Unboxing of BH Cosmetics and ikatehouse

If you haven't been over to my youtube channel, here's a link to today's video showing the unboxing of my recent orders from BH Cosmetics and ikatehouse.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXcwFxHdrTc


As promised in my video, I managed to get all three palettes swatched and photographed so I could share them with you here.  Before we get to the pictures, I want to give a big "shout out" to BH Cosmetics for the 26 Color Palette Neutral Eyeshadow and Blush.  Everything that was sad and yucky about the 28 neutral palette is happy and wonderful in this one.  I can't say that for everything I got from BH today, but I can definitely say it for that one.

Now, let's get to the good stuff!  As always, all swatches are done over Too Faced Shadow Insurance eyeshadow primer.

First is the Malibu palette:

This palette included 16 eyeshadow shades and 4 blush shades.  The 4 blushes were actually two blushes, a bronzer and a highlighter.  I think.....not sure but that's what they looked like to me.  There were about equal numbers of matte shadows to shimmer and unfortunately most of the mattes were chalky and had little color payoff.  They weren't the worst I've had, but not the best either.  A couple of the shimmer shades were really nice but I'm not sure how often I'll use this palette.

The swatches of the left side shadows:

The swatches of the right side shadows and then the blushes:

Overall I'd say it's a decent palette with some fun shadows and some usable blushes.

Next is the Professional Blush Palette.  This palette features 10 blush shades, some of which I liked and some I didn't.  I'm glad I got this palette because I am definitely short on blushes in my collection.  Up until last week, I had a grand total of one blush and used it every time I did my makeup.  Now I'll be able to branch out a little and try some new looks on my cheeks!

And the swatches:

I really like some of the cooler pinky purple shades, more than I thought I would.  Not sure if I can pull them off, but I'd sure like to try.

Lastly, the palette that restored my faith in BH Cosmetics shadow palettes.  I'm finding that my experience is pretty hit or miss with BH, but with their amazing prices, I just don't feel like I can go wrong.  Even if I find a dud here and there, I still feel like I'm ahead of the game.

The 26 Color Palette Neutral Eyeshadow and Blush:

 

And the swatches:

I'm sorry that I didn't do larger swatches but I really wasn't sure how these would look.  Based on the last neutral palette I swatched, I didn't want to waste all my eyeshadow primer doing larger swatches that didn't show up.  I need not have worried.  The shadows in this palette are wonderful.  Soft, creamy, very well pigmented, a pleasure to work with.  There are even a bunch of pink toned shades that should help tide me over until the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette comes out.  I've been obsessing over pink shadows ever since seeing my first glimpse the Naked 3 and I really think this palette is going to let me play with pink now, rather than having to wait until December!

So, that's it for my BH haul.  The rest of the unboxing was false lashes from ikatehouse and while I love the lashes, they don't make great swatches.

But you know what IS great?  Amy!  Dog of my heart!  And here is some Amy love to end my blog post.....

How about more swatches?

Yesterday's swatches were so much fun, I thought I'd do some more for today.  This time, I chose one palette and one collection of loose shadows to show you.

I'll start with the loose shadows.  I have a ton of singles shadows and this weekend, when I was messing around trying to come up with a fun look, I pulled out three to go along with the 4 new MAC shadows I picked up on Saturday.  I swatched the group, took three of the colors I liked the looks of, and created an eye look that I really ended up liking.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of my finished look.  Sorry.  Anyway, here are the shadows and the swatches:

Starting at the top, left to right
First row: MAC Antiqued, MAC Pink Freeze, MAC Fresh Water, MAC Lucky Green
Second row: L'Oreal Infallible Infinite Sky, MAC Amber Lights, Urban Decay Evidence

Note: All swatches are done over a base of Too Faced Shadow Insurance eyeshadow primer

The swatches:
colors are in the same order as above, starting with MAC Antiqued and ending with Urban Decay Evidence:

After looking at the swatches, I chose the bottom three colors for my look: L'Oreal Infallible Infinite Sky, MAC Amber Lights, and Urban Decay Evidence.  I used the Infinite sky on my lid, Amber Lights in the crease, and Evidence in my outer "V".  It was really pretty, a look I will definitely wear again.

Overall, I adore every one of these shadows.  The four MAC shadows on the top row are brand new to me, and along with Amber Lights are the sum total of my MAC shadow collection.  All the shadows are creamy and richly pigmented with the exception on the Pink Freeze, but that shadow is so delicate and feminine, I just couldn't walk out of the MAC store without it.  The bottom three shadows are incredible.  The Amber Lights is my all time favorite eyeshadow EVER.  The L'Oreal totally blew me away with how creamy and richly pigmented it was.  It feels almost like a cream shadow when you apply it, really luxurious, and the shimmer is amazing.  The Evidence has almost a duo-chrome effect, and made for some nice drama at the corners of my eyes.


Next up is the Vintage palette from Cargo.  I missed the chance to pick this up at Ulta during "Ulta Days" and regretted it almost immediately.  I scoured my local area, then finally turned to the internet in my search to find this palette somewhere.  It finally showed up at Kohl's of all places, but I had to go to three separate locations before I finally found it.  Now that I've finally swatched all the colors, I'm even more glad that I tracked this palette down. 

Here's a shot of the packaging.  It feels like leather and had a fold over magnetic closure.  Nice.

Here is the palette:
Top to bottom, left to right:
Top row: Harvest Moon, Cuddle, Frolic, Cinnamon, Twigs, Black Crow
Bottom row: Crisp, Hot Cocoa, Autumn, Withered Leaves, Rustic, Chestnut

And swatches
Top row:

Bottom row:

The colors in this palette are beautiful, subdued, and very pigmented.  Nothing too bright, but not really a neutrals palette either.  There is a nice mix of lovely fall warmth, shimmer, and matte, with the shimmer shades being my favorite.  I'd have to say Frolic and Cinnamon are my favorites, with Withered Leaves and Rustic coming in close behind.  A lovely mix that I think will get a lot of use.

That does it for today's swatches.  Hope you enjoyed them and again, I will leave you with gratuitous puppy cuteness courtesy of Amy, dog of my heart.....

Swatches is a great place to start!

What better reason to start a blog than to have a place to put all the swatch pictures I took?  So, that's just what I did.  Welcome to Kimiknits plus Makeup!  

I'm currently uber-obsessed with all things makeup, especially eyeshadow.  And I have a LOT of eyeshadow.  Well, for me at least.  I really need to get a handle on it and find a way to organize it all so I know what I have and can get to it when I need it.  And it would be even better if I had some small inkling of what the colors look like on me without having to swatch every time I sit down at my makeup table.

What I sat down to yesterday

When I decided to experiment with looks yesterday, I found myself sitting in front of a ton of loose singles shadows with no idea where to start.  I didn't have the energy to pull out the palettes sitting on the lower shelf because there are just too many colors and I have no idea which ones are great and which ones are not, especially when it comes to the Bh Cosmetics palettes I have.  So.......I decided a little swatching would do me a ton of good.

The first palette I swatched is the BHCosmetics "Party Girl" palette.

Overall, I like this palette.  It's not one I would gush over, but when you factor in the price, this is a really nice palette and definitely worth the money.  As of today, this palette sells for $10.95 direct from BH's website.  I found only a few shades that had a disappointing color payoff, but most of the shadows had a nice feel and seemed well pigmented.  None of the colors have names, so I refer to them by row/number.  So, the top row would be A and each shadow in the row is numbered 1-10.  Let's start with the top row:

Row A, shadows 1-10 left to right

Row B, shadows 1-10 left to right

Row C, shadows 1-10 left to right

Row D, shadows 1-10 left to right

After I finished swatching each shade, I cut a line into each shadow that had very poor color payoff, so that the next time I opened this palette, I'd know which colors to avoid.  I was actually quite pleased with the number of shadows with excellent pigmentation and payoff.  Here's a shot of the palette after I finished:

The next palette I chose was the "28 Neutral" palette from BHCosmetics.  This palette is currently on sale for $10.00.  I really hate to say this, but I don't think it's worth the money.  The entire palette had only a few shadows that had any color payoff to speak of and the rest were chalky and very disappointing.  I also have the 88 Neutrals palette and I'm hoping there are a few more usable shades in that one.  As for the "28 Neutral" palette, it's going into time out.  There was one shadow in the entire palette that is keeping me from tossing the entire thing into the bin.  Shade D1 is this palette's redeemer.  It is an almost ephemeral vanilla with a green sheen.  Hard to describe but easy to love!

Row A, 1-7 left to right

Row B, 1-7 left to right

Row C, 1-7 left to right

Row D, 1-7 left to right

When I finished swatching this palette, I didn't bother marking the poor payoff shades because there were simply too many.  While I do adore shade D1, it's not enough for me to recommend this palette to anyone.

So, there are two of my BHCosmetics palettes.  I have several more, plus a bunch of palettes from Urban Decay, Lorac, and Cargo, among others.  I will document swatches here, including palettes and singles, along with anything else makeup that I can photograph and talk about.

I also have a YouTube channel where I hope to upload videos of makeup looks, hauls, and anything else that floats my boat.  Now, I end this first entry with gratuitous puppy cuteness.  Thanks for stopping by!

Edited to add: All swatches were done using Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer.