Color Series: Pink Palettes

Pomz Campos

Feb 28, 20197 min read

Updated: Jul 31, 2019

Given the theme of February (Chocolate month, Love Month, Chinese New Year month, etc.), pink, purple, and red looks were all the range both on YouTube and Instragram. Since I decided to join that theme, most of my looks over the month have been of those colors. Then, I came to realize that I actually had a lot of pink-toned palettes, some I've had even before I started this blog.

Aerosmith's Pink Would Be Apt for this Photo

This post will feature four palettes that fall under that color story from brands with different price points. I admit that I have more pink-toned palettes than the ones on this post but many of those palettes are limited edition, and I can't really talk about something you that isn't available. Anyway, going in no particular order, here are some mini reviews of the palettes:

Colourpop Ooh La La! Palette

Colourpop is a brand known for their high-quality products and affordable prices. While they're not necessarily available at drugstores, they are usually considered drugstore because of their price range. As the brand has delved into creating palettes with different color stories, this one immediately caught my eye and I picked it up not too long ago.

If you are looking for a simple pink-toned palette that's straightforward and doesn't have any kinds of brown in it, I recommend this one. All five of the matte shades are a shade of the pink family, and there are two satin shades, a gold metallic, and a duochrome pressed glitter. Here are the swatches:

Top to bottom: Moon Struck, Caddy, Trove, Sandbar, Opulent, Big Sugar, Poodle, Soft Core, and Trickles

As with many of Colourpop's eyeshadows, most of these were soft and showed up with little issue on bare skin. However, I will say that Trove and Caddy were pretty hard and gritty and do require some building up.

Cons

Big Sugar, Opulent, and Sandbar are pressed pigments so they can stain your skin, and I did have that experience with Sandbar. I will also add that Tickled is a pressed glitter and is obviously going to be crumbly. You will need to put it over an adhesive (glitter glue) or wet concealer if you use it. While I don't consider that a bad thing, the added hassle can turn some people off.

This palette can look really big in photos, but it's really mostly a handful and the pans are smaller than a regular Colourpop single

Also, while Colourpop is a cruelty-free brand, this product is not vegan as several of the shades contain Carmine, which is a red dye derived from beetles. If you are allergic to this ingredient or have other issues with it, it's best to steer clear of this palette.

Pros

While this palette only has nine shades, I don't find it boring or repetitive in any way. I find that there are enough pinks in varying degrees of darkness and tone and I like the metallic shades that were included in this palette.

These colors stayed vibrant throughout the day and don't crease much either.

The color story just allows you to play with it and have fun with all-pink looks, from something more subdued to full-on drama. If you want to start small with pink but have a enough options to keep you inspired, this is the palette for you.

Pinky Rose Cosmetics Circle Transition - Luscious Plum Palette

This is what I consider my indie recommendation on this list. Pinky Rose Cosmetics is a US indie brand . I first heard about this brand when Jessica Haze featured one of their palettes on a video she made. I was intrigued by the circular design of the palette and liked the idea of having a large pan for the transition shade or as a face powder (bronzer, contour, or blush).

In case your wondering, there's a dent in dream because I dropped it (Yes, it was heartbreaking)

I was hoping that Pinky Rose would release more colorful versions of their circle transition palettes, and when they did, I was immediately drawn to the pinks in the Luscious Plum palette. The shades are grouped into quads that are suggestions for what you can use to create a day look or night look, all while using the same transition shade. Anyway, here are the swatches:

Top to bottom: Transition, Yess Girl, Taffy, Fierce, Plum, Throne, Tu-Lips, Dream, and Sunny

This palette offers a plethora of different pink shades, both cool- and warm-toned. It isn't that neutral either because aside from Sunny, every color is a bright and fun color.

Cons

I'm not entirely sure if this product is vegan or not. It doesn't contain carmine but does contain Tocopheryl Acetate and Magnesium Stereate, which can be animal-derived or synthetic. However, the site only lists this palette as cruelty-free. Also, those notches were from previous attempts to see if this palette was magnetized, and it isn't. So it's not that easy to depot.

I also found that the matte shades in this palette form hard pan easily. They're soft for the most part, but there is a sort of layer that forms over the top after a few uses, but most especially after finger swatching them.

Also, I repressed Throne because it was really stiff and hard to pick up when I first got this palette. Repressing it didn't do much so I guess it really was formulated that way to begin with. The only other metallic shade in this palette is Fierce, which is rather dark and crumbly, so it's not everyone's favorite type of shimmery eyeshadow. Since they're the only metallics in this palette, you might have to use another palette or product if you don't like either of them.

Pros

Even if I do have that issue with the matte shades, I don't think it affects their performance, and I have no issues with blending them out or building them up. Plus, I think the big pan for the Transition shade (rather pun-ny of them) is a good thing too because I actually mostly use it as a blush.

It's the perfect pink shade that gives a brightening effect to cheeks for fair skin, which can be challenging to find in a blush because most blushes give a flushed (or newly slapped) look on fair skin.

You can see that flushed but bright pop of pink of my cheek as well as my nose in this photo.

There are definitely some issues with this palette but I don't consider it a total waste. If you want to try an indie brand and love colorful matte shades and a brightening blush, I recommend this palette.

Urban Decay Naked Cherry Palette

I think at this point, every makeup lover and their mom is familiar with Urban Decay's Naked palette range. Starting with the Original Naked palette that came out earlier in the decade, the brand quickly became a household name and released several other palettes in their Naked range.

Now that we're going into a new decade, Urban Decay noticed a huge shift in people's tastes. Many people were beginning to get tired of the usual browns and mauves and were beginning to favor color. And so, they released a sultrier and pinker Naked 3 palette and called it Naked Cherry.

Now, I was never interested in any of the Naked palettes before this one came out. I did find the color stories of the previous releases to be boring and could never justify paying thousands (in Philippine currency) for a bunch of neutral colors. But this one, caught my eye. It was full of pinks in a variety of richness and tones with only one brown shade instead of the usual four or five. So I bought it. Here are the swatches:

Swatched in the same order they appear in the palette

Cons

I'll be frank. If you're familiar with the common critique that people have about the Naked palette formula, this is no different. Many of the mattes look different in the pan but pretty much look similar as you're blending them on your eyes. The lighter mattes come out darker than they look and the darker tones come off sheer and don't build up well.

The metallics are also rather disappointing. I find Bang Bang quite crumbly while Turn On, Ambitious, Young Love, and Drunk Dial just don't stand out that much on the lid. Another issue I found with the metallics is that they don't really have good lasting power. They melt and crease throughout the day (and I always use primer), unless you wet them with setting spray (doesn't really make them more intense though).

Your eye looks won't vary that much from these, I swear.

If you're looking for versatility and creativity, this palette really isn't it. This is admittedly, my least favorite palette in this feature. Also, if you're wondering, this palette is not vegan as some of the shades contain carmine.

Pros

While I wouldn't call this palette inspiring or varied, it is a predominantly pink palette that's beginner-friendly. If you just want to wear pink eyeshadow and create an effortlessly put-together look without thinking too much about it, this is the perfect pink palette for you. I also think it's a nice gift to give to your teen-aged loved one who wants to try their hand at some colorful eyeshadow. Bonus, it's one of the rare times that a palette also comes with a really good brush.

BYS Cosmetics Berries 2 Palette

An old one from my collection but I did have a look at it again recently and thought it would be apt for this series, though it does have a lot of shades that aren't pink. But if you consider a neutral palette with pops of pink, no palette is as apt as this is for me.

While BYS eyeshadows can be hit and miss when it comes to quality, I've found that the eyeshadows are steadily improving with each new release, especially the ones in these tin palettes. This is one of them for me. You get a row of mattes and metallic shades and since there are no shade names, here are the swatches by row, starting with the shimmers:

And here are the matte shades:

Cons

While I like the tin packaging, I think the mirror is too small to use and the brushes that came with this palette were pretty terrible. Also, if you happen to prefer metallic shadows that are wet and have a foiled texture, the shimmer shadows aren't that type of formula.

Pros

I still think the shadows are really good though. The matte shades are pigmented and blendable and the metallic shades have good lasting power. Also, this is a vegan and hypoallergenic product.

I don't really want to sound like a broken record as I've already reviewed this palette some time ago. You may check that review out if you're interested in learning more about BYS Cosmetics and this palette.