Review: Crystal Sprays by ColourPop

Guys, I'm glad I don't work for ColourPop because I can guarantee you this: the people at ColourPop are working late. They're working weekends, and they're working through their lunches. But seriously, ColourPop has got to be working around the clock to release all the new products that they release. I mean, I feel like every time I turn around, ColourPop. Case and point, ColourPop just released a whole new line of powder blushes. When I saw that, I was like "dude, you just released 10 million new brow products last Tuesday! How do you have the time to do this???"

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love that ColourPop is always releasing new products. It makes it feel like everyday is Christmas! However, it is a little difficult to keep up with all their new releases sometimes, which is why I'm only getting around to reviewing their new (relatively) priming and setting sprays from their Crushed Crystal Collection.

When I initially saw this collection, my first reaction was "someone at ColourPop is a marketing genius." Seriously, pastels colors and unicorn vibes are so a courant right now (raise your hand if you're impressed with my French) and this collection totally fits in with that aesthetic, but it's also original. I mean, I know crystals are kind of 90s throw back, but I think ColourPop is the only brand that's dug them out of the attic as of yet. Anyway, suffice it to say that I love the idea behind this collection.

The Crushed Crystal Collection contains four different products: crystal priming sprays, crystal setting sprays, crystal liquid highlights, and crystal balm. Each of these products is available in four different crystals (with the exception of the priming and setting sprays, which are only available in two crystals each). I only picked up the setting sprays and priming sprays because I thought they were the only products in the collection that I would really get use out of. Each crystal has its own color (obviously) and its own set of characteristics/benefits. The four crystals are:

Amethyst (Purple): ColourPop says: "Amethyst is a calming stone that opens the third eye and clears the mind, enhancing intuition and inner strength. Attract peace and balance in your mind, body, and spirit. For when you need a little quiet and clarity from your busy life, OM it feels good!"

Aquamarine (Blue): ColourPop says: "Aquamarine embodies the energy of the ocean in its crystal clear purity and calm, relaxing properties. Known for promoting mental clarity and and helps to inspire truth and wisdom."

Rose Quartz (Pink): ColourPop says: "For all you lovers out there! Rose Quartz is known as the love stone. Open up that heart chakra and let the love flow. Known for inspiring the love of beauty and the imagination. Be a lover not a fighter."

Aventurine (Green): ColourPop says: "Aventurine is all about the good vibes. Better known as the good luck stone, it attracts positivity, creative energy, and inner strength. Perfect for the go-getter, it enhances success, growth, and prosperity into your life."

To be honest, I don't really see any of the benefits of these particular crystals when I use these products, but I don't really expect to. I think the crystal thing is more of a marketing gimmick. I'm not mad at that because, as I said, I think it's a genius idea, but, be aware that using the aventurine spray is not going to give you good energy if you didn't already have good energy for some other reason. 

Before I talk about each spray individually, I want to give you some thoughts about these sprays in general. Each spray is $6, which is a pretty reasonable price in my opinion. However, you don't get as much product in each bottle as you would in a typical full sized setting spray. The ColourPop sprays are 1.86 fl oz each; for comparison, a full size bottle of MAC Fix+ is 3.4 fl oz. Fix+ is a lot more expensive, but you are getting almost double the amount of product. Makeup Revolution makes a priming spray (which I haven't tried) that's $10 and comes with 3.38 fl oz. So, even though $6 is pretty cheap, I don't think it's the best value per oz out there. 

I'm also not living for the packaging on these sprays. All four come in glass bottles, which I don't mind. I think the glass makes it look a little more elegant, actually. However, if you're someone who drops and breaks things a lot, these sprays may not be for you. The real problem, however, is the sprayer. This sprayer needs to seek professional help. Seriously. No matter how far away I hold the bottle, my face always ends up DRENCHED with huge droplets of product. And, this is not just a problem with the setting spray; it happens with the priming sprays too (although, I don't care as much). I'm not a fan of that, ColourPop. Fortunately, the droplets don't really leave spots of product on your face like some sprays do (I think this happened once with these ColourPop sprays), but I'm still not a fan of the experience. 

Okay, now that I've given you an overview, let's talk about the individual sprays:

Aquamarine Crystal Setting Spray - Okay, this is supposed to be a dewy setting spray. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think this is all that dewy. If anything, I would describe this finish as satin, which isn't bad, but it's not dewy. Of course, this probably varies depending on which foundation you use with it, and I obviously haven't tested this spray with every  foundation in the world, but that's what my experience has been.  I don't think this product necessarily extended the wear of my makeup, but it didn't decrease it either. I usually get about 10-12 hours of good, solid wear out of a full face of foundation, powder, and setting spray, and this setting spray is right in that range. So, in that regard, I'm quite happy with this product. I've also been mixing it with a spray of MAC Fix+ lately, and I like that even better in terms of finish and overall wear time. Long story short: I like this product, and, out of all of the sprays I tried, this is probably the only one I would feel the need to repurchase. If you want to try a new setting spray, and you're on a budget, I recommend checking this out.

 

On another note, the aquamarine spray is supposed to smell like grapefruit, and I'm not getting that at all. Some of these sprays smell like grapefruit and some smell like cucumber, but, to me, they all smell exactly the same. Like, I was shocked to read on the website that this was supposed to be grapefruit because I would have laid down money that it was cucumber. I think the thing is that the smell is so subtle that you can't really tell. Finally, I screwed the sprayer off and stuck my nose in the bottle, and I could smell the grapefruit, but, under ordinary circumstances, I don't think you'd smell it.

Aventurine Crystal Setting Spray - I'm sort of eh about this product. This is supposed to be a mattifying spray, and I think that's why I'm not crazy about it. More and more, I find that I don't really like mattifying products; I have sort of normal to dry skin, and I think mattifying products can look a little heavy and dry on my skin. If you have oily skin, you might really like this spray, but I think it has a tendency to make my look a little cakey and dried out. Don't get me wrong, it's not unwearable or anything, it's just not my favorite. In terms of wear time, I think this is pretty comparable to the Aquamarine Crystal Setting Spray; although, on me, mattifying products don't tend to last as long as products with other finishes. Long story short, if you like mattifying things, you'll probably like this. 

                                      

 

It's also supposed to have a cucumber scent, which, as I said above is virtually indistinguishable from the grapefruit scent. The scent is very subtle, so I don't think it's going to irritate people that are sensitive to scented products. However, I do think it has a pleasant, fresh scent, and I enjoy it. 

Amethyst Crystal Priming Spray - I'm sort of indifferent to this priming spray, but, TBH, I've never really seen the point of priming sprays in general, and this spray hasn't really changed my opinion. In my opinion, a primer should give your makeup something to stick to and sprays, by their very nature, don't really do that. Lately, I've found that I prefer to mix this priming spray with a traditional primer, as this seems to give me better results. This is also supposed to be a mattifying priming spray, which seems weird to me because I was under the impression that priming sprays were supposed to be hydrating  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 

                                        

Anyway, I don't find this spray to be particularly mattifying. Actually, I don't think it really changes the "look" of the foundation at all. If it's a dewy foundation, it still looks fairly dewy. If it's a matte foundation, it still looks matte. Maybe I would notice more of a difference if I had extremely dry or extremely oily skin, but, en serio, it's all the same to me. I think I could easily omit this product from my routine and not really see a difference. This spray is also supposed to smell like cucumber. As I said above, I don't find the scent to be very strong, but it is sort of refreshing and nice. 

Rose Quartz Crystal Priming Spray - As I said above, I can't really tell the difference between this priming spray and the Amethyst Crystal Priming Spray. If I really think about it, I might say that this spray is a little more hydrating, but that could easily just be my brain trying to make up differences between these two sprays. For me and my skin, neither of these priming sprays really make a difference. They both feel very nice and refreshing when you first apply them, but I don't think either really makes a difference in the look or longevity of my makeup. I've tried this spray alone, but I prefer to mix it with another primer in order to give my makeup something to stick to. 

Maybe priming sprays just aren't for me. These sprays might make a big difference for you if you were really dry or really oily, but I'm pretty much indifferent to both priming sprays.

Did you pick up any of these sprays? Let me know what you thought about them in the comments.