makeup bag - Ici Paris XL
Only You (available at Ici Paris XL) is a colourful, budget makeup brand with a cute vibe. Case in point: their ice cream themed, scented nailpolish collection for spring 2017, and this adorable makeup palette they designed for Valentine's day. At 9.95€ for 12 eyeshadows, 2 highlighters and 4 blushes, the Love palette is steal. But is it worth the money? Let's take a look.
With regards to packaging, the Love palette is obviously very budget: colourful cardboard, sort of flimsy. You don't want to throw this in your makeup bag while travelling or the cardboard might get damaged. It is quite good at shock absorption though, so there's that.
The colours are really pretty. I like the mix of blues, pink/purples and golds for eyeshadow, the cool and warm highlighters in the middle, and the four clearly different blush colours along the bottom of the palette. The eyeshadows are all shimmery, but the blushes can be used for your eye looks as well and are matte, which increases your options. I like the theme they're selling for Valentine's: soft, romantic, and the pinks and blues work well together.
The swatches are kind of a mixed bag. The top pic shows all the eyeshadows on the left side of the palette + the two blushes on the left, and the bottom row of swatches is the two highlighters, the six remaining eyeshadows, and the two right blushes. As you can see, the lighter eyeshadows are more of a sheer wash of shimmery colour than real pigmented powders. The first blush in the top pic is super pigmented, the second is barely there. The bottom row works better for me: nice, consistent pigmentation, and I really like the beige and gold highlighters on the left.
I do feel like all the colours work nicely together. The left half of the palette is softer, more sheer, more day-appropriate, while the right half works for nighttime looks that are more intense.
I created a look using the light pink from the left side of the palette (in the inner corners), the most pigmented blush on the left (for the crease and on my cheeks), and the navy blue sparkle from the right side of the palette (in my outer corners). I also applied the beige highlighter on my cheekbones.
Well, I find it hard to conclude my thoughts here! I did have to build up my look to get this amount of pigmentation, but the end result looks quite nice - that purply blue is gorgeous. I found that the colours blended nicely and didn't become muddy, despite having to layer up. The blush is lovely, although the pan is small and it's hard to get enough product on your brush. The highlighter is a homerun though, qualitywise. Beautiful glow, you only need a small amount, and it stayed bright like a diamond all day.
In sum: this is a cute budget palette that offers a range of shades and possible looks, but it's not a must have in my book. However, it's probably a really cute starter palette for people who don't have an overflowing stash, or who are just getting into more colourful makeup looks.
What do you think? ;-)
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