Written Reviews
Highly versatile and easy to wear for both day and night, Bella Bamba gives an incredible summery glow that still looks appropriate year-round. The color may seem a little harsh at first look, but it easily applies to a gorgeous glow.
As a quick note, I'd like to say this is for the original (sheer/non-colorful) primer. I've yet to try the other three. However, Original is truly a product that does what it says it's going to do: make eyeshadow last longer. It's lightweight and blends in easily, although it is not clear -- it does have a faint, extremely light brown color, but that blends out to sheer. The fact is, this isn't an extraordinary product. It's not a miracle worker. But it does what it says it's going to do, and it does so well.
Features a good variety of shades that work well on many skin tones and some surprising essentials (the pair of highlighters is nice, as is the all-matte taupe Tease). The brush is durable and usable, and the packaging itself, while a step up from Naked's hard cardboard, has a weird flaw: the individual pans are not very tightly attached to the metal case. While this can be fixed with a hot-glue gun and some patience, it's a bit of a pain. Another curiosity is the repetition of the shade Half Baked from the original Naked palette; while it's a great shade, a bright glittery gold might be harder to use everyday than say, another matte nude. Regardless, it's a great palette and makes an excellent present.
MAC's Lady Grey palette is an ideal day palette. Tendersmoke (a shimmery muted purple) and Lady Grey (a shimmery dove grey with a hint of green) are both lovely when worn on their own. The darkest color, the frosted pewter Hazy Day, is bold enough for evening but can be sheered out for day. It's incredibly urban-chic, too. The highlighter, All Races, is a fairly sheer matte white that does its job. This kit is a good investment because of the variety of shades (Tendersmoke and Lady Grey are unique to my collection, while many other eyeshadows I own have near-dupes or dupes) and quality. It could easily be the only eyeshadow palette needed for a weekend in the city, and encourages creativity. It's worth noting that these colors, especially Lady Grey, take a bit of practice for newcomers to get right, but overall it's a great palette if you've had some experience.
