em cosmetics
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
em michelle phan - The Party Life Palette - Swatches and Review
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Hey guys! Get ready for a looooooooong post full of pictures and my thoughts. I was going to do a video review of this, buuuuut, I knew it was going to be super long and I figured you could read at your leisure.
So, after reading and watching so many reviews on the Life Palette, I decided long ago that I wanted one, but I didn't want to shell out $75 for something that had seriously mixed reviews. When I saw the Black Friday sale em cosmetics was having, I HAD to do it. THIS was my chance to get the Life Palette to try. I narrowed it down to 2 palettes, Party Life and Night Life. I went with the Party Life because I really fell in love with the cheek colors. Will I be trying to get more Life Palettes? Well, read my review to find out!
Each em cosmetics order comes nicely wrapped in pink tissues paper and the em logo sticker to hold it all together. My package included the Chiaroscuru stick and the life palette.
In each order, you'll get a "thank you" card from Michelle as well as the samples that you chose. I got the concealer and cc cream sample cards.
Really quickly, the concealer works great. The cc cream is kinda meh, but I think there really just wasn't enough on the card to sample.
Okay, now on to the good stuff. The Life Palette - Party Life swatches and review! I have quite a bit to say about this palette so let's not waste any time!
When you open up the front cover, it shows you the 4 looks you can get with each of the quadrants in this palette. There is also a "get the look" card included with the palette with specific instructions. I thought this palette didn't tell you what each color was, so I lifted each pan out of it's little space and took notes. Well, at the last minute, I flipped the palette over and boom -- the names of each color. I'm glad it tells you somewhere on the palette.
Here it is. This is how the palette comes, still in the packaging. The overall packaging is fantastic! There is really so much thought that went into this. I know some people were saying that it's cheap looking or cheap feeling, but I don't think so. It isn't as heavy as I thought it would be, but most of the weight definitely comes from the magnets inside to hold each pan.
FREE with each Life Palette is a travel palette [which is also pretty heavy duty -- weight from magnet] and stickers to label your quadrants if you choose. The mirror in this travel palette is HUGE. I actually used this palette empty the other night JUST for the mirror. I do wish it came with a brush or somewhere to put a travel brush.
Here is the palette EXPOSED! I love the organization of this and I actually love the brush it comes with. All of the angled brushes I have are sorta thick and this one is nice and thin. Some of these shadows can definitely be used as liners. As I go through each quadrant, I'll be talking about the consistency, pigmentation, color, and overall though on each of the products in this palette.
First up is the Midnight Dance quadrant. I swatched all of these starting with the lip color [top right] and worked my way around clockwise as they have it labeled on the package itself. I also have abbreviations next to the colors.
D = dry | S = sheer | C = creamy | O = opaque | G = glossy | M = matte
This is what I wrote down as I took notes on each to help give you a better review and a better idea of what each color was and how it performed on me.
- Lip 1: Fuchsia Affair SG - This color gives just enough tint on your lips for that subtle, girly look. It's sheer but very sweet.
- Lip 2: Lavender Lust SG - Definitely a gloss. It's got bits of glitter in it but it's not too obnoxious. Layer it over a colored stain for a nighttime look.
- Cheek: Pink Soiree - This is such a girly pink color. I absolutely love it. A little goes a long way on me, so be careful when loading up your brush.
- Eye 1: Midnight Dance DS - This is a sheer shadow, which is a little disappointing because it looks so dark in the pot. It took a few swipes for just the swatch on my arm. It also had a sort of dry texture to it.
- Eye 2: Evening Sky DS - This is also a dry and sheer shadow. It's actually good though because this could be a transition color or a highlight color. You almost don't want it to be super opaque.
- Eye 3: Lavender Stars DS - This just like Evening Sky. It's a sheer light purple color that could easily build up to a rich color on your eyes.
- Eye 4: Pinks Sparks CO - This one was a little creamy, definitely not dry. It's opaque in just a swipe and a half. With this and any of the other creamy colors, I'd recommend applying with your finger, not a brush.
- Eye 5: Lilacs in Love CS - Even though this is creamy, it's nice and sheer, almost like a top coat for your shadow or a nice highlight on your eyes. It's super subtle and very pretty.
- Eye 6: Twinkle & Glimmer DS - Last is Twinkle & Glimmer. This is super dry and extremely sheer. Even for an inner corner color, you'd have to pack it on your brush to get the effect you want.
Next is the Party in Pink quadrant. It has a nice mix of pinks and blues. I honestly love the blush more than any of the eye colors.
- Lip 1: Chic SG - This is similar to Lavender Lust in terms of how sheer it is and the specks of glitter. I prefer this one over that because of it's pink tint.
- Lip 2: Wine a Lot SG - It looks darker in the pot than on my arm or lips. Definitely layer-able over any wine-colored lipstick or stain.
- Cheek: Party in Pink - This is not as pink the previous blush color but I still love it. It's a nice color you could build up.
- Eye 1: Black Sky DO - Okay, so I labeled this one as opaque even though it looks sheer in the swatch. The swatch below is just 1 swipe! For full opacity, I recommend applying with your finger, not a brush. It is a little bit on the dryer side, so that's another reason for using your fingers to apply.
- Eye 2: Dance Floor DS - Dance floor is on the sheer side, but can easily become opaque with layers. Swatch below is several layers. Even with built up product, it doesn't look cakey or anything. Those are the types of buildable shadows I look for.
- Eye 3: Blue Pumps DS - The same goes for Blue Pumps. It's a dryer formula, sheer with one swipe, but buildable to a nice pretty blue color.
- Eye 4: Cake & Confetti CO - Cake & Confetti is sooooo creamy. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it IS a creamier texture than most of the shadows we have gone over already. The look guide suggests this as a base color.
- Eye 5: Blue Cosmo DS - This looks like C&C in the swatch but it is a dryer formula. It's still a great color and sheer enough not to be obnoxious.
- Eye 6: Spwarkle DS - As evident by the swatch it's very dry and very sheer. This is definitely a highlight color only.
- Lip 1: Caramel SG - This is more my color when it comes to gloss. It's so sheer and nude and would be perfect for an every day look.
- Lip 2: Just Fab SM - Matte? What? YES! As soon as I swiped it it turned into this gorgeous creamy matte lip color. It's also seriously more opaque than I imagined it to be.
- Cheek: Sexy Nude - SO natural! I think I honestly might transfer this entire quadrant into my travel palette.
- Eye 1: Mink Coat CO - Let me start out by saying...do you notice the letters in my coded review? Almost all the colors are coded as CO, which means CREAMY OPAQUE! I think I might just leave the shadow review on this color because they are all amazing. I love the natural tones in all of these and since they are creamy, you only need a little bit. The angled brush included and the creamy textures make it so easy to create a glamorous and natural look that can be worn every day.
- Eye 2: Rich Rust CO
- Eye 3: Bronze Cuff CO
- Eye 4: Copper Groove CO
- Eye 5: Gold Lame CO
- Eye 6: Poppin Bottles DO - I would never have thought that this color would POP as much as it did! WOW! It does have a slightly dry texture but look at the color payoff! I am seriously amazed by this entire section. LOVE it!
Last is the Out on the Town quadrant. One of the colors in this section had me scared. Can ya guess which one? Haha!
- Lip 1: Peach Fizz SG - Peach Fizz is another neutral glossy color. It's very similar to Caramel.
- Lip 2: On the Prowl SM - Another matte. This is on the sheer side but can easily pack a punch if it's built up.
- Cheek: Sassy Chic - Sassy Chic is sassy sheer. It's a very light cheek color that would work well on everyone. It took a few swipes to get the swatch I did. Build this up slowly.
- Eye 1: Black Moonlight DO - This one is pretty opaque - enough for the smokey eye look. The swatch below is just one swipe, which is pretty darn good looking to me. It does have a dry texture to it.
- Eye 2: Late Night DO - This is a dry opaque dusty blue. It looks almost denim colored. This color would look good with the other 2 light blue hues in this quadrant.
- Eye 3: Midnight Swim DS - Although one of the darker blues, it's pretty sheer. It's got a dry formula but what does stay put gives off a nice color payoff.
- Eye 4: Confetti D/C O - Notice how I said this was D/C for dry/creamy. It's so hard to explain -- this color is dry and flaky coming off the pan and then when you apply it, it glides on smooth and stays put. It isn't as obnoxious as it looks in the pan. I can totally work with this.
- Eye 5: Hazy D/C S - Hazy is also a dry/creamy formula but way more sheer. It's a smokey pale blue that I honestly really love.
- Eye 6: Girl Time D/C O - Girl Time is another dry/creamy formula that seriously packs some serious metallic punch. I love how shiny it looks and it's a perfect color for the "Out on the Town" look.
Please let me know if this review was helpful. I tried to be as thorough as possible for you so that you could make an educated decision on whether or not you want this for yourself. I'll be doing one more review for em cosmetics in the next week or so. Stay tuned!
*Items in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.
