When I think of chic, playful, affordable, and binge-worthy beauty brands, the first that comes to my mind is Glossier. A few years ago, nearly all my Instagram ads seemed to either be Glossier or someone promoting the brand as an ambassador. With the simple, inclusive, and highly aesthetic approach to Millennial beauty, I was hooked.

My first Glossier set was a gift from a friend. I had asked for one of the brand’s sets which included the Haloscope, Cloud Paint, and Boybrow. Out of the three products, I loved the Cloud Paint in Storm the most. To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the Haloscope highlighter stick (I thought it was too sticky and barely had any payoff) and the Boybrow just didn’t seem to create that fluffy eyebrow effect that everyone was after.

The following year, I had visited the Glossier store on Melrose and was sold again on the Glossier experience. I tried the Mega Greens Galaxy Pack (it was okay, not bad but also nothing to rave about), lash slick (again just okay), Holographic lip gloss, and Futuredew. Out of all the Glossier products I had tried later, Futuredew was by far my favorite. I loved the packaging, the smell, the glistening consistency, and the light oily feeling on my face after putting it on.

Since I was lucky enough to visit the Glossier store several times before it closed, I was able to try out many of the products in person before deciding to purchase. I swatched the lipsticks, smelled all the lip glosses, applied all the skincare to my wrist, and tested out the payoff of as many shades of Skywash as I could get. Because I’m on a budget, I’m very selective about the skincare and cosmetics I buy. Typically, my golden rule is to purchase a new item only as a refill or as a replacement.

But once Glossier announced their new Monochrome launch, I told myself I’d make an exception.

Before I dive into my review and thoughts on Glossier’s new set of eyeshadows, I feel compelled to address the elephant in the room. Last year brought out the best and the worst of nearly every sector of humanity. Brands were no exception and I suppose there’s never really a ‘right’ time to bring up things like performative inclusivity, toxic workplace environments, racial profiling, and harassment in retail spaces. Ignorance is bliss and more often what’s out of sight is never considered to be an issue. Thus, @OuttaTheGloss was born. An Instagram account sharing the most unsettling, horrifying, and disturbing experience by Glossier retail employees. As a former retail employee myself, I don’t think anyone has an experience that’s free of uncomfortable and sometime questionable situations. But one would think that if any place is going to be fun, inclusive, welcoming, and understanding, it would be the glossy world of Glossier. After all, their marketing campaigns champion every day faces of a variety of ethnicities. Staff is incredibly passionate and attentive. The store front is clearly designed with every detail in mind. And with all the hype, publicity, and financial backing, surely at the very least everyone is being fairly supported and compensated. Now, I won’t go into every story or article about the issues brought up last year by Glossier employees, but what I will say is that there’s more to be done. Not necessarily externally, but internally, so that incidents like those that were mentioned last year, never happen again. It is tricky navigating things like race but you can’t build a beauty brand without acknowledging its complexities.

The last post by OuttaTheGloss was December 20, 2020. Since then I’m curious to know what’s been going on with both former and current Glossier employees. I know that Glossier has an amazing grant program which invites Black-Owned businesses to apply for “$50K in funding, plus six months of mentorship and business programming”. One of those grant winners was EADEM, a black and asian owned beauty band that created the Milk Marvel Dark Spot serum. I was lucky enough to be gifted this product to try and I wrote about my experience here.

Now, I’m no Glossier or beauty specialist by any means and I’m also no activist. I’m just a girl with a blog, a love for beauty, and someone who tries to be a conscious consumer (for what time/money might allow).

So with all that being said, now it’s time for the good stuff. Out of all the shades offered for Glossier’s Monochromes, I selected Almond because if I decided to wear eyeshadow, it’s typically a more neutral shade.

Pros:

Per all things Glossier, I LOVE the packaging for which I am truly a sucker for. I love the sleek compact, the positive affirmation decal on the mirror, and the fact that the compact itself is refillable.
Shade payoff is pretty good. It’s better than the quality of the Skywash pigments in my opinion and I’d say the opacity of the pigment is solid for the money. Longevity of the pigment is also very good. Wears well throughout the day without any bad smudging or falling.
Love how there’s three different finishes in each shade: matte, satin, and metallic.
Application can be done with your fingers or a brush. Personally, I’m usually too lazy to use a brush but when I’m feeling fancy, I’ll use a brush to apply my makeup.

Cons:

The compact hinge feels a little wobbly so I’m curious to see how well it holds up in my makeup bag and being tossed around a bit.
If you’re a big color person when it comes to eyeshadow, you might be disappointed to have to get multiple compacts to try a variety of colors. I rarely wear colors outside of peaches and taupes for my eyeshadow, so this format is a go for me.

I also tried Glossier’s Hand Creme. I had my eye on this one for a while but just couldn’t justify the purchase. Since I still was interested in trying it, I included it in my latest purchase. I do love the shape and beautiful smell. It definitely feels like a handheld little beauty luxury.

Another product featured here is Cloud Paint in Storm. It’s just a replacement since I use this product fairly often. It creates that perfect rosy sun kissed glow that’s buildable and not sticky.

Overall, I love my new Monochrome compact. I like the shade I picked out and the variation in finishes. I just wished there was a Glossier store closer to me so I could swatch more shades in person. Oh and did I mention the product is vegan? Not really sure why it wouldn’t be but there ya go.

Thank you as always for taking the time to read yet another beauty blog post. As always do feel free to leave any comments, thoughts, or questions in the section down below.

xx

Ella Kol