New in Beauty: Puzzle Makeup - by Kelsey Boyanzhu

I was introduced to Puzzle Makeup a few weeks back from none other than my hair stylist (genius), Pam, from Patrick Evan Salon. Puzzle was kind enough to send me some pieces to try out and I put them to the real test - back to back full work days at the office.

We're talking 8 am - 5 pm, people, not including my commute. That's a long day to ask any makeup brand to hold up to.

Anywhoosen, I've broken down all the products I tried below, but want to give an extra special shout out to the brand as a whole for being cruelty free! I definitely have plenty of non cruelty free products in my collection, but love when I stumble on a brand that is. THANK YOU, Puzzle, for being a friend to our furry friends!

Now let's kick it off and talk makeup.

Skin

I'm fairly picky when it comes to foundation. I have dry skin, but my face can go shiny pretty easily. I also have crazy sensitive skin and care a ton about ingredients.

I was flat out impressed with this foundation. This blend is medium coverage and lightweight. It's also organic and oil free - such a win for me. Plus it's SPF 30.

The foundation lasted an entire work day and only broke up a little around my nose (fair - considering I touch my face 800 times a day).

Puzzle Makeup actually boasts a unique opportunity to create a custom shade foundation. I LOVE THAT. Inclusivity to the max.

Cheeks

I only have one shade of Puzzle's blush, but was again impressed by their overall range. I actually counted 18 blushes in total available on their website.

This brings me to one of my fave things about Puzzle - low cost because of minimal packaging. All blushes and eyeshadows come in pan form that you can pop into your own magnetic palette. Blushes come in at just under $10!

Eyes

I'm all about a good eyeshadow palette. Eyeshadow is probably my favorite makeup product overall. I have fairly large, almond shaped eyes and plenty of lid space to play with. Eyeshadow has always been my way to express myself.

When judging the quality of eyeshadow, I look for pigment, texture, and longevity. I only own two Puzzle shadows and both hit the nail on the head in terms of texture and longevity. Each shadow is creamy and they held up for a full work day. The colors I have are soft in nature, but the pigment was there. All in all, for a $9 eyeshadow Puzzle knocked it out of the park.

Lips

Puzzle has four pages of lip products on their website, so seriously have at it. I usually opt for nude and pink colors and hate any drying formulas. My lips are dry enough as it is.

The lipsticks i have are definitely creamy and have good pigment. The staying power is about average, but that's to be expected from any lipstick that isn't a liquid or matte (both of which I'm nottttt that into). I also liked the dimension the gloss gave.

Again, I love the price point here. Lipsticks and glosses run under $10.

All and all, I was super impressed by every Puzzle product I tried. I'll be honest - I can be pretty skeptical of affordable makeup. I've spent years convincing myself price = quality. Puzzle is proof you can actually have both and I think that's pretty rad.

If you're going to grab only a few products, I'd start with their foundation and eyeshadows, both of which are high quality and significantly less expensive and of equal quality as anything you'd find at Sephora. I would argue the foundation is actually better than plenty of foundations I've picked up (and returned) at Sephora over the years.

Have you tried Puzzle? Hit me up in the comments below!