A Color Story

The first time I covered NYFW I met two boss ladies crushing the organic beauty scene. Sandra Anderson-Diaz and Nadine Cormier founded Nu Evolution cosmetics with a mission to create stylish, richly pigmented makeup free of toxicity. In the years since their inception, they’ve been the go-to line for fashion mavens, handling backstage beauty for several top designers during NYFW and beyond.

Sandra and Nadine taught me that 60% of what you apply topically is absorbed directly into your bloodstream! If you’ve been reading In Spades for a while, you know that using products free of harsh chemicals is very important to me. While I think it’s relatively easy to find great organic skin care, organic make-up is a different story. The few lines that are out there, quite frankly, don’t really work. Think dulled down pigments, barely there coverage and products with zero staying power.

Enter Nu Evolution. While I’ve been a long time fan of their lipstick – they make the most perfect red that looks great on any skin tone – I had yet try the rest of their line. Since my normal makeup routine rarely deviates from rosy blush and nude eye shadow, I wanted to up the ante with colors that really pop.

Inspired by the F/W17 runways, I gravitated towards green and purple. Each color palette makes for a beautiful alternative to your standard smoky eye, plus they look great during the day when used as eyeliner or in a subtle sweep across the crease.

Check out the two looks below plus my review of each product.

Eyeshadow: Soiree and St. Tropez // Eyeliner: Onyx // Lipstick: Allure
Concealer: Fresh // Foundation: 106 // Powder: 301

Eyeshadow: Couture and Socialite // Eyeliner: Chocolate Mousse // Lip gloss: Fig
Concealer: Fresh // Foundation: 106 // Powder: 301

Complete Coverage Foundation
I like to say Nu Evolution’s foundation provides full coverage without making you feel full – no mask look here! Formulated without mineral oil and dimethicone (found in the majority of foundations) you honestly don’t feel like you’re wearing anything at all. It provides a nice buildable base for concealer and powder, and like all of Nu Evolution’s makeup, it works great with water. I like to apply it with a wet Beauty Blender for even coverage.

Camouflage Cream
Whenever I try concealers, they all tout amazing coverage. The truth is that most of them can’t hide some hyperpigmentation that I’ve been dealing with for the past year. This formulation not only hides my dark spots, but it reflects light so well, I honestly couldn’t believe how awake it made me look. I was literally glowing.

The consistency is similar to what you’d find in a foundation stick and provides a moisturizing, dewy finish. If you prefer a matte look, I recommend topping it off with their loose powder.

To give you an idea of how gorgeous the coverage and finish is, the below photo is completely unretouched.  While I never overly retouch my photos, I want you to see the real deal.  No Photoshop here.

Loose Powder
Great for setting your look or using it as a standalone foundation, their powder doesn’t contain any talc, so it’s good for you and feels so light and fluffy when applied. I love that you can dust it on or build it up to achieve a full coverage look.

Eye Shadow
The shining star for me in the Nu Evolution line-up is their eye shadow. With pigment levels that rival and even surpass Nars and Mac, I’m hooked. When I showed them to a makeup artist friend, she couldn’t believe how smooth they went on. “Like a hot knife through butter” were her exact words.

Perhaps my favorite part is that they can be applied wet or dry. I used them not only for eye shadow, but also as eyeliner. I’m wearing Onyx in the purple palette on the upper and lower lids and a combo of Chocolate Mousse (lower) and Socialite (upper) as a beautiful shimmer in the green palette. For a truly vampy look, I’ll apply them wet on my eyelids to really bring out their pigment.

Lipstick
To say I’m obsessed with Nu Evolution lipstick is an understatement. It’s rare for a lipstick to be nourishing and long lasting, but this is the real deal. Applied in the morning it’s still going strong over lunch. Any fading that does occur fades evenly, so you’re not left looking like you applied some aggressive lip liner and forgot to fill in.

Lip Gloss
The little sister of a fantastic product, their gloss isn’t sticky and has rich color and beautiful sheen. For this green palette, I applied Fig and then blotted with a tissue to achieve an effortless stained look.