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I had to scroll for quite a while, but my last makeup review was way back in January of 2020 (I was so close to almost poetically posting a new one on the same day a year later, but I digress). I can’t say why I stopped posting reviews of makeup, maybe I felt like no one was reading them or I wasn’t “qualified” whatever that could mean. But for 2021 I want to keep posting more of what makes me happy and interests me, outside of nail polish! It’ll still be 90% nail polish here, but my 2nd love is makeup and I buy just as much of it, so I might as well just tell you all how I like it!

And of course, when the pandemic hit, and I started working from home, I wasn’t wearing makeup and wasn’t as interested in new releases. But then something hit these last couple of months and suddenly I’m back in and absolutely loving putting on makeup and trying out new products. I’ve been waking up earlier before work just to listen to a podcast and test out new makeup, and I’ve been enjoying it so much as little “me time”. And it’s allowing me to really test a lot of the new products I’ve been buying! I’m still working out a system and getting more proficient at writing these reviews, but hopefully soon they’ll be more regular!

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So let’s talk about this first palette back! Back in 2019, BH Cosmetics released a Zodiac palette series, dropping a small mini eyeshadow palette each month corresponding to different astrological signs. I’ll be honest, the color stories didn’t interest me too much, and I hadn’t heard amazing things about them, so I passed on them. But this year, BH announced that they were doing a new monthly series, this time inspired by birthstones!

I’ve been hearing amazing things about BH’s newer eyeshadow formulas, so I was definitely intrigued by these mini palettes. And when I saw the color story of this first palette, I was already sold!

Since they just released the palette for February, it’s a great time to talk about January’s release. This is the ‘Garnet’ palette for January, of course, matching the birthstone of Garnet. It features a heavily red themed color story, and it was just so cute and I couldn’t resist. These retail for $9, so they’re super affordable and just too easy to add into your cart. I gave you swatches, eye looks, and then a review on the formula! I like to be super detailed, so let’s just get right into it!

It comes in this cardboard packaging with a smooth outer coating. You can see it a little next to my arm, but it’s really a smaller palette overall, super easy to store.

And inside you have 7 shadows, 6 smaller square pans and one larger shade, which is the shade matching the gem of the month. Also you get that cute little message on the mirror, thank you I know but it’s always nice to hear.

There are 4 mattes, 2 shimmers and 1 pressed glitter.

‘Garnet’ is a bright, almost pink-toned red shimmer. ‘Loyal’ is a deeper chocolate brown. ‘Go-Getter’ is a cherry red matte. ‘Werks It’ is a deeper, more cool-toned brown. ‘Productive AF’ is a white shimmer with a subtle yellow-green shift. ‘Sensitive’ is a light beige matte. And ‘Street Smart’ is a mix of dense, finer black and silver glitters.

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SWATCHES
And here are the swatches! Everything is swatched on my dry, bare arm just using my fingers and swiping once.

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And now for the eye looks! For the first one, of course I had to do a full red eye look! This is ‘Go-Getter’ all throughout the crease, blended out with ‘Sensitive’. I deepened the outer corner with ‘Loyal’, and then used ‘Garnet’ all over the lid. And a touch of ‘Productive AF’ on the browbone.

Look #2 uses that black glitter that I was so curious about. Once again, I used ‘Go-Getter in the crease, deepened up with ‘Loyal’. Then I also patted ‘Loyal’ all over the lid to give it a base color. And then I patted ‘Street Smart’ all over the lid. I didn’t use a glitter glue, and it adhered pretty well on it’s own, and builds up to however dense you want the glitter.

And then last up, I did a more neutral look. I used ‘Loyal’ in the crease, blended out a touch with ‘Sensitive’. Then I deepened up the outer corner with ‘Werks It’, and put ‘Productive AF’ all over the lid.

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REVIEW
And now onto the actual review! I’ll group the shades by finish, noting anything that might be different from individual shade to shade, and then give the overall thoughts from there! I applied these shades on top of the Wet N Wild eyeshadow primer. I use it for all of my looks or else no matter what my shadows will crease throughout the day. It’s a primer that fully dries down, so it’s not adding a sticky base underneath. Something to keep in mind, and I use the same technique for all of my reviews and eyeshadow application.

First up, the mattes! Overall, I found the mattes to build up well and blend out super smooth. They stay pigmented and rich on the eye, and don’t blend away. They were easy to work with, and I didn’t have to work hard to create a smooth and blended look.

The peach matte, ‘Sensitive’ is very light and does build up in color. However that shade is very close to my skin tone, so it can tend to blend in. It’s great for blending out the deeper, more colorful shades and diffusing them more, but again, that’s on my own light skin tone. When I first applied the matte red, ‘Go-Getter’, I noticed a touch of patchiness and skipping, but that was resolved when a 2nd layer and more product, and blending on top of another layer of powder. Also with a smaller, denser brush, I had no issues. Both of the browns also nicely add depth to any look, and build up to the depth in the pans. They can blend into each other a touch, and look a little similar, but I enjoyed having both just for the different undertones they can bring to looks.

The 2 shimmers definitely felt a touch thicker in pan and on application than others I have, which you can see a touch in the closeup of ‘Garnet’, the red shimmer. But they still pick up easily with a brush and I can pack them onto the lid. I do prefer pressing and swiping more than just tapping them onto the lid. And of course, using a finger to press them on, or spraying them with water will give even more of an impact on the lid. ‘Productive AF’, the white shimmer, definitely feels a touch more chunky and crumbly, but I was able to smooth it out on the lid with a brush and swiping motion. Again, overall nothing too hard to work with, and you can see they look beautiful on the lids, and are still stunning shimmers.

Lastly the glitter. I’ll say this shade wasn’t my favorite. I’ve used a few formulas of pressed glitters, and with those I like to just put them straight onto the lid without glitter glue to see how they wear. This one pressed onto the lid easily, even with a dry shadow base underneath and attached, with very minor fallout, I’m talking just a couple glitters on my cheeks underneath. You can have a more scattered look with one layer and spreading it out on the lid, or build it up to a more opaque glitter with more layers and product. BUT especially with a thicker layer I am going to recommend a glitter glue. On its own, though I didn’t experience much fallout during the day, I did notice the glitter continually getting more and more patchy. It even pulled away the shadow that was underneath it for a not great look. Of course, I do have hooded eyes that will exacerbate this, but I have tried other pressed glitter formulas where this didn’t happen, even with them more packed on. It can also look more thick and textured on the lids because of the majority matte black glitters, so you’re not going to have as much sparkle as other traditional glitters. Not my favorite overall, and I’m not sure how much use I’ll get out of it, mainly with the color, as I can fix the patchiness pretty easily. The idea of a black glitter is definitely interesting, but I was looking for a little more sparkle, and the patchiness didn’t help as well.

All of the normal shadow shades lasted throughout the day beautifully on top of my primer, and I experienced no fading or creasing, even when building up the shimmer on the lid. They’re stunning, and I enjoyed the looks I got out of them.

In the end, there’s 1 shade out of 7 that I don’t know how much I’ll use, the glitter, so that can affect your decision when buying this palette. I know pressed glitters are more divisive, and I am a fan of them, but this glitter is one I’ll get even less use out of than other glitters in the end – with mainly the color choice and extra step in application being the main negatives. The palette overall is more affordable, but keep in mind especially with that glitter how much you’ll use it, along with the other shades as well. In the end it’s always about your color and makeup preferences, and how much you’ll enjoy the palette! I’m just here to give a review on the formulas you can expect.

I did enjoy this palette, and I’m glad to see BH’s formula continually improving. I’m definitely intrigued and will continue watching out for the next palettes in the series!

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