28 neutral palette: review

Hello my lovely beauty followers! Happy Weekend!!! I am sure you have all read reviews for this palette a *many* times...but, I must share my thoughts to the world too! :)

This review is for the 28 neutral palette that is available at websites like Coastal Scents, BH Cosmetics, or ebay (where I got mine for a steal).

This neutral palette is great for creating subtle daytime neutral looks. The palette is primarily matte with just a few satin and shimmer shades. The pan size is about the same size as a MAC shadow. Not sure how deep these go, as I am far from hitting pan. Just a nice range of whites, off-whites, mauves, and an array of browns. There are many possibilities of combinations with these colors! I especially like the browns and peachy-light colors. I do wish there was a wider assortment of taupes (as that is what I feel works best with my neutral-to-cool skin tone).

I work in a casual, yet professional, environment. Over the top colors, shimmer, or glitter is not work nor daytime appropriate for me for everyday. I am always seeking out a neutral look with my shadow. This palette offers a good variety of classic neutrals for creating a professional looking eye look. On busy mornings, I like doing a wash of color with a light shade and then adding in a darker shade just around the crease area. Super quick! Just grab this palette apply a few swipes and go!

The shadow shades apply very subtle as, generally, they are not highly pigmented...no "drama eyes" here; but, for daytime, these shadows are pretty good. The shadows are very powdery and soft so they apply very quickly (and don't require a lot of blending)...and there is some fallout and the texture is pretty chalky. But, overall, I still enjoy using this palette.

Apparently quite a few shades in this palette are MAC dupes (from what I have read online)...my take on that...they might have a similar shade, but these shadows do *NOT* wear as well as MAC nor do they apply or feel like MAC. I mean, you do get what you pay for sometimes; and,this is the case with this palette.

The shadows are decent quality considering the low price (by low price, I mean...this whole palette cost me less than one MAC shadow). I would recommend using an eye shadow primer to increase the color vibrancy and to make the shadow more long-lasting. The palette itself is somewhat flimsy lightweight matte plastic (no mirror). But, again, for the price, not to bad. The texture of the palette is that soft matte surface (somewhat similar to the texture of NARS packaging...that "fuzzy" feel) which collects fingerprints.

I would recommend this palette for someone looking for an "everyday" palette with easy to apply shadows or for a makeup "beginner" as the shadows are very easy to blend and apply. I find that I reach for this palette when I am in a hurry and need a "quick eye"...which is most mornings before work! So, really, I do use this rather frequently.

Would I buy this palette again? Well, honestly, probably not. It is a decent value for the low price, but there are just so many other/better quality palettes out there. I am more likely to to try something new rather than repurchase. I find that I "want to like" this palette more than I actually do. Out of the 28 shades, I really only consistently use a handful of them. Yes, I will continue to use it...especially for "easy" daytime looks. But, overall I do wish this palette had a few more cool shades and that the shadows were less powdery. Someone who has more warm coloring might get even more use out of this palette than I have.

Note: There *might* be some variation in quality with these palettes...as I did get a "no-name" one on ebay versus the ones sold on Coastal Scents and BH Cosmetics. So, we might be talking different quality here.

Hope you enjoyed reading! My next "big palette" purchase is probably going to be the 88 shimmer palette or the 88 neutral...haven't quite decided yet between those (likely the shimmer)! Does anyone reading have either of those? And, of course, I am still searching for that elusive Urban Decay Naked Palette if I can ever get my hands on it!

XOXO!
Pammy