Today I’m reviewing the Zodiac Collection from Dark Matter Makeup. The shop is relatively new, but adding new collection quickly (all of which are space/science themed). This collection has 12 colors, one for each Zodiac sign. While the formula of some colors was a bit tricky, there were definitely a bunch of fun colors. Pretty much everything changed dramatically over a sticky base. It’s also worth noting that usually Dark Matter samples come in test tubes, not baggies. I asked Dom, the owner, if she could send me mine in baggies instead, and she was kind enough to do so for me.

(Update: I’ve been informed that Dom has reformulated these colors since I bought them, so the formula is supposed to be smoother now. So this review is for the original formulations of these colors.)

Swatched over Urban Decay Primer on the top/left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the bottom/right. The top picture in each collage was taken in indoor natural light and the bottom one in direct sun.

The purpley colors: Cancer, Libra, Virgo, Gemini, Capricorn, Aquarius

The other colors: Aries, Leo, Taurus, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Pisces

Pisces: “A bold teal green with sparkling stars of silver glitter.” This is a bright turquoise with a matte base and silver glitter. It has a slightly powdery texture. Over primer it’s slightly sheer, but it does not play well with Pixie Epoxy. It balled up in some areas and flaked off in others, although the glitter was more noticeable and the color was darker. The PE side of my swatch also stained my arm quite a bit. I love the color of this over primer alone, but it sheers out a lot when you blend it, so I needed to pat a second layer on after blending in order to get a vibrant turquoise when I’ve used it in looks.

Aquarius: “A duochrome that shifts from a dark, yet pure blue to a metallic gold.” This has a bright blue base and a strong gold duochrome overlay, with a bit of a coppery red twinge to it. Over primer the blue is sheer and pretty much all of the duochrome aspect of it vanishes, although there is still a bit of gold glitter. Over a sticky base I found I needed to work very fast to get an even overlay and even then there was a bit of patchiness in the gold. When I tried it over Pixie Epoxy on my eyes, the patchiness was worse. It’s a really pretty color, and I don’t own anything else like it, but it’s tricky to use.

Aries: “A light metallic gold with gold sparks. It also has an orange highlight that makes the color shift from a light to a more orange gold.” This is a quite nice light shiny gold with a bit of sparkle. I don’t see any orange in it. It’s really pretty and applies nicely. Over primer it’s a touch sheer, but I found that useful for looks when you want just a hint of gold. Over a sticky base, the sheen was quite even. It’s one of my favorites from the collection.

Leo: “A sheer red orange with sparkles of silver and violet.” This is a glittery bright orange. Over primer it’s more of a true orange with just a bit of sparkle and a sheer matte base, but Pixie Epoxy brings out its red tones and makes the shimmer much more apparent. The pinky purple iridescence of the sparkle only comes out over a sticky base. Like Pisces, it blends away easily on the eyelids and I found myself touching it up after blending to get a more vibrant color.

Libra: “A shifting magenta that has a metallic gold shift.” This is a bright magenta base with a strong coppery gold overlay that really comes out over Pixie Epoxy. Over primer the base is more purple toned with a bit of copper-gold glittery shimmer. Over sticky primer the gold forms a duochromesque layer over the top and makes the base look much warmer. It’s a really pretty color and much easier to apply than Aquarius. It’s unique in my collection as well.

Cancer: “Bright blue toned pink with blue shift.” This is a bright pink with bright blue shimmer. Over primer the base is sheerer and more hot pink and the blue shimmer is less prominent. Over a sticky base the color deepens and the blue comes out quite clearly .

Virgo: “A light pink that has a golden duochrome.” This is a very light lavender pink with golden iridescent shimmer. Over Pixie Epoxy, the base color was more purple and the shimmer was strong, but not strong enough for me to consider it a duochrome. Over primer it was more of a sheer pink with golden sparkle spread throughout.

Gemini: “A purple maroon with red shimmering highlight.” This is a medium warm purple with multicolored red and purple shimmer spread throughout. It was a little bit sheer, especially over primer. It’s more reddish over Pixie Epoxy. It’s one of the most straightforward colors in the collection (which to me seems weird, since it was inspired by the twins.)

Capricorn: “A sheer satin victorian purple grey with very subtle hints of red.” This is a slightly greyish blue-toned light purple. It’s mostly matte but there’s a little shimmer mixed in. Over primer it’s more of a blueish lavender, but on Pixie Epoxy it’s darker and the blue-grey tones are stronger. It doesn’t show up in the picture, but when the light hits it just right there is the tiniest hint of red shimmer.

Sagittarius: “A gunmetal gray with intense silver glitter and subtle sparks of violet.” This is a dark grey with a whole ton of blueish silver glitter in it. Over a sticky base the glitter is quite dense, which gives it a blue sheen. It’s sheerer and more charcoal colored over primer, and the shimmery is more spread out.

Scorpio: “A chocolate brown base with a duochrome of green turquoise.” This is a duochrome with a slightly blue-twinged green overlay on a reddish brown base. Over primer the base is very visible with just a sprinkling of green glitter, but over Pixie Epoxy the green forms a fairly solid duochrome layer over the top.

Taurus: “A true milk chocolate satin with soft hints of red and violet shimmer.” This is a basic chocolate brown base with red and purple shimmer that come out over a sticky base. Over primer it’s a bit sheer and not very shimmery, but over Pixie Epoxy it gets gorgeous reddish purple sheen that is quite pronounced. I think it would make a good liner. It was a little bit tricky to blend over primer.

Overall Thoughts: I have mixed feelings about this collection. On one hand there’s a lot of colors I like quite a bit, but on the other, the formula isn’t my favorite. Overall, these shadows are thinner and more powdery than I’m used to, which makes them a little bit tricky to work with. For most of the colors, you need to use a sticky base to bring out their most interesting qualities. However, I found that they worked better when my Pixie Epoxy was slightly wetter than usual, so I let it set for 12-15 seconds instead of my usual 15-20 and then worked very fast to pat the color on evenly. I also needed to have a lot of shadow on my brush to get even coverage. Over regular primer the colors are sheerer and more muted, and I found myself wanting to pat more color on after blending to make them brighter. (Especially with Leo, Capricorn and Pisces, which have more of a matte with glitter formula.) I wouldn’t use them with white brushes either, because they’re hard to wash out. (Pisces and Libra both took a couple washes to come out of my white haired pencil brush fully.) Unless you regularly use a sticky base and are comfortable taking the time to get the application right, it’s probably not a collection that you need. I would pick and choose the colors that appeal to you most instead. For me those would be Aries, Pisces, Libra, Cancer and Virgo. (Update: But, as I noted above, they’ve been reformulated since I bought them, so hopefully they’re less problematic now than they used to be.)

Even though the formula was tricky, I was able to make a bunch of really nice, bright looks with these colors. They’ll be up tomorrow!