Review: Lip Palettes

Above: 32 color lip palette #2

Price: USD $5.99 (without shipping and handling)

Above L to R: 10 Color Lip Palettes #1, #3, #2

Price: USD $5.99 (without shipping and handling)

Sarah sent me these lip palettes to review; they are available on eBay at her store. Please click on the images to enlarge. Here is my honest opinion of these palettes.

Pros

• inexpensive way to attain many lipstick shades all in one go, making it suitable for beginner makeup users with a limited collection
  
• palette form is easy to use on other people, more sanitary than tube lipsticks when used with a spatula
• formula is creamy and easy to apply
• mixing and custom blending of different colors is very easy
• some are lipgloss textures that could be layered
• mixture of finishes include creams, frosts, sheers and glitters
• large color variety and good combination of color families in the 10-piece palettes

Cons

• not as richly pigmented or as long-lasting as higher end lipsticks
• palette form means harder to touch up on the go
• lack of flavoring to mask the lipstick taste

Overall I think these are a great bargain for the beginner makeup collector who doesn't have a lot of lip colors to work with as the price of these lip palettes are surely a bargain, and work out cheaper than even most drugstore brand lipsticks. However, if you're looking for extremely long-lasting lipsticks I'd probably give these a miss. These palettes are a great way to try out a large variety of shades to see what works on you, or how to combine them with a variety of eyeshadow looks, or if you want to practice doing makeup on other people as the palette form is much more sanitary. These lip palettes are in a much lower price category than higher end brands like MAC or others, so a comparison on that level would be out of place. They are more comparable to the NYX Round Lipsticks in texture and longevity.

If you would like to try out any of these palettes or other products from Sarah's shop, please visit her on eBay. She has great customer service and her items are always securely wrapped and shipped promptly, she also offers combined shipping rates for multiple purchases. And - always cheaper than Coastal Scents!

Click here to visit her store on eBay

My Youtube video link for email subscribers

Review: Double Stack Palettes (matte and shimmer)

No flash:

With flash:

I got these palettes from the seller abestlife on eBay and I was happy to add these to my collection. I have the palette in both the shimmer and the matte variety, both palettes have 32 eyeshadows as the top layer, and 10 blushes as the bottom later - 42 pieces total. The blush palette is the same on both palettes, hence why I only photographed it once. The eyeshadow colors, however, vary slightly between the matte and shimmer palette, which I hope my pictures reflect. All the ingredients of these palettes are listed on the seller's eBay page.

Pros:

• very good-value and contains both eyeshadows and blushes
• great pigmentation especially on the shimmer palette
• variety of colors - some neutrals and some very bright colors
• eyeshadows are very easy to blend and apply smoothly on top of a base
  
• blushes are also highly pigmented
• easy to travel with as the case is compact and eyeshadows are not as fragile as the 120 palette

Cons:

• Consistency is a little bit dusty - not chalky though. This is virtually the same for all these types of inexpensive palettes from eBay/Coastal Scents
  
• blushes are a little bit hard to work with because they are so pigmented, need to be applied with a light hand or a skunk brush

I had a good experience with this seller - fast shipping, good packaging, no damages whatsoever. If you want to be on the safe side, get the additional insurance as these items are shipped from China, but the price is still lower than on other sites (ex. Coastal Scents.)

The inevitable questions...

Do you like these better than the 120 palette?
In some ways yes because the consistency of the shadows is better, they are easier to work with, and you get the added bonus of blushes included. On the other hand, you get more colors with the 120 palette so I'll still use that one too.
Do you like this better than the 88 palette?
I only have the matte 88 palette, but yes, I like the double stack ones more.
Which one would you recommend I buy?
I really can't answer that and I don't like telling people which one they should buy. I do have extensive reviews of all my palettes so please click on the tag "palettes" on the side of my blog to read them all, then make up your own mind on which one suits your needs the best.

72 Neutral, 72 Ultra Shimmer and Concealer palettes Review

These are two palettes that I received as a sample gift from my trusty eBay seller jolieeeee (aka Sarah) who I have purchased many palettes from previously with great customer service. On the right in the above picture is the 72 Color Professional Eye Shadow Neutral Palette. The neutral palette is very similar to the 28 neutral palette, which I reviewed earlier on my blog and on Youtube. The main difference between this one and the 28 neutral palette is the size of the eyeshadows, they are quite small but as a trade-off you do get more colors. The color payoff and finish is really pretty much the same so make sure to check out my earlier review.

The palette on the left is the 72 Ultra Shimmer Palette which is the exact same format and size as the neutral palette but these colors are very bright, pigmented, and the finish is shimmery/sparkley. These shadows do contain a lot of sparkle/glitter in them so I wouldn't recommend this palette if you don't like that kind of finish as they are all like that. However, I did use a few of the shades for some looks already and they do look really pretty when combined with matte eyeshadows. I used a sparkley color on the lid and a matte in the crease and for me this was the perfect combination. It's a real mixed bag of colors but this is a great palette if you like sparkley eyeshadow, I could see this being very appealing to younger girls and teens. The finish is similar to MAC Lustre eyeshadows, but I found these apply and adhere better.

Sarah also sent me the 10 Color Professional Camouflage Concealer Palette that I was really keen to try out. The color range is great, I am lighter than MAC NC15 and I could still find a color in here that was right for my skintone! I am not sure what the darkest shade would equate to in MAC, sorry. So color spectrum - thumbs up.

As to the quality of these concealers, well...they are OK. I still would opt for my Ben Nye concealer wheel over these as far as lasting power and strength of coverage, but these aren't bad either. I was actually surprised at the quality, these are better than some drugstore concealers I have tried out! What I like about the texture is that it is very emollient and easy to spread, but then very quickly dries down to a smooth powder finish. It's almost like a cream-to-powder foundation in texture, but not overly heavy, and could even be used as a foundation.

The only thing is that this palette doesn't come with any color correctors (green, orange, lilac shades) so this would be of limited use to a makeup artist having to color correct, but these would work well to go over a corrector to even out the skintone again. I could see this palette being suitable for a beginner makeup artist just venturing out into the professional world without a huge budget to spend on kit essentials, or someone who just likes to apply makeup on other people, their friends, etc. Because at $6.99 for this palette (without s&h) you can't really go wrong. The quality is admittedly not top-shelf, but considering the price, this isn't a bad purchase for those people I just mentioned.

I have purchased several times from Sarah's shop and have always been happy with my purchases, the customer service, and shipping turnaround time. I would not be endorsing this seller if I did not stand behind her business practices. Her packages are always very well wrapped and I've never received a package with even a single broken eyeshadow. I would recommend insurance though just in case.

Her eBay store:
http://myworld.ebay.com/jolieeeee/

Review: 26 and 88 eyeshadow, 28 blush palette

Please click the pictures for full size.

Finally I've had some time to upload pictures of the other 3 palettes that I haven't reviewed yet, including the 28 blush palette, the 88 matte & satin finish eyeshadow palette, and the 26 blush and eyeshadow combo palette. I've also added a picture (first one) of all my eBay palettes together, including the 120 color eyeshadow and the 28 neutral color palettes. There isn't a whole lot that I can add that I haven't already said in my previous reviews of these types of products. These palettes are all great bargains for the low-budget category, they are highly pigmented shadows and blushes mixed in with a few duds, that may not be the longest lasting cosmetics out there but they are a great bang for your buck. The blush palette is a bit harder to work with as the quality is not so amazing, but still a fairly decent purchase for the price. The size of the blushes in the 28 blush palette is the size of medium-sized eyeshadows, so you may need to use a smaller brush with it.

Which palette do you prefer, the 88 color or the 120 color?

I really can't say, it depends on your criteria. I would recommend the 88 matte and satin finish if you aren't too keen on lots of shimmery and frosty shadows. However, the 120 has a lot more color variety and I just like the colors that are offered more as there are some more unique shades. The downside to the 120 is that it's incredibly soft and the shadows are very fragile and I wouldn't really take this along traveling with me. The 88 palette is pressed a bit firmer so it would be more suited to travel.

Where did you buy these palettes?

I got all these palettes (except the 120 palette which was a gift from my sister) from THIS seller on eBay and had a very good experience. I highly recommend buying these palettes on eBay to get the best prices.

Review: 120 Color Palette

February 8, 2009
I received this palette as a gift from my sister; it's the popular 120 palette available from eBay. (I don't have the link for the seller as this was bought for me.) I've been looking forward to trying this out since ages! This is a great bargain for those on a budget. It's basically an assortment of dime-sized eyeshadows in one convenient case. Here are my thoughts on this product.

Pros

• very inexpensive! Available for anywhere between $20-$30 USD on eBay
• wonderful color selection with bright, vibrant shades
• 2 rows of neutrals, highlighters, monochromatic, 2 blacks
• variety of finishes although the majority are shimmering
• easy to blend
• great pigmentation payoff for most of the eyeshadows
• very compact so good for traveling and storage
  

Cons

• Not all the eyeshadows are equally as pigmented or have great payoff, though that is fortunately the minority
• These eyeshadows are very fragile and soft, meaning they are easily damaged and also cause some fallout during application
  
• some eyeshadows might be damaged during shipping so I recommend insurance
• lasting power not as good as high end brands
• the "marbelized" row is pretty pointless though I'm not sure if that's worth mentioning
  

Overall I think this is a great purchase if you are starting out with makeup and want a large color selection for not a lot of money, or you are missing some shades and just don't want to shell out for high end. Stay tuned for some tutorials using this palette on my Youtube channel! (Click on the pictures for full size!) You can also see pictures of all 120 shadows swatched on Vintage or Tacky's blog.

Review: 28 Neutral Color Palette

I already gave a review of this palette on my Youtube channel but I wanted to post a few more pictures and give some more details. Contrary to many, I did not buy this from coastalscents.com, rather on Ebay because frankly, it was cheaper that way.
This palette retails for $21.95 on Coastal Scents, and for around $10 on eBay (both without shipping.) That's less than half the price! With shipping to my country (Switzerland) it came to $22, insurance is optional for $2 and I recommend it.
The palette arrived within 9 days all the way from China, so shipping is super fast.
This palette is mass produced in China, along with all those other "cheapie" palettes sold on Coastal Scents.

Pros:

• very inexpensive so great for those on a budget
• great color variety for neutral shades
• variety of finishes (semi-matte, satin, shimmery)
• comes with highlighters as well as some darker colors and a black
• did I mention how cheap this is yet??

Cons:

• Not as highly pigmented as high-quality shadows (MAC, Makeup Forever, Ben Nye, etc.)
• lasting power of these eyeshadows is not comparable to high end shadows

I would definitely repurchase this palette and I am quite happy with it. Again, you can't compare apples with oranges - in no way can this palette replace high end eyeshadow like MUFE, Stila, MAC, etc. in quality. But this is ideal for those who are on a budget and looking for a palette for personal use, or are just venturing into makeup, or just want to have a wide selection of neutrals in one go. Click on the images for full size.