Makeup of the Day: Ice Queen

IMATS Haul: Ittse Makeup Part 2

Currently Ittse makes eyeshadows and blushes/bronzers/highlighters.

The eyeshadows I purchased from Ittse are very buttery with high pigmentation payoff making them very WOC friendly since the color still stands out on pigmented skin without a nude base on the lid. The buttery feel from the finely milled pigment particles is very noticeable if you swatch multiple brands at the same time. After swatching at Ittse, I actually swatched eyeshadows at another IMATS booth and the difference in quality was immediately noticeable to me. The quality is even more astounding when you consider the price of the shadows: $7.99 for a pan that is the same size as a MAC shadow. Why would you even go anywhere else for eyeshadow? It doesn't make sense to shop at a MAC or Bobbi Brown or whatever when you have access to prices like these. Obviously, the one thing these brands have over Ittse is that you can actually swatch a Mac or a Bobbi Brown shadow in a local store. I hope Ittse can soon be found everywhere. Till then, most bloggers will be posting swatches for readers to get an idea of the color of the product, and maybe Ittse could post a swatch on a light and dark skintone to the website?

Each shadow comes packaged in a recloseable plastic case so that if you want to store a shadow outside of your palette for whatever reason, you can do so without damaging the shadow.

I love the gold script on the plastic. It's just an extra touch that makes the product even cuter!

Finally, Ittse is a paraben-free, gluten-free, cruelty-free company. 

On to the swatches and shadows...

Each pan has the name of the eyeshadow or blush written on the back of the pan so that when you run out, you know exactly which color to get. The last two shadows I have swatched, The Castro and Obsidian, are Ittse's signature shadows ( my own terminology). They are the style of shadows that make the brand unique. You would be hard pressed to find a shadow of the same shade in another brand.

My filled palette (9 shadows + 2 blushes). You can also fit 12 shadows in one palette.

The row furthest left in my palette.

Ittse's signature shadows

Finally, I have swatches of one highlighter, Barbados, and one bronzer, The Sunset. Barbados is perfect for all skintones and reminds me of Jaclyn Hill's Champagne Pop because of this. The Sunset would be a nice blush or bronzer on my fair skinned girlies. I prefer to use it as an eyeshadow.

Ittse is also offering a coupon code so you can save some money!!!! For those of you who are concerned about this, just so you know: I don't make any sort of commission off the coupon code if you do make a purchase.

Hope you enjoy Ittse as much as I do!!

IMATS Haul: Ittse Makeup Part 1

I'm sure many of my readers have seen that Anna and I went to IMATS  Los Angeles recently if you've been following me on Instagram and Twitter. It was our first time and we had a blast. I'll be reviewing our IMATS experience in an upcoming blog post along with tips and tricks for making it out alive and within one's budget. For now, I just want to talk about an amazing new makeup company I discovered while there: Ittse.

Ittse is a San Franciso based makeup company that is trying to revolutionize the industry by giving the makeup enthusiast the ability to customize their makeup experience. Before I launch into anything about their product, I want to take a minute to discuss their amazing and personable customer service. The minute Anna and I walked up to their counter at IMATS, Ittse's staff and owner were very friendly and helpful. When they found out that we were the bloggers behind MakeupandMasala, they were able to recall the exact posts we had shared with our readers on Instagram. Needless to say, we were flattered they knew who we were and what we had posted, but we were more amazed that they knew what we were posting and were keeping up with it. It's nice to know that there are brands in the makeup world that not only notice when people are talking about them, but also remember and actually use that feedback. If this is how they treat all of their customers from bloggers down to regular makeup enthusiasts, I have high hopes for the company. You see I like buying from companies that take the time to talk to me and make me feel like a valued customer. I have tried to buy from larger, well know brands, only to be ignored because I'm not the "ideal" customer because maybe I'm too young, don't have enough money, they aren't interested in the WOC demographic, etc. If I feel like I am wanted and valued when I try to make my purchase, as a consumer, I'm more likely to buy your product.

The second thing, Ittse has going for them is their fun and girly website decor and packaging. I love their artistic vision.

I mentioned previously that Ittse is all about customization in the makeup experience. Because of this, they have magnetic palettes where you can place all of your product. The color of the palette can be customized (I chose their newest color gold, but a coral and teal palette will debut sometime in the spring). The palettes can fit 12 eyeshadow pans or 9 shadows and two blushes. The pans can be easily removed to move around colors so if you want to only take a few shadows for a weekend trip like I often do, you can removed the ones you don't use that frequently. Also since you can move the shadows around in the palette, you can visual see which shadows pair well with each other and try combinations you wouldn't normally be keen on trying. When you glance at the palette, it had the tendency to seem flimsy. However, they are HIGHLY durable, come with a film that separates the mirror from the shadows so the mirror can stay clean, and have a very strong magnetic clamp on the edges to keep the palette shut at all times. You could toss this in your school bag or tote because of the size and you don't have to worry about have makeup spill everywhere because the magnetic clamp is THAT good.  

The newest palette color

Stay tuned for the second half of my review where I will be swatching all the products I bought!