I first learned about Melt Cosmetics on Phyrra.net. To be honest, it was the innovative product packaging that caught my eye. The stacks from Melt that come in a variety of color families are round stacks of 4 or 5 eyeshadow shades with a mirror on the top. I thought that they were attached to each other and that they pivoted when you opened the stack.
When I received the Gun Metal stack that I bought during their recent sale for $30, I was even more surprised and impressed when I opened the package. It came in a rather large black box with fun lips wearing different shades of lipstick on the inside of the box.
At first I thought it was overpackaged and it probably is, but the smaller box containing the stack was nestled nicely in a bed of black tissue paper to protect it in transit. It was perfect when I took it out of the box.
When I took out the stack to look at the shades, each round pan was stacked on top of another as you could see in the first photo above. There was no attachment or pivot point like I had assumed.
Instead the pans are magnetized so you can take off each pan to work with the shade and with the mirror individually.
If you’re traveling, you can take just the shades that you think you may want with you and leave the others at home.
Rather ingenious, and I guess that’s why the regular price of $48 for 4 shades or $58 for 5 is so high.
So what about the Melt shadows themselves? Presently, there are 11 different stacks in different shade families (and there are some traditional palettes as well). However, two stacks are currently sold out (Radioactive – neons, and new Blueprint – a combo or blues & neutrals). Melt often sells out of things, and I think they do it on purpose to create demand for their products (which I think is weird).
Quite a few of the stacks include brights, and since I don’t tend to wear bright shadows I had been having a hard time trying to figure out which to try. Because my blue-grey eyes tend to look bluer when I wear grey shadows, I decided it out try the Gun Metal stack though I thought the shades might be too dark for me. At $30 (1/3 off), I thought it was worth a try.
Though there’s a small amount of powder on the brush, there’s no issue with fallout on application. The shades are buttery and very pigmented. The four shades in the Gun Metal stack are:
- Harsh Stone White: a metallic shimmer shadow that’s not white at all, it’s champagne
- Assimilate: matte taupe
- Industrial: grey-brown smokey metallic shimmer
- Gun Metal: blue-black metallic shimmer
Yesterday, I put on Harsh Stone White on my lids with Assimilate in the crease and V. We were going to a museum for the afternoon, and I didn’t want to use the darker two shimmer shades – too dramatic for an afternoon at the Peabody-Essex Museum.
I love using the Melt Gun Metal stack because the shadows are so easy to blend, they stay on and stay vibrant till I take them off.
At the last minute, we got invited to a cocktail party at the home of some friends before we all went out to a restaurant to hear a local band perform. I didn’t have time to redo my makeup, and my combo of Harsh Stone White and Assimilate still looked good. So I added Kat von D Tattoo Ink liquid liner to my lid with Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in the silver shade, Glamrock (reviewed here), on top for some last minute extra flash. I was so thrilled when the hostess told me how much she liked my eye makeup, something she had never done before. Yay!
Industrial and Gun Metal are definitely evening shades for me. If I blend them well, they’re not too dark for me.
Melt shadow 4 pan stacks contain 2.6g of pressed powder shadow each. Melt shadow stacks are sold on the Melt website.
Have you tried Melt Cosmetics? Do you own any of the stacks? Does the stack packaging appeal to you?
This is a brand that I wanted to try for years now but never got to it. I know their eyeshadows are superb and your review just made me determined to try them sometime this year.
Shireen, the quality of the Melt eyeshadows was excellent. Worth trying at some point!
So glad you got the compliment…well deserved. I had also heard about this brand via Phyrra..net
Thank you, Sandy! Courtney has tried a number of the brighter Melt stacks over the years, and the packaging has been calling to me. The shadow quality is excellent. Courtney wrote about the green shade palette that came out before the holidays, and I was so tempted but I let that one pass
I love your eye look! I have never tried Melt but it’s on my list of brands I want to try, in the future.
Thank you, Erika! Melt shadows are definitely worth going on the wish list 🙂
This is a GORGEOUS stack! I would wear every single shade in here. I love the look that you created. I might need to pick this up on their net sale!
I thought it looked like the stacks of Le Metier but it’s so much better that they are separate and magnetic. I’ve been attracted to the brand since Phyrra absolutely raves about it. Seeing your blog photos makes me want it even more.
Yes, the fact that I can separate the pans from the stack is very cool especially for travel. If I owned several stacks, I could easily make a stack of my favorite shades.
Your eye look is fab! I’ve had Melt on my radar for a while now, really interested in trying out their shadows. I’m closer to breaking down and making my first purchase with each review I read!
Wait for the next Melt sale! It was worth the wait for me!
I’ve wanted to try Melt since I read about it from Phyrra. I like the Gun Metal stack, do the darker shades have a lot of fallout?
So far, Cindy, none of them have any fallout. There’s a bit of dust in the pan but it really clings to the brush and blends very nicely without landing on my cheeks.
I really like this coloring on you and I like the idea that they literally stack together. Not sure I would pay $90 but $30 was a great deal!
Ive never tried this brand before but this stack is enticing. The colors are what I would wear and I had no idea they came apart like that! I thought they were always attached to each other!
Neat way of storing! They look nice on you too!
I love the colors in the stack you chose. Like you, I assumed the shades pivoted on the stack. How genius they are to have them magnetized!
Such unique and innovative packaging – the Melt shadow stack!
I love that this is a cool neutral set! I feel like most things have been warm lately and red shadows look like I have an eye infection, lol.
I’ve been noticing a couple of their larger palettes – Gemini, and the other green one. I didn’t know they had stacks like this – what an effective way of trying out the eyeshadows! You look fabulous! I wish I could pull off these shades.
I love the cool champagne of stone white! Unique because you usually see golden undertones in shades like that.
These are my kind of colors!
I love my Melt highlighters but haven’t tried anything else yet. I’m so torn with these stacks as the packaging for essentially magnetic eyeshadows is a bit much for my liking. They do look cool though.
I love the colors in the stack you chose.