My Picks from the After-Christmas BH Cosmetics Sale + First Impressions!

     Ah, we have approached a new year! I have decided to do a small change of background in my photos, and am just testing it out for the time being. Let me know how you like it! Anyway, reverting to the topic of this post: remember that sale I was telling you all about in my last post? Well, let me just say that I try my absolute best to not order from mass-produced private label cosmetic companies anymore, such as Coastal Scents, Morphe Brushes, so on and so forth. I'm slowly starting to become more conscious of the ingredients I put on my skin, and neither of those aforementioned brands have claimed cruelty free status, and they do have some pretty questionable ingredients, to say the least. 

     Although I find myself overall disappointed to find, upon receiving my order, that BH Cosmetics still has parabens and talc (just rechecked my palette sleeves, and they are actually paraben-free! Sorry for the mixup, I was doing research on two different brands in the same day) in their color products, they are indeed cruelty-free, Leaping Bunny certified (this is according to the Leaping Bunny website, the products' packaging are sans the bunny logo, hopefully that changes!), and....some of their brushes are even vegan! And they certainly seem to be rocking to the beat of their own drum in regards to that. Whether or not I'll order from them again, at least in regard to color cosmetics, is to be determined. I just assumed wrongfully that since they were cruelty-free, none of those ingredients would be present. Ah well, logical fallacy on my part. And just a matter of being misinformed on consumer products and regulations.

So, enough blabbing! Here's what I bought from the sale! 

Foil Eyes 28 Color Eyeshadow Palette, $12
Modern Mattes 28 Color Eyeshadow Palette, $10

Sculpt & Blend 10 Piece Brush Set (Version 2), $20

Shipping Review

I must say, the shipping on my order was pretty dismal and a bit poorly executed, albeit fairly quick. I placed my order on the 26th, and received it on the 30th, which isn't shabby at all! However, thank goodness for the 35% discount code taking $14.95 off my order, because the $7.95 shipping cost was just laughable, as I found out that my order wasn't even marked Fragile on the box upon arrival, and the palettes themselves were packaged together, in paper, sans any bubble wrap, which is a big fat no, no, and gracious, NO. Sheesh, imagine my relief and surprise when I opened each palette to find both palettes completely intact, so no broken eyeshadows or unhinged pans. Phew.

Here's a closer look at the palettes and brushes! Swatches of the colors will come soon!

I saw Jess from Smarter Beauty on YouTube do a review on this Foil Eyes 28 Eyeshadow Palette, and after seeing her review, knew I wanted to try it if I ever got the opportunity to (she's awesome, check out her channel here). In other parts of the blogosphere, I've heard of this being quite a nice alternative to Makeup Geek's Foiled Eyeshadows. $12 for a whole palette of 28 seemingly full-size foiled shadows, versus $8 per pan for Makeup Geek (did she lower the price or am I experiencing Mandela Effect? I could have sworn her shadows were $10 a pan). I'm not saying that MUG wouldn't be worth it, but if you're on a tight budget and want to test the waters on eyeshadows of this finish, and need a ready-made palette with those accent shadows to supplement your collection, then you might just find this palette to be to your liking!

Thus far, I've only used three of the colors from this palette in my eye looks, and here are my initial thoughts (review will come later): Not all of these are of a foiled finish. Some lend a more satin finish, and while they still retain the color pay-off, the finish lays on a bit dull on a few compared to the rest. They're far from being the high-shine finish of something akin to, say, a pressed pigment. There are some standouts that I think would definitely make this palette worth the price, but just as a caution, some definitely fall a bit flat.

I was a bit skeptical of this $10 Modern Mattes palette, as getting mattes right is a toss-up as it is, and when applying some of the neutrals, I discovered why I was initially skeptical. The colors look and swatch okay, for the most part, and it contains some of the essential mattes that I need in both warm and cool neutrals, as well as some primary brights. In a pinch, I could probably see it working. None of the shadows are creamy or buttery, they're definitely more on the dry side, but without being too stiff or powdery, though I've found that some of the shades are more powdery than others. Thus far, I've only tried a few of the mid-toned neutrals in my eye looks, and damn, are they patchy! I can not get them to blend properly, no matter what brush I use. I'm currently using LORAC's eyeshadow primer with them, so may need to switch up my primers to see if they perform any better. So disappointing, though I have to remind myself that I may ultimately end up getting what I paid for.

After I try working more from this palette, I'll keep you all updated on what my final review is! Stay tuned! But so far, I'm not the most impressed.

Sculpt & Blend 10 Piece Brush Set (Version 2)

After seeing overall positive reviews of this brush set (including from my girl Jess), I decided to give this set a go, as so many brushes in this set seem versatile enough, and I'm all for multi-purpose. Will update my thoughts on these as I use them! 

That's all for now! Happy January 1st, everyone!

💋 xoxo-Cailee