Since the start of quarantine, I've been buying more makeup to help keep myself busy and preoccupied since it seems like I will be here until next year. Since I went crazy earlier this year, I am now on a low-buy to give myself time to use and test out my collection and what I bought. Some of the new palettes were really great, and some just weren't.
Also, while I did buy most of these palettes, one of them was given to me for Christmas (which I will be indicating) but all these mini-reviews are my honest opinions.
I'll be splitting this article into two parts, starting with the 5 palettes that disappointed me. I will share a picture of each palette as well as some of the looks I came up with using it (so you guys know that I tried).
5 Disappointing Palettes
You know how you're excited to try a palette and it falls short of your expectations? Yeah, that's basically how I feel about these palettes. Some of these palettes were very much hyped up, but I just don't think they're worth that hype.
Melt Muerte Palette (Not Vegan - Discontinued)
Starting with the most hyped palette, I think this palette is too expensive for what you get. Its strong points are its color scheme (I haven't seen many like it) and its pigmentation. However, you do only get 10 shadows to play with, which doesn't make this palette a great deal. In terms of user-friendliness, these pressed pigments weren't the easiest to work with either. Definitely not for most people, methinks.
If this palette was still available, I'd recommend it to people who love blue and red eyeshadow and that people buy it on sale/discount. But since this palette is no longer available, I don't have to worry about that anymore.
DE'LANCI Dream Purple Palette (Not Vegan - Gifted)
So while I did get this palette as a gift, I was still disappointed in it. And this has nothing to do with the person who gave it to me, they couldn't have known that. For one thing, this palette is likely private-labeled and there are a lot like it on the market. De'lanci placed their name on it and decided to put a really high mark-up on the price. I got this for free and I still think it's not a good deal, you can buy a similar palette from other brands for cheaper.
As for why I was disappointed in the shadows themselves, I find the selection of metallic and glitter shades weird. I wish there were purple or violet metallic shades, in place of the pressed glitters (which aren't the best for your eyes btw). The matte shades are better, aside from the light cream shade that's a bit out of place. Just not the best big purple palette for me.
Sugarpill Pink Capsule Palette
Sugarpill was a brand I had been wanting to try since I started college (2012), but their palettes never intrigued me. Then this beauty came out. I loved that it was a face palette, the colors, and the packaging. I snatched it up and eagerly awaited using it. I was surprised at how small some of the pans ended up being though...
The blush, highlighter, and shimmer shades are in bigger pans. This does make sense but when the smaller pans are the size of a 25-centavo coin, this palette doesn't seem worth it. Sadly, the matte shades also have a better formula than the metallic shades in the large pans. The metallic shades just aren't that pigmented and don't build up nicely. This sheerness works for the highlighter, but not everything else. I was just very uninspired and unimpressed by this palette at the end of it.
Kat Von D Fetish Palette (Vegan - Discontinued)
Probably the oldest palette in this round-up and for good reason. After Kat Von D left her cosmetics company (and she won't be missed), I snatched this up just to see what all the hype around it was about. I love its darker and gothic take on a rainbow palette, and the packaging wasn't bad either.
Well, aside from that, I can't really say much else that's positive about this palette. I don't really understand why there are so many cool-toned browns that look the same. Plus some colors look bright in the pan and look dull and brown on the eyes (Safe Word). I just didn't see the much-hyped about formula of KVD in these eyesadows, especially since this isn't my first KVD palette to begin with. I am still curious to see where Kendo takes this brand now that Kat Von Disease is gone, but I really want to see an improvement in quality overall.
Mermaid Beauty Rock It Palette (Not Vegan)
Now, I know I'm an affiliate for this brand, but I need to be honest: this palette was really disappointing. It's a rainbow palette that isn't quite well-rounded because there's no matte deep blue, mid-town browns, or matte pink. I also found the packaging horrendous (it's cardboard with no magnetic closure). Not really worth the price for me (even with my code used at checkout tbh).
This is the biggest palette I own, and I don' really find it that versatile, even with 40 shades. Fortunately, there are more matte shades in this palette and that's its saving grace. The matte formula is nice and I wouldn't mind have an all-matte rainbow palette from this brand. The metallic shades could be improved though because they were hard to pick up and build up (I used setting spray and lash glue for the looks below to make them more opaque). I like Mermaid Beauty's Glow Kit, but I wasn't impressed with this palette.
5 Impressive Palettes
Now these were the palettes that really blew me away. I am really impressed by these palettes but still haven't exactly found the time to sit down and write a dedicated review for them. I might write reviews for some of these in the future. But for the meantime, I'll rave about them concisely below:
Glamlite Cosmetics Cake Palette (Vegan)
Glamlite continues to wow me with this gorgeous rainbow palette. I missed my chance to get it when it first dropped (I was out of the country), but I waited for it to be available before buying it. I used it so much that I hit pan on a shade within a few weeks of using it. I really like the range of bright colors in this palette, and the packaging is nice. I kept the oven PR package btw:
I like the formula of these metallic shades because they're easier to work with and less oily than the ones in the Burger Palette. The matte shades are awesome as usual, easy to blend and pigmented. They will stain your eyelids though, being pressed pigments. But still, if you want a lot of variety and want a nice palette from Glamlite Cosmetics, I totally recommend this:
I Heart Revolution Tasty Popcorn Palette (Not Vegan)
Before you dismiss this as being inaccurate, note that blue and purple corn do exist, and I do like the color scheme of this one. It has a lot of cool tones, which is why I was drawn to it in the first place. The color story is pretty different, and I really like it:
Though I would like more mid-toned matte blues, I still really enjoyed playing with the colors of this palette. Oh, and this palette has a similar formula to the Tasty Avocado palette, which I think has a nice formula. The mattes are pigmented and easy to blend out, the metallic shades are soft and apply with ease, some of them are also foiled. I consider this a gem from the I Heart Revolution brand:
Pinky Rose New Luscious Plum Palette (Not Vegan)
So Pinky Rose revamped their Luscious Plum Palette, which I reviewed some time ago. This version has some new bright colors added in and is in a smaller, rectangular format. That being said, I enjoyed using this palette as much as 2017 me loved using the first Luscious Plum palette. Though there are no duds in this one.
It still has the big transition shade too. Overall, I'm quite happy with this newer version of the palette. It's easier to store, more colorful, and has a better formula. And I think these colors look really nice with brown eyes too.
BH Cosmetics Summer in St. Tropez Palette (Vegan)
I haven't bought anything from BH Cosmetics in a while, but I have been hunting down this palette for a long time, and I'm so glad to finally have it. It's the prettiest, colorful palette I've seen from BH Cosmetics in a long time. It does look a bit similar to the Popcorn Palette from I Heart Revolution but it's a bit warmer, because, French summer. If you love summer colors but want a plum, some greens, and a few blues thrown in, this is a great palette for that.
This is one of the BH Cosmetics palettes that have a nice formula. I started using it and I knew that it was good because the matte shades were pigmented and easy to work with and the metallic shades were soft and even foiled. I might check out more palettes from BH Cosmetics because I really like their new releases.
Copacetic Cosmetics x basketcasebeauty Elysian Palette (Vegan)
This is my first palette purchase of 2020 and I'm so glad it was from a small indie brand. This small 9-pan palette has 9 shades, with 4 color-shifting metallic shades. I can feel that these shadows are truly handcrafted and made with love. This palette is very treasured in my collection:
This is another palette that I ended up using so much that I actually hit pan on the lime green shade. I might write an in-depth review on this but let me rave about this palette for now. I'm not sure if it's permanent or not since COVID-19 has affected Copacetic Cosmetics. I'll update this when I get an announcement:
Comments