When BH Cosmetics launched the Carli Bybel Palette ($12.50 at BHCosmetics.com) back in September, it literally broke the internet. The site kept crashing in the middle of the night and I remember thinking there was no way I was going to stay awake until 3 am to try and get one. I knew I wanted to review and swatch it for the blog, but I wanted to wait until the dust settled a little bit. Kind of reminds me of all the hype surrounding a certain Peach palette now! Anyway, a lot of people were very disappointed and had to wait a few months until this palette was restocked. I finally got mine a couple of months ago and have been testing it out ever since.
For those of you don't know who Carli Bybel is, she's a major YouTube star, and she created this palette in collaboration with BH Cosmetics, a brand I happen to really like for their high quality, yet affordable products. So let's take a closer look!
The eyeshadows are mainly neutral easy-to-wear shades, making this a great palette for every day and I find myself reaching for it often. It has pink and plum shades in addition to gold, bronze and copper.
One thing I wanted to mention is that the matte shades don't have a lot of fallout, while the shimmery shades are super soft and can definitely kick up a bit of powder. You can see in the photo below how the cream colored matte shade has a lot less loose powder sitting in it than the peachy-pink shimmer shade
Formula-wise, the matte and shimmer shades are a lot different (which I find is often the case). The matte shades had decent pigmentation but felt drier and definitely needed to be built up a little bit. The shimmer shades were soft, buttery and highly pigmented with no effort required to get intense color payoff.
The top row has four matte shades and one shimmer shade, so in terms of pigmentation this row wasn't as impressive as the rest of the palette (although I love the colors!). I haven't seen anything but rave reviews on this palette, with no mention of the matte shades being dry and less pigmented than the others, so I'm wondering if maybe I got a dud? I've seen plenty of other swatches and the matte shades look more intense than they do on me...I'm not sure why.
I should also mention that I didn't swatch these over primer so that might help to intensify the shades a bit more.
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| Top Row- Eyeshadows |
The second row of eyeshadows had four shimmers and only one matte shade and you can definitely see the difference here in terms of pigmentation and color impact when compared to the first row. These swatches are one swipe, so they're definitely impressive!
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| Middle Row- Eyeshadows |
The highlighters are my favorite part of the palette...ohhh my gosh, they're super intense and almost...creamy. One swipe gives buttery soft high-impact color that will really make your cheekbones stand out. They're so smooth and finely milled with no crazy sparkle or chunky glitter. These could be one of my favorite highlighter formulas ever!
The lightest two shades work well on my fair skin, and while the other two are a little bit too dark for me to use as a highlight, I can use them as bronzy blushes (if I use a lighter hand) or as eyeshadows.
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| Bottom Row- Highlighters |
Overall, it's hard to believe this palette is only $12.50. Aside from the somewhat drier matte eyeshadows, this palette has a ton of beautiful, shimmery shades that are totally wearable and great quality. In some ways, this palette reminds me of the Lorac Unzipped palette, but at a much more affordable price point.
Grab yours now at BHCosmetics.com
Thats really pretty! Thanks for reviewing, I've been wondering about how it swatched and yours are always so good, and we have similar skin tones. Embrace the pale :) I definitely don't need another e/s palette after caving on the new Tarte one that came out with thier last collection, but if I did it would be this one for sure. When you use a primer, which one(s) do you prefer?
ReplyDeleteAww thanks Steffy! :) Do you mean eyeshadow primers? I have so many that I rotate but I really like NYX's Proof It the best...it makes my eyeshadows last forever! :)
DeleteI've been reading your blog since I came across it about three months ago and love it! This is my first time commenting but I wanted to let you know that you introduced me to Makeup Revolution and now I am hooked!
ReplyDeleteAs far the this particular palette, I don't think you got a dud because I had a similar experience. I prefer matte shadows and found these disappointing; the shimmers were a mess for me with a lot of fall out; all the highlighters did was emphasize my pores, Needless to say, I can't recommend it based on my experience. -- Christina D.
Thank you so much, you really made my day!:) I agree...the matte shadows weren't the best and I also prefer matte eyeshadows. Maybe it's because I've tried some really stellar matte formulas like the Lorac Pro, Tarte's Tartelette palettes, and the Balm's Meet Matt(e) that now I have really high expectations! Literally every review I read on this palette said that the matte's were highly pigmented so I was really confused. I'm glad you had the same experience and I'm not crazy! :)
DeleteI got this palette a few months ago, and the only problem I've had with it, is that it has a really strong chemical smell that I can smell as soon as I open the palette. Did you notice this with your palette, and most importantly, is a strong smell common with BH Cosmetics? I would love to order more from them, but not if all the stuff is going to stink.
ReplyDeleteI just went upstairs and sniffed all of my palettes because I didn't really notice a smell when I was using this. When I put my nose close to it, I can definitely smell a funky chemical smell that is NOT pleasant. My other BH palettes have a similar smell although not as strong as this one. Thanks for bringing that up, especially for those who are reading that might be sensitive to smells.
DeleteOMG I am so glad someone else brought this up! In addition to the quality issue - and you are right in that using higher end cosmetics definitely changes my expectations -- but the smell of BH Cosmetics has put me off. I had purchased several of their palettes and they all give off that terrible chemical odor. I admit that I am sensitive to fragrances, but that chemical/plastic small is unbearable IMO. -- Christina D.
ReplyDelete