One Week, One Palette: Viseart Bijoux Royal

For the thirteenth week of my one week, one palette project, I decided to go with Viseart Bijoux Royal. When I first saw this palette announced (in the summer, I believe), I remember Christine from Temptalia mentioning that the bottom row looked like Christmas. I agree, and the right side of the palette also reminds me of Hanukkah. Because of the people in my life, I celebrate both holidays, so this palette seemed like the obvious choice for the holiday week. 

As I mentioned last week, I recently started a new job in a conservative workplace. I received a wonderful comment suggesting how to introduce my eyeshadow in a way that gives my colleagues time to slowly adapt to it, and I really appreciated it. It was such a bummer for me to think about only wearing neutral washes of color for the majority of the week, so I'm excited that all hope is not lost. 

With that said, I actually had last week off from work for the holidays, so I wanted to take advantage of the time off and use Bijoux Royal.  

Top row, from left: 1, 2, 3, and 4

Middle row: 5, 6, 7, and 8

Bottom row: 9, 10, 11, and 12

Since this is a palette made up entirely of shimmer shadows, I paired it with MAC C'est Chic, which is an all-matte palette:

I used MAC Drawing a Blanc on the brow bone every day. 

Below are six looks I did last week. 

Look 1:

5 on the lid, MAC Soft Brown blended into the crease, 6 padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease, and 2 on the inner corner. 11 on the lower lash line. 

Look 2:

7 on the lid, 9 blended into the crease, 10 padded onto the outer corner, and 2 on the inner corner. 10 on the lower lash line. 

Look 3:

3 on the lid, 6 blended into the crease, 9 padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease, and 1 and 2 on the inner corner. 6 on the lower lash line. 

Look 4:

10 on the lid, 11 blended into the crease, MAC Choc-ful blended above 11, and 1 on the inner corner. MAC All's Rosy on the lower lash line. 

Look 5:

8 on the inner and outer lid, 4 on the center of the lid, MAC Corduroy and Embark blended into the crease, and 1 on the inner corner. 12 on the lower lash line. 

Look 6:

3 on the inner lid, 4 on the outer lid, 8 blended into the crease, 12 padded lightly onto the outer corner, and 1 on the inner corner. 12 on the lower lash line. 

So, I'm having some feelings about my makeup collection this week. For the first time in this project, I felt really overwhelmed by the sheer amount of palettes in my collection. And I think that's because I added some palettes to my collection over the holidays. I did not start this blog because I did not want to buy anything ever again. I like makeup too much to just stop buying everything. I also like makeup too much to not be actively involved in the community and learn about new products. The goal of this blog is to personally be a smarter shopper and to hopefully inspire others to evaluate one's collection and shop more shrewdly as well.  

With all of that said, I don't want to add more to my collection, at least not for a long while. What I have learned in the thirteen (!) weeks of this project is that I want to use every single one of these palettes more. The first palette I chose for this project was my custom palette with MAC and Makeup Geek singles, and I remember being so disappointed that the week was over because I wanted to keep using it. And I haven't been able to touch it in twelve weeks because I've been getting through the other palettes. I remember having a similar feeling when I used my Inglot palette, my Juvia's Place palettes, and the Venus palette, just to name a few. And since I've added palettes to my collection, I still have over a month (close to two months) of this project remaining. 

And the thing is, I'm brutal with decluttering, and I declutter on a regular basis. But what this project has shown me more than anything is that I truly love the palettes that I've used and decided to keep. So decluttering what I have right now would be decluttering something that I love. And I don't want to do that, but I also don't want to have so many palettes that I can never properly enjoy any of them. So, I feel conflicted. 

That aside, I really enjoyed using this palette last week. Typically, I like to have a shimmery lid with matte colors through the crease and padded onto the outer corner, but since this palette was so rich in color, I decided to run shimmers through my crease almost every day. And I actually really loved how it turned out. Some shimmers worked better in the crease than others, but I really enjoyed the majority of my looks. 

Viseart is an interesting brand, and I find that I don't typically agree with the majority opinion of them. But also keep in mind that I don't like the mattes in Lorac Pro or Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes, and most people swear by those. I like Viseart mattes, but for me personally and my specific skin, I don't think they are substantially better than other mattes. I love my Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye palette, have fallen back in love with my MAC C'est Chic palette, and really love mattes from Makeup Geek, Zoeva, and Inglot. I don't think Viseart mattes are high and above all of these, and in some cases, I prefer other formulas. 

As far as Viseart shimmers, I've heard people say they are subtle and like a light wash of color. I don't necessarily agree. I have three Viseart shimmer palettes, and I find that the colors vary in terms of depth. Some colors are sheer and other pack a huge punch of color. So I usually land somewhere in the middle of people who think the shimmers are sheer and crappy and others who think the palettes perform like a dream. Generally speaking, I enjoy Viseart shadows (and I should since I own five Viseart palettes!), and Bijoux Royale definitely has my favorite combination of colors. 

I used every shadow in the palette, and it is no surprise that my favorites were the cranberry/raspberry shades. I know I've said it so many times, but this was another palette that reminded me of why Modern Renaissance didn't work for me. I have always loved pink/red shadows, but I just think the tones and finishes (shimmer!) are prettier in other palettes. I also really loved the antique gold shade as well as the bronze shades. I had some trouble really falling for the blues and greens at first, but I think that's only because I was in the mood for some bright colors, and these were darker and more subdued. I received compliments while wearing the cooler blue looks, however, which made me feel better about them. 

Looks 1 and 2 were my favorite of the week, but I also really enjoyed looks 3 and 6. What got me started on the above tangent about the size of my collection is that this is a palette I would really love to continue using, but I still have to make my way through everything else. Thinking about this also makes me feel a little stressed about how long it will take to get my colleagues comfortable with my eyeshadow and thinking it is professionally acceptable. (For reference, the office is predominately female, and I noticed only three women who wore makeup. One wore mascara only, one wore top eyeliner only, and one wore winged eyeliner with light shadow.) Thinking the looks I did last week wouldn't be appropriate for work (for a while, at least) sort of bums me out. I just want to be able to use and enjoy more of my collection more frequently. 

Overall, I think Bijoux Royal is a gorgeous palette. It's definitely my favorite Viseart palette, and I would love to see it paired with Viseart Dark Matte. If I was doing a one month, one palette project, I would have had time to use it in conjunction with Dark Matte, but since I try to use every color in a palette each week, it makes it challenging to bring in other shades. Viseart palettes, however, are designed to work with each other, so I think it would have been really great to see how these palettes worked together. Bijoux Royal also leans more cool than warm, so it was fun to be able to play with some cool-toned looks when my preference is typically for warmer ones. Each day I desperately wanted to use the pink/red shades, and I had to actively force myself away from them. But I ended up really enjoying playing with the blue and silver shades as well. I think this palette just has a really interesting color scheme, which is inspiring to me in finding new and different color combinations.  

Had I not been a little distracted with the new palettes that came in over the holidays, I think I would have been a little heartbroken to move onto another palette. Because Bijoux Royal is a beauty. I am, however, feeling a little fatigued with the project overall, and that's simply because I have so many palettes that it's taking me a while to get through everything. I would love to be able to go back to my Inglot palette or either of my Juvia's Place palettes, but I also want to finish at least one round of the project and really get to know all of my palettes. The sheer length of this project is teaching me the most about why it's important to make smart choices when buying. I would love to be able to continue using Bijoux Royal for another week, but I've got more palettes waiting in the wings.