Hey all!
As this will be my first official review, I thought it fitting that I do it on something I have had for a long time and absolutely ADORE. If you know about it then this should give you some important details and if you haven't heard, then I'll brief you here. This review will only be for the 120 1st Edition palette but I'll post a separate one for the Bh Cosmetics company in general. This palette isn't only available from BH Cosmetics (this company is just a re-seller) but I prefer buying it through this company for various reasons that I will explain in my over-all impressions review of the BH Cosmetics company. For those of you who don't know, this palette (and especially this edition of it) is popular all over the web because literally millions of people all ran out and got it when it first appeared on the scene a few years ago.
I had my dad get me this palette about 6 months ago for Eid (a Muslim celebration/holiday), and it was the first time I actually bought something online and from BH Cosmetics, although I'd been following their website and youtube channel for ages (I first discovered them through youtube in 2009). I received the palette within 9 days of ordering it (which was amazing because I paid for 10-15 day shipping) and paid a total of about $30 which included the 9 dollar shipping to Canada (insurance was included in the shipping for no extra cost).
My First Impressions:
1. The very first thing that I noticed about the palette itself was that it was a LOT smaller than I'd envisioned it. For some reason, the pictures on the website and the dozens of videos that I'd watched on youtube had made me think that it was at LEAST 8'' by 11'' which is the size of a standard piece of paper. Instead it is approximately 3(centimeters) in length and 14.5cm in width.
This was a HUGE disappointment to me at first and I thought that I would never get over the fact that the colours were so tiny (exactly the size of a Canadian dime). I kept going back and forth between obsessing over it and accepting it but eventually it didn't bother me too much because each colour was just SO pigmented and SO uniquely special that the size didn't matter and they began to look normal to me. Now the size doesn't bother at all and I actually prefer it because I can fit it into most of my bags (its about the size of a book so its perfect!). I also do not have the fear that I had in the beginning of having certain favourite colours of mine as even after 6 months full of countless (literally HUNDREDS) swatches and looks, I have only created a serious dent in one of the colours.
Colour size:
Colour size:
SIZE COMPARISON WITH A CANADIAN DIME. Sorry its a bit cut off, I couldn't for the life of me, get my camera to focus properly. This is the clearest picture I could get.
2. Although the size of the colours did bother me it didn't change the fact that I absolutely fell in LOVE with it. It was so unique and beautiful with such a VARIETY of colours that I could never get tired of looking at it and playing with it. As I was still a relative novice with eyeshadows (still sort of am) it was the PERFECT palette to begin with because it gave me a complete rainbow of colours to experiment and try out looks with instead of a limited selection that I would get bored of (which I do very easily with most things).
3. This is an easy go-to palette. Sometimes in the morning, when I'm rushed and feeling undecisive about the day's look, I'll pick up this palette and choose whichever colour calls out to me the most. These random choices have helped to try out some colours that I wouldn't buy (or check out) in a million years and waddaya know, I like them!
Here are some pictures of the palette that I got 6 months ago:
With the lid closed. You can't tell here, but the cover is actually very glossy. Although that makes it fingerprint prone, I can't help but love it.
The first palette (since they're stacked on top of each other, the second one is underneath it). Sorry it's a bit dirty.
The second palette. The lighting is pretty bad here (and in the last pic) but you can get a good idea of the colours. I am OBSESSED with the last 5 colours in the 2nd and 3rd rows.
Different angle. The first palette has been placed on top of the lid of the plastic case.
Each of the two palettes is very thin. That purple thing that you see dangling down is a ribbon that helps get the palette out of the plastic case.
Again, a bit grainy but the colours have turned out extremely true. (This is a top view of the picture before the last one.)
PROS
1. Its an amazing investment. This is not a palette that you just get and then forget about. It is something that you will come back to over the years and always be able to use. You won't need to constantly be buying new colours if you have this because you will have such an amazing selection in one place. you will always be able to match colours to your clothes or accessories and never have a lack of variety in your makeup collection.
2. It allows you to try new things and different shades that you normally wouldn't even go near. Also, helps you to develope an understanding of your favourite eyeshadow colours so you know what shades are your favourite which is helpful for future purchases.
3. You get bang for your buck. 120 eyeshadow colour for $20 (plus shipping) is quite cheap. You get 5 colours for a dollar.
4. It look very professional and far more expensive than it actually is.
5. There is such a VAST range of colours that it would be hard for someone not to find at least 10 colours that they absolutely loved from this palette (I have 44 that I couldn't live without).
6. The palette itself looks sleek and elegant and includes the ingredients and expirey date on the back (which is rare and useful).
7. Makes an EXCELLENT gift. Not only for girls who are just starting out with makeup but for women of all ages. The only people who I wouldn't recommend this to would be women who absolutely hate colourful eyeshadow or eyeshadow in general.
8. PIGMENTATION.This palette contains EXTREMELY pigmented eyeshadows. Seriously! One swipe is enough to get an opaque cover of colour on your fingertip! It has some of that really rare, good quality pigmentation. This also means that the product wasn't run out quickly and you can get good use out of it for at least a few years.
As you can see, this colour has quite a lot of fallout (not all of them are like this) but its still one of my favourites (and btw I got this pigmentation with just ONE swipe of my finger!
Here are some more colours I like:
I especially like the two last ones on the right.
I actually don't really like this colour too much, but for those of you who like pink...
Its more of a dark blue with slight tealish undertones. This picture makes it look grayish.
This colour is a tad bit more pinkish than it looks here. It looks amazing when mixed with the shimmery white in the palette and added near (not on) the inner corners. (I use this one quite a lot)
One of my absolute FAVOURITE colours from the palette. I've used this so much that I'm afraid it will run out! Its the most beautiful goldish colour with fine shimmers in it. I'm going to do my best to find a dupe for it!
CONS
1. It came with one colour broken although luckily for me it was this really pale yellow colour which I found to be the ugliest colour in the palette and the one that I would most definitely NEVER use. I could have returned it and gotten a completely new palette free of charge but I decided it wasn't worth the bother if I wasn't ever goint to use the colour anyways.
2. About 5 of the matte colours are EXTREMELY powdery and not pigmented at all. This doesn't personally bother me too much because I prefer the shimmer colours anyways.
3. There are few too many of each colour selection. I get that they've covered countless tints and shades but there are rows where I haven't used and won't be using HALF the colours that are there. Eg: at least 10 greens, almost all of the oranges except 2, most of the yellows, the really hot pinks, the reds and some of the neutral browns at bottom of the second palette. This doesn't stop the artist in me from loving the shades and endlessly swatching them on my hands, but it still means that a lot of the colours will be unusable for me.
4. The packaging. Although it looks sleek, professional and absolutely gorgeous it is far to EASY to get fingerprints all over the cover and almost IMPOSSIBLE to get them all off. Also, since it is plastic (even though it looks amazing) it is breakable. Since I've taken it out to a bunch of places I managed to create a thin crack at the middle of teh bottom of the palette.
5. Sometimes that bottom palette can be hard to get out of the case. This is more of a problem if you do what I did and switch the palette that was originally at the bottom (the one with the purple ribbon) with the top one. I did this because I tend to use a lot of purples and darker blues so it was easier to have thos colours on the top.
6. All the colours are very bright so there aren't many neutral, toned down colours that are more suitable for everyday wear or in professional environments (work, school etc..)
7. Many of the colours (especially the shimmer ones) have quite a lot of fallout so you definitely need a primer to hold these in place and prevent them from getting everywhere.
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS?:
Yes, I definitely would. This is the perfect starter palette for beginners to experiment with and at the same time it's a useful edition to any woman's makeup kit. It's not a purchase that you could easily regret and its also one that you're likely to get addicted to!
WOULD I REPURCHASE THIS?:
Yes and no. Since BH Cosmetics has 4 editions of the 120 palette (and a 5th one coming!) as well as countless other products such as: 26 Eyeshadow & Blush Combo Palette, 28 Neutral Palette, 10 Colour Blush Palette, a few 88 palettes etc.. I would probably purchase one of their palettes that I don't have. At this moment if I managed to used up a lot of my 120 palette I would probably buy the same palette in the second edition (which is essentially really similar to this one, except the colours are darker) to try that one out. If there was a particular colour that I liked from this palette (and there are a few) then I would probably look for a dupe for it/them. Eventually, though, I would definitely want to buy this palette again (when I have a larger makeup collection and don't need to use it as much) because it is a great staple to have, especially for a fun summery look. In the meantime I will be buying this palette again to give as a gift to my friends and family members.
In terms of buying it again, knowing what I know about it (having owned it) I DEFINITELY would.
