bareMinerals The Next Big Thing Eyeshadow Quad ($30.00 for 0.17 oz.) is a new and limited edition palette for spring that features these four shades: The Rising Star (sunlit gold), Smash Hit (vibrant peach), Hoopla (glowing copper), and Ensemble (smoked-out plum).
The Rising Star is a lightened, yellow gold with a frosted, metallic finish. It almost looks cool-toned, as much as a yellow gold can. It had good color payoff in a single pass, and the texture was soft, dense, and buttery. Too Faced Spun Sugar #5 is lighter. NYX Hot Yellow is less shimmery. bareMinerals Standing O is a bit lighter but still rather similar. MAC Treasure Hunt is less yellow and a cream product.
Smash Hit is a brightened coral-orange with a matte finish. The texture was soft, finely-milled but not powdery, and it had excellent pigmentation. MAC Coral is more orange and darker. MAC Dynamo is similar with some shimmer, and it is a cream product. Guerlain Les Fauves #3 is darker, redder. Make Up For Ever #5 is richer, darker.
Ensemble is a dark, purple-burgundy with a matte finish. It had good pigmentation, but it wasn’t quite as dense or as pigmented as many other bareMinerals’ matte eyeshadows. It was not as easily blended on the eye as a very good matte would be, and with such dark color, blendability is really key. MAC Sketch is lighter and has subtle shimmer. Tom Ford Enchanted #4 is more shimmery. MAC Deep Damson is very similar in color.
I think the color composition is a very warm-toned mix, and there’s a nice variety of contrast and finish here so there are several combinations to play around with. Generally, all four shades were more dupable than not, so you may find you have similar shades already in your stash (particularly Hoopla, which is a popular shade found in most ranges). The other three shades were soft, easy to apply, and blendable. When I wore all four shades together, they wore for eight full hours with no fading or creasing (no primer).
I think the color composition is a very warm-toned mix, and there's a nice variety of contrast and finish here so there are several combinations to play around with. Generally, all four shades were more dupable than not, so you may find you have similar shades already in your stas.
Product
9/10
Pigmentation
9/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
4.5/5
Login or Register to be able to add this to your Vanity or Wishlist! Plus rate and review!
Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
Quick Review: bareMinerals The Cocktail Hour Eyeshadow Palette
bareMinerals The Cocktail Hour Eyeshadow Palette ($24.50 for 0.28. oz.) is a holiday palette from last year, but it’s actually still available through bareMinerals at a discounted price of $24.50–it originally retailed for $40.00–and it is a truly fantastic palette. I’m a huge fan of the Ready eyeshadow range, and this palette is and was excellent. This palette contains these shades: Black Tie Optional (black velvet), Icebreaker (pink pearl), Swanky (dazzling plum), Spiked (copper blush), Elixir (luxe lilac), Invite Only (taupe slate), Libation (sugared cinnamon), and Shaken Not Stirred (jeweled envy).
Black Tie Optional is a dark charcoal black–there’s a hint of gray there. It has cool undertones, excellent color payoff, and has a mostly matte finish.
Icebreaker is a pearly pale pink with subtle warm undertones and a frosted finish. Super soft, smooth, and intensly pigmented.
Swanky is a red-toned medium-dark purple with a satiny finish. It had nice color payoff and was soft and smooth to the touch.
Spiked is a warm, medium orange with a hint of reddish-copper and a frosted sheen. Good pigmentation and smooth texture.
Elixir is a pink lavender with a frosted finish. It was very soft and had good pigmentation.
Invite Only is a soft, metallic finished taupe–a great balance of gray and brown. Nice color payoff, smooth finish.
Libation is a beige-copper with a champagne metallic sheen. It has a very, very reflective finish with good pigmentation.
Shaken Not Stirred is a darkened navy blue with fine navy blue shimmer over a matte base. This had good color payoff, especially when applied, but the shimmer isn’t very noticeable on.
This is a fantastic palette, and at $24.50? a total steal. The quality is excellent across the board; there are no duds in this palette. These wear well, apply beautifully, and blend out easily. If you love soft, buttery eyeshadows with rich color payoff, this palette has your number.
** A Note on Quick Reviews: In an effort to be more on-the-ball for 2013, I’m digging through my photo folders and getting as much posted as I can. These are not full-length, in-depth reviews, and instead, I’m writing brief reviews. For dupes, I highly suggest checking out The Swatch Gallery; it’s my first stop whenever I am looking for possible dupes. All of the swatches in this post are automatically added to the gallery, so you can compare them for yourself.
This is a fantastic palette, and at $24.50? a total steal. The quality is excellent across the board; there are no duds in this palette. These wear well, apply beautifully, and blend out easily. If you love soft, buttery eyeshadows with rich color payoff, this palette has your number.
Product
10/10
Pigmentation
10/10
Texture
10/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
5/5
Login or Register to be able to add this to your Vanity or Wishlist! Plus rate and review!
Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
bareMinerals, $24.50 (retailed for $40 originally)
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
bareMinerals The Happy Place Eyeshadow Quad ($30.00 for 0.17 oz.) includes four shades: Peace (muted apricot), Imagine (rose gold), Exhale (smoky taupe), and Euphoria (eggplant).
Peace is a soft peach with a mostly matte finish. It had excellent color payoff and was very soft and smooth. bareMinerals Stealth is a touch more orange. Urban Decay Freestyle is more beige. Dolce & Gabbana Jewels is comparable, just more shimmery. MAC Nubile is a touch more beige and is a cream product. MAC Orb is more pink-toned.
Imagine is a muted, medium copper with a golden shimmer-sheen. It had good pigmentation and was fairly soft and smooth. MAC Star Myth is darker. MAC Mythical is darker and redder.
Exhale is a mauve-tinged taupe with a matte finish. It had great color payoff, and while it was very soft, it wasn’t powdery. This kind of color can be really versatile and easy-to-use in more dramatic looks as well as more natural ones. bareMinerals Suspense is lighter, grayer. MAC Cloudy Afternoon is lighter and frosted. Urban Decay Bust is grayer, frosted.
All in all, The Happy Place is a well-made quad with nicely pigmented eyeshadows and soft, smooth textures that feel finely-milled, buttery, and dense. Imagine was the “weakest” of the bunch, as it was slightly less pigmented compared to the other three, and a wee bit powdery. I really do mean slight and bit–they’re so minor that one might not normally notice, but among truly stellar eyeshadows, it stood out. When I wore all four shades together, they wore without fading or creasing for a full eight hours without a primer.
The Happy Place will surely make someone very happy indeed, so long as the colors are ones you'd wear! The quality is top notch, and they're so easy to blend and intensely pigmented. The four shades work well together, too.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
9.5/10
Texture
9.5/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
5/5
Login or Register to be able to add this to your Vanity or Wishlist! Plus rate and review!
Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
bareMinerals The September Issue Eyeshadow Palette
The September Issue is Packed with Value and Quality
bareMinerals The September Issue Eyeshadow Palette ($40.00 for 0.28 oz.) includes eight eyeshadows: Couture (glimmering clove), Silhouette (antique white), Statement (vibrant orchid), Pret-a-Porter (sunbaked gold), Tres Chic (apricot cream), Editor’s Pick (metallic teal), Glitterati (shimmering pink), and Ensemble (deepest eggplant).
Each eyeshadow is 0.035 oz., as compared to the average full-sized eyeshadow, which is 0.05 oz. (and bareMinerals’ Ready eyeshadows in the duos and quads are 0.05 oz.). In duos, they’re $20/0.10 oz.; quads are $30/0.17 oz., and 8-pan palettes are $40/0.28 oz.–which breaks out to $200/oz., $176/oz., and $143/oz. I love that they give you a little more as you buy larger palettes. Just to put those prices in context, MAC single eyeshadows are $300/oz., while their duos are $275/oz. and quads are $210/oz.
Statement is a fuchsia-magenta with a matte finish. It is a smidgen powdery, but it has good color payoff and does apply evenly and smoothly on the eye. MAC Infra-violet is pinker, lighter, and has shimmer. Sugarpill 2AM is similar but has very, very fine shimmer. Bobbi Brown Ultra Violet is a touch more purple. Urban Decay Purple Haze is more purple. Urban Decay Fishnet is shimmery and iridescent.
Pret-a-Porter is a molten honey gold with strong yellow undertones and a frosted finish. It had excellent color payoff, and it was a cinch to work with: super smooth and soft. OCC Triptych is yellower, less orange-toned, and has a metallic finish. Urban Decay Honey is less orange-toned. NARS Paramaribo is more antique-y. Inglot #404 is less yellow.
Glitterati is a light pink with a golden shimmer-sheen. It had good pigmentation, and it applied very smoothly. MAC radial Pink is lighter, less golden. Chanel Harmonie du Soir is darker, no golden sheen. MAC Invicible Light is a yellower pink without the golden sheen.
Ensemble is a dark burgundy-brown with a matte finish. This shade swatched unevenly, but applied to the eye, it performed better. It was very pigmented, so a little goes a long way. The texture was slightly powdery. theBalm Presto is similiar but warmer. Tarina Tarantino Saw Dust Heart is darker, blacker. MAC Midnight Flurry is comparable in color. MAC Embark is redder, warmer. Inglot #378 is similar.
Quite honestly, bareMinerals’ Ready range is an eyeshadow formula I could use and use exclusively and not feel like I was missing out. It is a truly excellent formula with a wide range of colors and finishes. They are consistently top notch in quality, but I love that they really reach across the spectrum of color. You have pops of color plus a strong neutral range. I’ve been a huge fan of the Ready eyeshadow range since it debuted, and I continue to be impressed by the recent releases.
The September Issue is a Sephora-exclusive, and it’s an interesting mix of colors, from color to neutral and warm to cool shades. There were two shades (Statement and Ensemble) that were a bit powdery, though they were both very soft, finely-milled mattes. The other six shades performed incredibly well. I wore several of the shades in a look, and I had no problems getting a full eight hours of wear without creasing or fading without a primer.
It's a fantastic palette from start to finish with a good selection of colors and neutrals. It's not warm or cool-toned, so it should work well across skin tones.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
9.5/10
Texture
9.5/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
4.5/5
Login or Register to be able to add this to your Vanity or Wishlist! Plus rate and review!
Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
