I tried my first Cargo product this summer when I bought a gorgeous red lipstick that came with white powder applied with a sponge tip on the other end of the slim tube to the center of my lips. It gives my lips a great contoured or dimensionalized look. I thought it was quite an innovative product!
Cargo Namastay Eyeshadow Palette
Recently, I was sent an amazing eyeshadow palette at an amazing price: Cargo Limited Edition Namastay Eyeshadow Palette. Just looking at it is impressive.
It comes in a slim but large red box with gold mandalas on the front.
Inside is the palette, also red with the gold embossed mandalas on the faux leather padded top.
Open the palette and you’ll find a huge and very useful mirror. There are 44 pans of rectangular and petite square pressed powder shadows in a variety of neutralish shades – including the oranges and earth tones that are so popular this year – grouped in shade families against a gold foil background. The shadows are a mix of mattes, satins and shimmers with nary a glitter in the bunch. It’s a gorgeous looking palette that would make an impactful gift.
Because I’m a serious fan of neutrals and it’s so handy having a mix of finishes in one place, it is easy for me to reach for this mega palette on the regular. The shades are arranged in rows with variations on a theme, with small transitions from shade to shade. So it’s a cinch to create a look within a family of shades or to choose a shade from a number of rows for contrast.
The shadows feel buttery, they’re well pigmented, and there isn’t much of a dust-up in the pan and none on my eyes. The shadows are easy to blend. They’re long wearing, don’t fade and don’t crease.
The shades are identified with row letters and numbers. The row with the lightest shades (row E), some of which are so close to my skin tone that they didn’t show up too well in my swatches, but they’re perfect for a nice subtle inner corner or for under brown highlights. Above row E (rows A-D) are warmish coppers and orange-browns, while below (rows F-I) are coolish plums, greys and cool browns.
Here are the swatches on my arm over primer:
Row E are the lightest shades, good for highlighting, that don’t show up very well against my fair-light skin tone.
Cool-toned row F also had few very light pinks that also didn’t show up very well against my fair-light skin tone.
For $39, the versatile Cargo Namastay Eyeshadow Palette is a wonderful value for yourself or for a holiday gift. You can creates hundreds of looks with these pretty neutrals and on trend orange/earth tones.
Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Magnesium Stearate, Silica , Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Dimethicone, Polybutene, Bis-diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate. May Contain:titanium Dioxide(Ci 77891), Iron Oxides(Ci 77499, Ci 77492,ci 77499), Manganese Violet(Ci 77742), Ultramarines(Ci 77007), Yellow 5 Lake(Ci 19140), Red 40 Lake(Ci 16035), Blue 1 Lake(Ci 42090), Carmine(Ci 75470)
Cargo Swimmables Longwear Eyeshadow Sticks
For years, I have been eager to try the Swimmables Eyeshadow Sticks, and I finally got my chance.
I was sent three shades to try:
- Glacier Bay: creamy beige
- Island Bay: pink-mauve
- Botany Bay: medium golden brown
Swimmables Eyeshadow Sticks are super-creamy. In fact, you don’t have to use much pressure at all when you apply them. When I was swatching Glacier Bay, I unnecessarily pressed too hard and broke off the tip. The eyeshadow applies like a breeze, and you have about 20 seconds to blend before they set. They don’t crease. I tend to wear them as a single color across my lid, but you can do a different color in the crease or V if you blend quickly. The color stays true and stays on until you take it off.
Here are the swatches:
The Swimmables sticks are quite similar to the Mally Evercolor sticks, but I would say they are even a bit creamier and smoother probably because of the dimethicone in the formula. They’re buildable so you can go for a light or a very saturated look by applying more. Nevertheless, I get good coverage in one swipe. I think they are slightly more pigmented than the Mally sticks. However, at 8 shades, there aren’t as many shade choices yet as with Mally Evercolor Shadow Sticks. Seven of the 8 Cargo Swimmable Eyeshadow Sticks shades are neutrals with one bright shade that looks like a sea green. Hopefully, they’ll be adding more shades to the line up.
Because they’re water resistant, I’m eager to wear Swimmables Eyeshadow Sticks to the beach next summer to see how they perform.
Priced at $20 for 0.03 oz./1 g.
Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Isododecane, Ozokerite, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Quaternium-90 Bentonite, Polyethylene, Propylene Carbonate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Silica, Tin Oxide, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite. May Contain (+/-):mica(Ci 77019),titanium Dioxide(Ci 77891), Iron Oxides(Ci 77499, Ci 77492, Ci 77491), Blue 1 Lake(Ci 42090).
Cargo Cosmetics is a cruelty-free brand. They are sold on the Cargo website, at Kohl’s, on Dermstore.com, and at the Walgreens Looks Boutique (at the big urban Walgreens that have the expanded beauty section).
I was just at Kohls last night and I barely stepped foot in the beauty section. Here I was thinking, “YES! I avoided being sucked into the nail polish displays!!! GO ME!!!” but I totally didn’t look at these or the Mally display. Guess I know what the Kohls Cash I earned is going towards now. I see eyeshadow sticks in my future. 😛
Swatching that palette must have been a feat in itself. It’s huge!!!
Ahahaha, just when you thought your were safe, lol. You should check out the Cargo Swimmables Shadow Sticks – I think I like them a smidgen better than the Mally sticks, though I love them both. Yes, swatching the palette was a challenge! BTW, did you notice how many people who have entered your giveaway love gardenia and/or tuberose? Such a good idea to do this, Rach. Thank you! I think the candles will go to an appreciative home 🙂
Wow, that palette is an incredible value! Those eyeshadow sticks are absolutely stunning!
That palette has everything! And, the pigmentation! Cargo is one of those brands that gets far less love than it deserves; I love their eyeshadows.
I agree, Renu! I remembered that you are also a Cargo fan. This palette is so much fun, and the Swimmables sticks are fab
I see this brand at Winners all the time but never bought anything. Maybe I’ll try the eyeshadow palette next time.
Cargo is a really good and unappreciated brand. The Swimmables line is terrific! This palette except for the shades near my skin tone is terrific and so easy to use!
Such wearable colors – great staples!
Wow! So many colors in the palette! I had no idea Cargo was still around!
Yes, it certainly is!
I would have a ball with that e/s palette. So much to play with. And most of those are colors I’d wear.
The Cargo palette is such fun and so easy because everything is in one palette, yay!
Great palette and I love the swimmables!
The formula of the eyeshadows looks much better than that if the last Cargo palette I used. I’m not very fond of Pan layouts like this though.
I really like shadow sticks! But when shadow palettes have that many colors I get overwhelmed.
That palette is gorgeous! And with a name like that, I may just need to pick it up!
They look like they swatch nice! So many nice shades!
The shadow sticks look so nice, especially the matte one!
I love the palette and could see getting some serious use out of it. The layout is a bit odd but I could easily get past that.
Cargo claims that they organized the shades in that pattern to group the shades together by shade “family” and to make it easier to either use similar shades for an ombre look or to choose contrasting colors. When you have the palette in front of you, it isn’t difficult to use. Also, it’s actually nice have the warm toned shades separated from the cool in such a big palette.