On Saturday I met Shirley and James, two of the trio behind W3LL PEOPLE. They were in town to launch their new and improved make-up range into Europe. I met them at Content in Marylebone who carried a selection of the original range but will be carrying all of the new line (except for a few of the mineral shadows), which is brilliant news. Shirley and James are so passionate and excited by the new developments in the brand, and after seeing the new products I can understand why.
Shirley has been a make-up artist for over 17 years, working and training for high profile brands such as Nars and Mac so she knows a thing or two about make-up! She talked us through the new textures and colours in the range. Aloe is the hero ingredient that has been added to the formulations along with camomile and green tea. The cream products are now creamier but not at all greasy and blend seamlessly into the skin. The powder products also contain aloe and they are smooth, lightweight and again blend beautifully.
Shirley demonstrated some of the make-up on me which was a novelty, I haven’t had my make-up done in a long time! I am usually more of a creamy foundation kind of girl, mineral powders have never really gelled with my skin or in my kit. However Shirley used the Altruist mineral powder foundation on me, she applied it to a slightly damp skin using a foundation brush. I really liked the finish and it felt great. The foundations can also be applied in the more traditional way with a kabuki brush onto a dry skin, try spritzing with water afterwards for a different finish too. On my eyes she used the Elitist mineral shadow in 86 which is a satin apricot and then blended it with one of the new Universalist Colourstick which is a tomatoey orange – there were two things that surprised me a) the orange actually looked nice on me and b) the cream and powder formulations worked really well together and didn’t crease. At the end of the day my eye make-up was still intact – no fading or creasing and my skin still looked nice as well. I used to find that powder minerals could look great to start with but after a few hours they had gone a bit patchy and were highlighting things I wanted to hide. The Altruist didn’t do that, it wore well and didn’t change on my skin.
I am really excited by the new changes in the products, not that I didn’t like them before, but it is great to see the advancements in green technology. The textures are great, I love the way you can mix and match the creams with the powders to create your own custom blends. Shirley showed us lots of different ways of applying the products, such as dabbing your finger on to one of the Universalist sticks and then into one of the eye minerals to create a gorgeous cream eyeshadow.
The pigments in the range are very impressive, I think the best I’ve seen in a pure mineral range. Some of them appear quite shimmery, another issue I’ve found with some minerals, but once they were applied and blended into the skin, the shimmer almost went just leaving the skin nice and glowy.
The Realist X has been tweaked a little in that it no longer contains silica but it still works a treat in setting make-up with that finishing touch and giving it more longevity; or as a primer to make your powder foundation go on smoother and stop it sitting in pores etc. The brushes are now vegan which will please a lot of people, the kabuki brush feels amazing.
The packaging has had an update as well. It is clean, sleek and modern with a cool edge, summing them up nicely! I can’t wait to get some more of the range on me and in my kit!
