so finely milled but would not be any problem if you tap your brush before application. Mars is very different to the rest of the shades. It feels very dry and chalky. This is explained by Manny that red shades like this one are very pigmented and extremely hard to make, so this is the best they could do. I don’t mind because it still applies very well and is nicely blendable.

What I really love about the MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette is that it’s very versatile. All the shades are cohesive so you can go and do a neutral look, a bold one or anything in between.

I created a neutral look using Beaches and Cream (all over lids), Artemis (browbone and inner corner highlight), Sora (first transition shade and bottom lid), Frappe (second transition shade), Luna (upper lid) and Aphrodite (crease and bottom lashline).

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I of course had to create a bold look using Beaches and Cream (all over lids), Artemis (browbone highlight), Sora (first transition shade), Frappe (second transition shade and bottom lid), Mars (crease), Aphrodite (outer lower lashline, upper lid and crease) and Insomnia (upper and bottom lid on top of Insomnia and Frappe).

I really love how the bold look has turned out and and really love the MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette. I think Manny and the Makeup Geek team has done a great job creating an amazing palette. The eyeshadows are of amazing quality like always and are easily blendable and stay on beautifully. I was actually hesitant to buy this at first, because I want to save up money and this palette didn’t seem that special, because it already had four permanent shades. This was of course until I saw the swatches and I was completely sold. I’m happy that I did and that I was lucky enough to get one!

The Limited Edition MannyMUA x Makeup Geek Palette is available for €60.40 Euro at BeautyBay.com.

Have you ever tried Makeup Geek eyeshadows? What do you think of this palette?