Everyday Minerals Sandcastle Pressed Eye Palette {Review}

Overview

Rating: 2/5 stars ★★☆☆☆
Price Tag: $12 USD
Weight: 0.39 oz/11 g
Where to Buy: Discontinued

I ordered the Everyday Minerals Sandcastle Palette way back in April with my Personal Custom Kit (PCK). For the life of me, I’ve never determined which three of the four Sand Castle colours are included. I know the palette contains Boardwalk (shimmery dark brown) and Freckles (matte dark green). The light colour is either Driftwood or Funnel Cake. I think it’s supposed to be the former, since it’s listed as a matte colour, but Freckles is listed as a shimmer on the website when it’s anything but.

The Sandcastle Palette was a limited edition product and is no longer available for sale on the Everyday Minerals website. I believe the original price was $10 or $12 USD, but I paid roughly $5.67 for my palette by ordering the PCK.

Packaging

I’ll just come out and say it: I don’t like the packaging at all.

First off, the packaging is (was) clearly intended for actual pressed powder. The container comes with two puffs that would work fine with powder, but have little use with eyeshadow. It might be worth mentioning that Everyday Minerals does not carry any eyeshadow pressed powders at the moment.

Sandcastle Pressed Eye Palette old-style cardboard packaging

Second, the cardboard container is terrible. I admit that I was a little ticked to see the new plastic pressed palette containers roll out a couple months after I ordered my palette. After a couple of months, the top of the container separated from the sides of the lid and continues to pop out when I open it.

I’m not surprised that EDM decided to change to the new plastic containers. I only wish they had done so months earlier.

Shades

In regards to colour, I think the shadows are lovely. However, the two dark shadows are very pigmented and are far too dark for my Buff-Ivory (EDM term) skin. Despite how they are listed on the site, none of the colours have much shimmer.

Driftwood

Driftwood, the light neutral colour, is a matte beige that works nicely as a base for the eyelid. It’s nothing special; probably a little too dark for most people to use a true eye highlighter. I’ve used it occasionally as an eyeshadow primer.

Swatches for the Sandcastle Pressed Eye Palette

Freckles

Freckles, the dark green, is also a matte colour, but so neutral that it appears almost brown. It applies very dark, so those fair-skinned beware. Though listed under the category Shimmer, it does not have much sparkle.

Sandcastle Palette Swatches:
Loose vs Pressed (Driftwood and Boardwalk)

Boardwalk

Finally, Boardwalk, the dark brown, has a moderate shimmer and is also very dark. I use it mostly as a coffee eyeliner.

Product Images

Final Thoughts

Pros: Good neutral colors, convenient package
Cons: Very pigmented, powder is fragile, smells odd, atrocious packaging

I do not like the fragility of the pressed powder or the smell. Having looked into pressing my own powders, I learned that to properly press eyeshadow (or any other powder), one needs to use dimethicone in the pressing medium. EDM appears to use only jojoba as their pressing medium. I believe this results in a fragile pressed powder that smells odd.

The other main issue I have is that the shadow sort of smears on the skin, even with priming. By the time I get an even finish, the colours have muddied. I also think this is related to how EDM presses the powder.

And did I mention the colours are really dark?

When I made my recent SCK order a couple of weeks ago, I decided not to order the pressed bronzer specifically because of my experiences with this pressed palette. Had the Summer Resort eyeshadow series been made into a pressed powder, I would have purchased that palette, but only because I wasn’t convinced those colours would work with my skin tone.

Despite my complaints, I am happy that I bought the EDM Sandcastle Palette. That said, I don’t wear any of the shades on a regular basis, except for the dark brown as an eyeliner.