Favorite Makeup Products of 2018

So, it's the end of the year, and everyone is making their lists of the best and worst makeup of 2018. The older I get and the less involved with the "influencer" side of the beauty industry I become, these lists matter less and less to me. That also might be because we are so inundated with new releases that it's hard to hold onto a few select products as "the best." And even if they do make that cut, where will they be six months or a year from now?

I didn't try a ton of new makeup this year. I did buy some things and I was gifted a few things, but I was generally less concerned with buying.

Because of this, it didn't make much sense to me to create my own "best of 2018" list, since I didn't buy many new releases and mainly just used and loved what I already had. And then it struck me—that's the entire point of this blog. To encourage mindful shopping and using what you already own.

So I decided to write a post on my favorite makeup items of 2018—most of which I acquired before 2018.

FACE

Foundation: Fenty Pro Filt'r 

I talked in depth about this foundation in a recent post, but this is a really fantastic foundation. It gives my skin a light, skin-like finish and provides a lot of coverage while also not looking like a mask. I love the shade range, and it is a brand that I feel good supporting. 

Primer: Australian Gold Tinted Sunscreen

I've used this sunscreen as a primer for a while, and despite trying several different primers this year, it still came out on top for me. My previous favorite foundation (It Cosmetics CC+) had SPF 50 within it, so it is even more important to me now to have SPF in my primer. I've raved about this sunscreen before, and I will continue to do so. It's non-greasy and yet really holds onto foundation well. I love it. 

Multi-purpose spray: MAC Fix+

I have used MAC Fix+ for many years, but I used it more this year than any other. And that's because I finally started wetting eyeshadows. This was never something I was all that interested in, mainly because I didn't feel I should have to wet an eyeshadow in order for it to work. And I still agree with that (I'm looking at you, Makeup Revolution The Emily Edit). However, some shadows still perform dry but pack a little more punch when wet, and those are the ones for which I don't mind putting in the additional effort. To wet shadows, I'll only use Fix+. This product was also heavily used when I was finishing my Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot powder and my face looked like it was caked in product. Fix+ took down the powder look and made my skin appear a bit more natural. 

Bronzer: Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light

It's not surprising that my favorite bronzer is from Hourglass, since all of my favorite powder face products are from Hourglass. I didn't use bronzer for years (I didn't understand the point of it, to be honest), and I still only use a small amount, but I have come to really love the warmth it gives my face. With that said, I'm unsure how anyone ever finishes a bronzer. I have had this product for a long time, and I use it almost daily, and I have only made a small dent in it. 

Setting powder: Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder

This is a relatively new product to me, so it might be a little unfair to call it a favorite already, but I don't care. It is. I purchased this powder to replace my One Heck of a Blot powder when it was finished, and I absolutely love it. It makes my skin look airbrushed. That shouldn't be surprising—so many Hourglass products do that. I feel like you might not notice a huge difference with this powder (and other Hourglass products) until you stop using it. That happened to me with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, and I just couldn't understand why my face looked so dull when I didn't use it. I feel the same about this. 

Finishing powder: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light

I've talked about this product so much at this point, so all I will say here is that I can't really see anything ever topping this powder for me. I plan on using it as long as Hourglass makes it. 

BLUSH

I have a sizable blush collection (though it probably appears small when compared to a large number of beauty content creators), and these four are the ones that stood out to me this year as the best. 

Marc Jacobs Lines and Last Night

Lines and Last Night is a perfect peach/orange blush for my skin tone, and it lasts all day without fading. I have two other Marc Jacobs blushes in this formula, but neither are quite as special (on me) as this one.

NARS Exhibit A

I've talked about this blush several times before, but this is my all-time favorite and the blush I wear the most.

MAC Gingerly 

This blush is such a great color, but unfortunately, the staying power isn't the greatest on me. I really like to pair Gingerly with a yellow-gold highlighter and warm nude (on me) lipstick. It also looks great with green or mustard eyeshadow!

Hourglass Mood Exposure

Next to Exhibit A, this is my favorite blush. Whenever I can't quite figure out what blush to wear, I go for this one. When I'm traveling, this is usually the only blush I take. I think what everyone else loves about Tarte Exposed is what I love about Mood Exposure.

HIGHLIGHTER

I firmly believe that a highlighter is a highlighter is a highlighter. I picked my three favorites from the year and the three I've worn the most, but honestly, while there are differences between them, I think they all look pretty similar on the skin—like almost every highlighter. 

Becca Vanilla Quartz

For years, Becca Moonstone was my top favorite, and it probably still is, but I wore Vanilla Quartz the most in 2018. I like that it has a yellow/peach base instead of a champagne base, which sets it slightly apart from Moonstone. Becca highlighters will likely always be my favorite, and Vanilla Quartz is a stunner. 

Physician's Formula Butter Highlighter in Pearl

I've recently talked about Pearl, but I have to say that I'll never understand why people seemed to have skipped over this highlighter. This is the only highlighter from the Butter line that I personally felt was unique, but performs at a level that is far above its price range. I would think people would rave about the Butter line, but unless I'm missing something, I haven't heard anything. 

Anastasia Beverly Hills X Amrezy Highlighter

This highlighter was given to me as a gift at a time when I really wasn't wearing much makeup or focused on anything other than recovering from 5 years of unhappiness and environmental depression as a result of living in New York City. So, it took me quite a while to use it. But since then, I have worn it a lot, and it has become a favorite.

Honestly, I wouldn't have purchased this highlighter myself, and I debated even including it in this list. And the reason for that is because Amrezy is not a person who I personally feel comfortable supporting. I understand that she and Norvina of ABH are friends, but I don't think she's a good candidate as a brand ambassador.

The highlighter is really pretty, and I was surprised by how much I liked the strong yellow-gold color. I pair this highlighter with MAC Gingerly, and I think the two make a really nice combination.

EYESHADOW PALETTES (NEW)

The irony here, of course, is that my two favorite eyeshadow palettes that released in 2018 (or at least were new to me) are pretty far apart in terms of price. I purchased NYX Grind for $12 (when it was on sale), and the Pat McGrath Decadence palette was a hefty $125. 

NYX Grind

I've heard next to no one talk about this palette, and I really don't understand why. I think it's really fantastic and one of the best color stories to come out in a while. It performs at a level that is much higher than its price range, and I don't have to work to make the shadows perform. They are just high quality. It's always a treat to use this palette. 

Pat McGrath Mothership IV — Decadence 

I bought this palette as a "Congrats, you survived New York" gift to myself. Decadence is the nicest makeup item I have ever owned. (I was then gifted another Pat McGrath palette—one of the smaller ones—and I was not impressed with that.) I have no concept why Decadence was the only limited edition Mothership palette. That makes no sense to me because I feel like it's the best one. And I think it's really disappointing that people can't buy it anymore. 

I had a slightly hard time tracking it down (it was sold out online and I had to put this one on hold at a Sephora near me and then race to buy it), but I never made the connection that it was limited edition (and not a false scarcity tactic). I remember the Sephora employee gasping when I gave my name and said what I was picking up. And I remember thinking that was weird. 

This is a beautiful palette, and these are the highest quality eyeshadows I have ever used. That's especially why I was disappointed in the smaller PM palette as it doesn't seem that the quality is consistent across the board. Decadence is the perfect name for this palette. I only wish it was still available for people to purchase. 

EYESHADOW PALETTE (NOT NEW)

BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Up front, I need to give a disclaimer. As I detailed in my last post, I'm not sure that I will ever buy from BH Cosmetics again because I have recently had the worst customer service experience to date after purchasing from them. Long story short: They took 28 days to ship a product to me, lied to me, ignored me, and then blamed the USPS for their errors. I was incredibly disappointed by how I was treated, and when I went onto their social media, the comments were littered with people like me who were being ignored and were frustrated. Customer service is a big deal to me (and most consumers), so, at present, this is not a company that I can or do recommend purchasing from. 

With that said, the Zodiac palette is my favorite palette in my collection. And I'm including it in this post because if you already own this palette, I wanted to maybe remind you of how great it is and encourage you to get more use out of it. Zodiac is a fantastic palette, and it performs better than a lot of high-end palettes that I've tried. It is beyond disappointing that BH Cosmetics handled their customer service so unprofessionally because I really do love a lot of their products. 

SINGLE EYESHADOWS

If you've read my blog for any period of time, you'll know that I love single eyeshadows. Reflecting upon which are my favorite of the year, I found that there was a nice mix of new and old shadows. They are:

Marc Jacobs Copperazzi

Fyrinnae Rapunzel Had Extensions

Fyrinnae Serendipity 

Urban Decay Space Cowboy

Marc Jacobs The Big O!

Hourglass Foil

Fyrinnae It Beautifies! 

I have talked about all of these shadows in previous posts, so I will just say that these are the singles in my collection that really stand out, either because of color, texture, or finish. 

SINGLE EYESHADOWS (HONORABLE MENTION)

This might be cheating, but I wanted to give a mention to my giant palette (from Coloured Raine) of single shadows that I either purchased individually or depotted from palettes. This giant collection of singles helps me dupe so many new releases, and my desire to own new things gets immediately curbed. Largely, I don't think singles get enough love, but they are the best tool I have to resist buying something unnecessary. Singles will forever be one of my favorite products. 

LIPS

If I'm honest, I haven't always been a huge lip product person. That's largely because:

• I drink coffee all day and hate getting lipstick all over my nice mugs
• I typically only apply lipstick in the morning 
• I very rarely reapply my lipstick throughout the day

But, even though I might not wear it as much as I would like, I still apply some kind of lip product most days, and these are my favorites.

NARS Barbara

The NARS Audacious lipstick formula is one of my all-time favorites, and Barbara is my go-to warm nude (on me) that I pair with bold eyes, MAC Gingerly, and the ABH highlighter. 

NARS Anna

I think this is a perfect lip color for me and my skin tone, and it feels like the lipstick version of Hourglass Mood Exposure. 

Estée Lauder Shock & Awe

This has been in a monthly favorites post before, and I continue to love it. On me, it's not as bright as it looks in the tube, and I find it to be a really wearable and pretty pink. 

Pat McGrath Antidote

I bought this lipstick at the same time that I bought the Decadence palette, and I absolutely love it. I don't have anything even similar in color, and I love wearing it with a matte mustard eye look. 

Tom Ford Fetishist 

I wrote about this lipstick in a recent post, and I will say that despite the staggering price tag, it's a great lipstick. Its staying powder is like none other in my collection (including liquid lipsticks!). The color is deep and romantic, and it feels every bit as luxurious as you would expect from Tom Ford (and its price!).

My Worst Customer Service Experience: BH Cosmetics

This is a different post for me, but it's one that I feel is really important. The topic is customer service, and this post will detail the worst customer service experience I have undergone thus far and why I no longer feel comfortable recommending people purchase from BH Cosmetics.

If you've read my blog for the past year, you will know that I love the BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette. It was probably the biggest beauty surprise of the year for me to see such high quality shadows at a manageable price. I have enthusiastically recommended this palette to readers as well as people in my everyday life. When the Makeup Revolution The Emily Edit: The Wants palette came out and I was very disappointed in its poor quality, people would quip: "What do you expect from a $20 palette?" And to that, I would say, "I expect the BH Cosmetics Zodiac!"

So when BH Cosmetics announced that they were releasing a second iteration of the Zodiac palette (called Love Signs), I was curious. I feel like BH Cosmetics is a "hit or miss" brand, and I wanted to know if the quality of Zodiac was a fluke or not. After considering it for a few days, I decided to purchase the palette while BH was running several sales and promotions.

I purchased the palette on November 22, 2018, which was Thanksgiving Day in the US and part of Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. My package was not shipped to me until December 21—which was 29 days after I purchased it. BH Cosmetics packages are shipped from North Hollywood, California, and I live in a large city in California.

At the time of my purchase, the BH website listed shipping times as:

"Most orders are shipped out within 1 - 2 business days, with many orders shipping out the same day. During high volume periods like the holidays and new product launches, there may be a delay up to 4 business days to process your order."

I quoted this exact language to BH, and they have since changed this portion of their website to say:

This language was 100% changed because of the overwhelming messages they received on all of their social media platforms from frustrated customers like myself who never received their packages. I also reiterate that I live in a large city in California, not a "remote area."

I first contacted BH about the status of my order on November 30, which was 8 days after I had placed my order. I knew that the Black Friday sales likely slowed everything down, but according to the previous language on the website, it would take "up to four business days" to process the order. And that time had passed.

I did not receive a response until December 4, at which point it had been 12 days since I placed my order, and it had not yet been shipped. BH asked me to wait an additional 2–3 business days to receive a tracking number.

So, I waited. And it never came.

Three days later (December 7), I contacted them again and asked about the status.

They never responded to me.

Finally, on December 19, which was 27 days after I placed my order, I contacted BH again to say that if I did not receive a tracking number, I was going to call my bank and dispute the charge as fraud.

ONLY THEN did BH respond to me, and they claimed that my package was "lost or stolen in transit."

My order—to this day—still says that it is "processing" (photo below). That order was never shipped, and they had not sent me a tracking number. So there was no way for it to be "lost or stolen in transit." The fact that they blatantly lied to me made the situation that much worse and made me feel like this is a company that I can no longer support.

The following day, BH processed my order (picture below), and they sent me a tracking number (so I know my original order was never shipped because they didn't send any tracking information). On December 21, they shipped the package to me (picture below). It was delivered the following day since I live in California, and BH is based in California.

I have detailed the entire experience below, complete with screenshots of all conversations I had with BH Cosmetics.

I feel confident to say that had I not told BH that I was going to claim fraud on my purchase, they never would have sent my product to me. I also feel confident that had I not consistently emailed them, they would not have rectified the problem on their own.

All BH social media comments during the past month were littered with complaints from people who had never received their orders and were lied to by customer service. BH has since deleted these comments.

BH never apologized to me more than a standard greeting, and they did not offer anything in the way of coupons or anything else to try and make up for their poor service or retain me as a customer.

I have never been treated so poorly and unprofessionally by a retailer. I have never been so blatantly lied to.

As a consumer, I was beyond frustrated. But as a person with a blog and a semblance of a voice in this area, I have to say that I can no longer recommend purchasing from BH Cosmetics. This was the first time I had ever purchased from BH during a sale, and every other time I purchased from them, I had a great experience. But this experience was so bad and so unprofessional that I would feel irresponsible recommending the brand to others.

It is understandable to be swamped with Black Friday sales. However, a brand (especially one that has been established for several years) should prepare for the high volume. Ignoring customers, lying to them, and falsely accusing postal services of losing or stealing a package that they know was never sent is pretty appalling and egregious customer service.

For screenshots and text of all conversations I had with BH Cosmetics, continue reading below.

* * *

I placed the order on November 22, 2018:

(The above screenshot was taken today, December 30, 2018. As you can see, my order has never progressed from the "Processing" phase.)

On November 30, my order had not been shipped, so I wrote to customer service (through the website portal) and below is my message. Note: You can click on the image to view the message in higher quality.

"I placed an order 8 days ago on November 22, and my order still has not been shipped. Based on this website info:
'Most orders are shipped out within 1 - 2 business days, with many orders shipping out the same day. During high volume periods like the holidays and new product launches, there may be a delay up to 4 business days to process your order.'
My package should have been shipped to me yesterday at the latest, but it still has not. Can you please let me know the status of my order? This is a very long time to wait before the order has even been processed and shipped." 

BH Cosmetics replied on December 4 (4 days later):

"Thank you for your inquiry. We have recently experienced a high volume of orders, and we apologize for the delay. We are committed to getting your shipment out as soon as possible. Please allow 2-3 business days to receive a tracking number via email. Please note you also have an option to cancel the order. Please let us know your preference.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and sincerely appreciate your patience. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email."

I responded on the same day (December 4):

"I would like to receive the product that I paid for. However, given that your website says to allow UP TO 4 business days for an order to be processed during holidays and new product launches—and mine has been processing for 7 business days at this point and you're telling me to wait an additional 2–3 business days, bringing that to at least 10 business days—at the very least you need to update the information on your website. It is not only misleading, it is downright incorrect." 

They responded on the same day (December 4):

"Thank you for your email. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us. Every BH Customer's opinion matters to us.
And once again...thanks!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this email."

On December 7, which was three days later—and is when BH said the product would be shipped to me—it still had not been shipped. So, I sent another message:

"I was told (in this conversation) to wait an additional 2–3 business days for my purchase to be shipped. It has since been 4 business days, and I have not received a shipping notification. Can you please tell me when my item (which was purchased 10 business days ago) will be shipped?"

I received no response. So, I waited. No shipment and no response. 

Finally, on December 19, which was 27 days after I ordered this palette, I wrote to BH again and said that if I did not receive a shipping notification, I would have to contact my bank and dispute the charge as fraud:

"I still have not received my package or a shipping notification and I have not heard back from customer service despite multiple messages. I purchased this product 27 days ago and it is shipping to [redacted] CA, which is local to BH. The fact that my product has not been shipped is unacceptable. The fact that customer service will not respond to me is appalling. Please contact me immediately and let me know when my product will ship. Otherwise, I will be forced to contact my bank and dispute the charge as fraud since I never received my product." 

The following day (December 20), I received a response from BH, claiming that my package— for which I never received shipment or tracking information—was likely "lost or stolen in transit":

"Thank you for your email. It appears that your package may have been lost or stolen in transit. Fortunately, we do insure all of our packages. Please let us know if you would like to have your order reshipped or refunded.
If you would like a reshipment, please verify your shipping address. Simply reply to this email."

I responded the same day (December 20):

"Yes, I want my package that I paid for 28 days ago. It was not lost or stolen in transit because it was never shipped to me. On my order, it still says "processing." Please do not blame the USPS for BH Cosmetics' problems.
My shipping address should be in my order, and the order number is referenced in this email chain. I purchased the new Zodiac Love Signs palette. My address is:
[Redacted]
If I do not receive a shipping notification with tracking in two days, I will call my bank and claim fraud on this order." 

BH responded the same day (December 20):

"Thank you for contacting us. Per your request we will be reshipping your order. We appreciate your patience.

You should receive a new tracking number within 2 business days

If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to reply to this email."

The package was then processed the same day (December 20), and on my receipt, it said that was the day my order was placed, not November 22:

My package was shipped the following day (December 21):

Weekly Looks: BH Cosmetics Zodiac and Singles

I've had an interesting revelation over the past few weeks, which is that for all the time I spent obsessing over eyeshadow palettes, looking up swatches, and watching reviews—and all the money I have burned buying them—I really just don't like many of them.

In every palette I own, there are colors that I don't like and don't use. There was a series going around YouTube for a while were people talked about their least favorite shadows in every palette. Because it is impossible for a brand to put out a palette where every single person will love every single shade. And it is also very rare to come across a pre-made palette where you love every single shadow and wouldn't change anything about the color story.

And I noticed that in the palettes that I have duped or put together myself, I don't typically have a least favorite shadow because I replace any shade I don't like with one that I do.

Because of this, I've been using my palettes less and less and favoring my singles or palettes I've made myself. But toward the end of this week, I used an old favorite and was reminded of how how great—and rare!—it is to find a palette you really love.

Here are six looks I did this week.

Look 1: Fyrinnae Aztec Gold

Lid: Aztec Gold

Transition: Viseart matte warm brown

Crease: Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear

Inner corner: Make Up For Ever Pearl

Brow bone: Viseart matte white

Lower lash line: Aztec Gold

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Fyrinnae's Aztec Gold is one of my absolute top favorite shadows and one of the most unique in my collection. It has been a while since I used this shadow (mainly because I haven't been doing as many "neutral" looks), but as soon as I put this on, I was kicking myself for not using it more often. I just love this shadow and think it completely complements my warm-toned olive skin. 

Look 2: Duped The Wants

Lid: Makeup Geek Mai Tai

Transition: Costal Scents Petal Peach

Crease: Viseart shimmer purple

Outer corner: Coloured Raine Queen Mother

Inner corner: Make Up For Ever Pearl

Brow bone: Viseart matte white

Lower lash line: Ardency Inn Violet

This was an experiment, and I liked the look more in theory than in application. I really liked Mai Tai paired with Violet, but the Viseart shimmery purple in the crease made the look a little too warm-toned than I was wanting. 

Look 3: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Cancer shimmer

Transition: Virgo matte

Crease: Cancer matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Taurus matte

I pulled out BH Cosmetics Zodiac by the middle of the week and immediately remembered how much I love it. I wanted to use some shadows that I hadn't used before, so I started with the Cancer shimmer. This isn't typically a color that I reach for, but I absolutely loved it paired with the lilac shades. The Virgo matte shade is easily one of my favorite shadows in the palette and most loved transition color, and I enjoyed how it gave a little warmth to an otherwise cool look.  

Look 4: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Capricorn shimmer

Center of lid: Center highlight

Transition: Aquarius matte

Crease: Capricorn matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Capricorn matte

This was also a look that I loved, though I partially wish that I would not have used the center highlight shade in the middle of my lid. I thought it was going to be more light-reflective and transformative, but it ended up making the olive look a little too gold. This was the most "neutral" of all the looks I did with this palette, but I still thought it was interesting and pretty. 

Look 5: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Aries shimmer

Transition: Virgo matte

Crease: Cancer matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Taurus matte

This look is a bit similar to one I've done before, but I typically use a blue with a lot of gold in it instead of one that is more cool-toned. I received a ton of compliments on this look, and people told me that they felt it really showed off my eye color. I found that interesting because if I want my eyes to stand out, I usually wear gold or olive colors, but I appreciated the compliments. I felt a bit like a mermaid when I wore this look, which is never a bad thing. 

Look 6: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Taurus shimmer (applied wet)

Transition: Virgo matte

Crease: Gemini matte

Outer corner: Taurus matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Taurus matte

For this look, I was inspired by the Taurus section of the palette, which has a shimmery champagne and a dark purple matte. I knew that I didn't want the look to be overly dark, so I went with a cool-toned lavender in the crease and darkened that with the deeper purple in the outer corner. This is a look that feels neutral to me but also bright and colorful, which I love. 

I'm glad to have "rediscovered" my BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette this week, and I feel confident to say that if I did a complete purge of all of my pre-made eyeshadow palettes (which I might do!), this would be one that would stay. 

This is also why I personally was so disappointed in the Makeup Revolution Emily Edit: The Wants palette. About the formula and quality, I've heard so many people say, "What do you expect from a $20 palette??"

Well, THIS is what I expect. 

I expect rich pigment, metallic shimmers, smooth mattes, and saturated looks. I bought BH Cosmetics Zodiac for $24, but at the time of writing this post, it is on sale for $18. This palette, I think, has phenomenal quality, and this is what I meant when I said that I was not going to spend time to make shadows in The Wants palette work when I already own great shadows that perform well on their own (even those from less expensive brands). 

This palette is such a winner for me, and I still love it close to a year after I bought it. 

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One Week, One Palette: BH Cosmetics Weekend Festival

I wasn't planning on doing a "one week, one palette" post this week, but it happened (well, mostly). I started the week by using a palette, and on day two, I realized that I owned the BH Cosmetics Festival palette, which I didn't even remember. Months ago, when I was taking a mental break and not wearing any makeup, I was gifted this palette, but I had no intentions of keeping it and I never used it. When I was shuffling through all my palettes this week, I found it and decided to try it before decluttering. And I ended up liking it so much that I wanted to keep using it every day. Almost like how a "normal" person approaches makeup when they don't own an unnecessary amount of it.

So here was the first look of the week:

Jaclyn Hill x Morphe

Lid: Diva

Transition: Silk Creme and Pooter

Crease: Pukey

Outer Corner: Enchanted

Inner corner: Beam

Lower lash line: Diva

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brulee

I've done this look before, and it's certainly my favorite that I can create from this palette. Diva is a pretty unique color to my collection, and I really love how it makes a non-traditional smoky eye. Morphe mattes are not great, but I find the ones in this palette good enough to work with to make this look. I probably only use about 20% of the shades in this palette as I find most of them pretty redundant within shades of brown or red. But this is one of the standout colors for me, and I'm always happy to do this look. 

In terms of the BH Cosmetics Weekend Festival palette, here are four looks I did last week:

Look 1:

Inner lid: Euphoria

Outer lid: Boho

Transition: Electric

Crease: Swag

Above crease: Hippie

Lower lash line: Swag

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brulee

The lighting in my new place is not great, so when I first put this look together, I felt like there was no impact on the lid. As the day went on and I saw the look in other lighting, I realized the shadows were much more vibrant than I originally thought. Nonetheless, I still felt the colors on my lid were pretty subtle, especially when compared with the matte shades. Overall, I do really like the look, but it is very much within my "strong pink" comfort zone that I've been in for over a year. 

Look 2:

Lid: Carnival

Transition: Electric

Crease: Dippie

Outer corner: Swag

Inner corner: Trixie

Lower Lash line: Swag

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brulee

The irony about this look is that I didn't want to do a blue color on the eye with a brown in the crease (because I've done that look a lot), so I went with the pink crease, which is something I seem to incorporate into almost all of my looks. I think this is a pretty look, and I like how the blue almost looks silver. 

Look 3:

Lid: Solstice (applied wet)

Transition: Electric

Crease: Dippie and Swag

Inner corner: Spirit

Lower lash line: Swag

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brulee

This was my favorite look of the bunch, but I bet that's surprising to no one. I've done some version of this look almost every week that I've worn makeup for at least a year now, and I did it earlier in the week as well. I used the lid shadow wet, and I certainly liked the effect more than when I used it dry. 

Look 4:

Lid: Neon (applied wet)

Crease: Palooza

Above crease: Kandi

Lower lash line: Trance

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brulee

To close out the week, I went with a much more colorful look, and I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about the aqua in the crease, but I figured I would just roll with it. Like the previous day, I applied the lid shadow wet, and I loved the intensity of it. 

Favorite look: 

Look 3, featuring Solstice.

Lease favorite look: 

If I had to pick, I guess it would be Look 2, featuring Carnival, but I didn't dislike the look at all. There were just others this week that I liked more. 

Final thoughts:

I really like this palette. I wasn't really planning on caring for it too much, and I certainly wasn't expecting to keep it in my collection, but I think I will hang on to it for a bit longer as I work through my collection and curate it a bit more. 

The mattes in this palette are really good, and I think that's really where the palette sings. The shimmers are okay, but they aren't anything exceptional. I liked the shimmers when applied wet, but I feel like that could be said for most shimmers. 

I like the color scheme and like that it's a nice mix of colors and neutrals as well as shimmers and mattes, and I also like that the color scheme is inclusive and not just curated for light skin tones. 

With that said, I feel like I can probably duplicate this entire palette with colors that are already in my collection. The most unique shades to my collection are probably:

• Kandi (true peach with a pearl finish)
• Palooza (matte aqua)
• Neon (shimmery lime-green)
• Electric (matte bright, light pink)

In a 20-shadow palette, the fact that only four shades are somewhat unique to my collection is not a great statistic. But, for a lot of people, this could be a pretty unique palette. It comes close to having all the shades of my duped peachy matte palette, and it has similar shades to the Kylie Cosmetics Blue Honey palette, all within a single palette. It's a nice color selection.

Personally, I'm going to keep it in my collection for right now and see what happens as I declutter my palettes. I did buy a palette this week, which utterly surprised me, but it was the palette that Emilynoel83 made (The Wants). Her humility, enthusiasm, and graciousness were just overwhelming, and in a sea of shills and egos, I couldn't help but want to share in her excitement. Plus, I think she made a lovely palette that is inclusive. 

I really like BH Cosmetics Weekend Festival, but realistically, it might be one that gets decluttered (or depotted) as I downsize. 

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