MASSIVE TMO Time! New-ish Eyeshadow palettes (aka ANTI HAUL)

I am back tonight ready to TMO some new eyeshadow palettes.

The two I want to begin with are not as new as the others, and I feel like either I was purposefully ignoring their existence, or they just flew way past my radar- though I know I was aware of Colour Pop coming to Sephora. Let's...just look at them, shall we?

Both retail for $26, and though the price is steeper than Colour Pop's smaller size palettes that they've been releasing since the summer, the price is not the biggest grievance I have with these.

First, I am not going to even discuss these as two distinct entities. I do not consider them that. I scoff at the idea they contain any variation in color that is meaningful. I laugh and then sob at the fact they are all shimmer and contain repeating colors, and that any company would be so brazen to suggest that either are worth your coin. Period. Goodbye. Moving on. 

Now, being kind of drawn to vintage quirk and kitsch, one would think I would be interested in something like Besame's Snow White palette. WRONG.

For some reason, the inside of the palette is not being displayed on the Besame site. I found this image off of pinterest, and a reverse image search indicates its publication in many online blogs. 

So here we go, a palette for $68:

To begin, I do not believe this is a well made palette. The pans are very ill-fitting, and crookedly placed. Strike one.  

In terms of color selection, we have a lot of muted pastels. My issue is that the color red, in all its vibrancy, is a pivotal motif in the film. So why do we get instead a pinkish brick and a slightly darker and greyer pinkish brick? I see a lot of repetition over all in types of colors, but I am afraid that the point of this palette is a "wash of color" look that you can get at a lot cheaper. 

Honestly, grab yourself Physicians Formula Canyon classics:

And two singles of blue and/or red. Done. 

Furthermore, this feels like the first time Besame has done eyeshadow before, which is a huge drawback for me. 

Let's look at the "smaller" eyeshadow palette in the collection, which retails for $42:

The inside of the palette reads "Make a wish...love's first kiss."

So, this is one criticism of the collection that I have not seen yet, but one that I feel is pretty important. Snow White was 13 years old, okay? 13. It was creepy in 1937, and it still is creepy now to develop a  film and a whole line of cosmetics dedicated to this fictional 13-year old's "beauty." 

Color wise, the smaller palette is more interesting to me because some colors seem more saturated, and one color looks like it has shimmer (the green), but still, same complaints. Very muted, uninteresting colors. And the Snow White on the packaging- her eye look is literally a wash of grey. So, yay? 

I dunno folks. And considering the fact that Snow White has such toxic undercurrents of beauty=whiteness, do I really want to support that narrative? And are those pastel muted shades going to appear the same on every skin tone? 

It just does not seem timely to put this out- and yeah, I know it is vintage. But what about a Disney Princess eyeshadow palette, with princess getting a shade or two? Or a Disney Villain palette?

Eh, I am going to gladly pass. On all of it. 

What else can I roast?

Oh yes, this is a good one. This is a good one because yes, I kind of wanted it. This is the BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette:

So, this drew immediate comparisons to the precious snowflake of a  palette, the KvD Mi Vida Loca Remix palette. And I only got into makeup way after that palette was released, so I did not suffer the pangs of FOMO when it was sold out.

So yeah, immediate comparisons due to the wheel design. Overall, I think it's a cute concept, but very similar to the points I made about the Nyx element palette- appealing to those themes or even identities fosters an artificial connection with a palette that you would not necessarily have otherwise. For example, I am a Cancer, but if those colors were called Matte Violet, and Baked Metallic Grey, would I care? Nope. And I still don't actually. Now even though I like the color pairings, the baked formula absolutely needs primer, glitter glue even, to avoid fall-out. The only mattes I've tried are from the Missy Lynn palette, and I ended up decluttering that, but they were not bad at all. 

Overall, there are way too many sparkly light shades for my liking, and aside from that metallic green, I know I have these colors in one form or another. 

I also think this palette took a cue from Tarte by putting a highlighter in the center of it, as with the Magic palette. I don't think that really is a universal highlighter, but I will update with swatches.

It does not anger me as much as the aforementioned palettes, but it is not something that is not necessary to buy. 

Let's move on to Morphe, shall we?

This retails for $32, and is notable for having larger pans of a variety of skin tone shades, for the base or transition. Which is nice. I do think it is hi-larious though, that Morphe still wants to convince you that ALL THE SHADES are necessary, and all THEIR shades are distinct. For me, let's see which colors pop. The bright grapefruit red tone, maybe the orange next to it, and maybe that pinkish shimmer next to the orange, because it possibly looks like a duochrome. That's it. 

Below, that olive green, a blue shimmer, and a green shimmer are the only ones distinct to me. Out of a palette of FORTY shades. While I think this palette is a push in a better direction for Morphe, we still have a long ways to go before I would consider buying anything from them. And considering this is holiday and short lived, I don't know if that day will ever come. 

Okay, the last one I have to embed from Trendmood1:

A post shared by TRENDMOOD (@trendmood1) on Nov 8, 2017 at 5:04pm PST

 This is the newst stack of eyeshadows by Melt cosmetics, called the....actually I don't know. They are only posting the names of the individual shadows.

On their sites, stacks of four shades are $48, while the Rust Stack, of five shades, is $58. A single eyeshadow cost $17....

Hm.

Their pricing seems shady to me. Okay so in a palette of four, each shade cost $12. In a  palette of five, then, each cost 11.60, which is nice. They could have charged $60. But then why make the singles so much more expensive?

That seems a bit too much on the nose/to aggressive to suggest the palettes are a better deal.The price discrepancy is too large for me.

But let's move on to the color scheme. I have never purchased Melt, and probably will never, so I can't comment on quality.

But I can comment on the swatches and color scheme.
1.) Skeleton's Kiss- a little late for the spooky train aren't we? But anyway, this is a sheer duo chrome, and the promotional picture used to show how this can be both a highlighter and an eyeshadow was not flattering at all- showed major texture.
2.) Last Caress- A matte burgundy
3.) She's in Parties- a Cranberry metallic
4.) Meanstreak- a blackened plum.

Yes, the colors are cool, but I don't see how you are going to get distinct looks for this, especially because I think Skeleton's Kiss is kind of a dud. Too much to pay for a one-trick pony.

So, that's all I have for tonight. Happy not-shopping this holiday (lul)!