I was visiting a friend last week who works at one of those beautiful Bare Escentuals stores. Now keep in mind that I’m not a huge fan of the line or anything but the brightly lit chandeliers cascading over the candy colored powders is pretty mesmerizing. It’s not that I was in the market for anything BE, but the whole experience of being inside the cozy store sipping my Pumpkin Spice Soy Latte with holiday shoppers buzzing around is like taking an alcoholic to a bar and expecting them not to drink. So of course, while my friend was off helping a real customer and not just someone who came in to chat, I cracked and became like a dog with a bone over an eye shadow palette. I just couldn’t let it go.
I justified the $40 purchase by processing though the following emotions:
Fear: It’s seasonal so I’ll NEVER SEE IT AGAIN once it’s gone!
Guilt: I can’t just stand here and not buy something, I’d totally be wasting Corey’s time.
Reasoning: Whether I love it or not. I’ll at least squeeze a blog post out of it.
Anticipation: I can’t wait to use all of these colors every single day and do my makeup perfectly even if I’m just sitting around the house. Editors note: this did not, and will not never happen
Bottom line: I bought it and I remain absolute about my decision to purchase.
These pressed shadows are night and day different from their loose ones in a pot we all know so well. First, the color payoff is better and not just better than the loose ones, better than most shadows. I’d rank them up there with an Urban Decay for their intensity, blendability, and longevity – you get a ton of color in just one swipe. I also love ratio of bolds to nudes which way outnumbers most palettes. With only 2 ‘safe’ shades, you get colors you don’t have (like the green and mustard yellow) along with rich shimmery spins on a chocolate, maroon, and ivy. I like the damn thing way more than I thought I would – this along with my free gift of a Big & Bright Eyeliner (full review to come) has kinda changed the way I see bareMinerals. Aside from its really lame music based theme (it’s called READY Eyeshadow 8.0 – The Playlist) and even worse color names (Pumped, One Hit Wonder, Speaker Box, etc.) it’s pretty perfect.
The shiny bright red packaging reminded me of foil wrapping paper.
And the gold is bright like an ornament.
A glimpse of the shades – hard to capture and convey their intensity on a screen, check it out for yourself.
Click HERE to see the palette, and HERE for a glimpse of the plum version if browns aren’t really you’re thing.