Today I want to share a great palette with you at a great price! I'm going to share a little review, swatches and photos so you can see what it looks like yourself! I bring you the BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette Fifth Edition. This palette is perfect for neutral, smokey, and fun creative looks. It is the most neutral out of the 120 Color Eyeshadow Palettes and has a mix of finishes from mattes to shimmers in all different shades. You have everything you need in this palette for a day to night look, all year round.
I was really impressed with these shadows when they arrived. I made this purchase about 2 years ago, along with two other palettes that are now discontinued, the 80's & 70's palettes. And I can tell you that these shadows are surprisingly better quality than the other two palettes, even though there are more in this palette. The 70's & 80's palettes lack consistency between the quality, pigmentation and performance in their shadows. Where as this palette has a few shadows that are drier than the others, but are still workable in my opinion. I chose this edition of this palette because it had the largest range of neutral in different finishes, but I also liked the pinks & purples that were in it too.
As you can see in these close ups, there is a full range of finishes in this palette. You have mattes, satins, shimmers, and a few glittery shades. When we get into swatches I will also show you how different matte, shimmers and glitters compare to others. One thing I will warn you about is that the photos online do not represent the true shades and colors in this palette. The photos on BH Cosmetics seem to be darker than the palette actually is.
<< SWATCHES >>
For swatches I am going to rate each row on an alphabetical scale 'A through F' on pigmentation/color payoff and texture. If one shade was particularly amazing or garbage in a row I will point it out, but I am not going to rate each shadow on it's own.
TRAY ONE - ROW ONE: I swatched the shadows in rows from left to right, bottom to top in case you want to look back at the full palette photos for reference. These shadows are what I would use as brow bone or inner corner highlight. They all have a sheen to them besides the second from the left, which is nice to have a matte "highlighting" shade. OVERALL RATING: B
TRAY ONE - ROW TWO: This is a row that performed better than I anticipated. Those orangey/red shadows can be difficult to get good pigmentation on. You can see that on the second shade from the left it's a little more chalky looking and not quite as pigmented as the two beside it, that is how I expected all of them to swatch. OVERALL RATING: B+
TRAY ONE - ROW THREE: Again, reds and pinks can be hard to do, but these are pretty great! The lighter shades have decent pigment and shimmer too. The three shades on the left did feel a little bit more chalky and dry, but you can work with them. OVERALL RATING: B
TRAY ONE - ROW FOUR: Getting into some purples now. I do not use purple shadows in many makeup looks. I do have brown eyes and purple is suppose to make brown eyes POP. These shadows here are really nice. Great pigmentation, good texture and nice finishes! OVERALL RATING: B-
TRAY ONE - ROW FIVE: This is the other row of purples and my favorite of the two because of the mauvey, muted tones. The three shimmer/satin shades on the left are beautiful, the far left one being a little less pigmented though. The two cooler purple shades on the right are quite pigmented and smooth as well. The far right shade is a glitter shade. It is a light 'fairy' purple and it has visible gold glitters in it. I know that in this photo it is a little difficult to see, but there are other colors that have this same gold glitter in them. I find these shadows with glitter to just be odd inclusions. OVERALL RATING: B+
TRAY ONE - ROW SIX: This is probably one of my favorite rows, and if you're like the majority of makeup lovers this will probably be one of your favorites too. These warm shades have amazing pigmentation and are nice and smooth. The lightest shade is perfect as a base shadow, and that metallic coppery, red is a gorgeous lid shade. OVERALL RATING: A
TRAY ONE - ROW SEVEN: This is another favorite row of mine. These mauve tones are really nice and are in a good range of finishes. The third shade from the right is one of those gold glitter shadows. And again you can't really tell in this shot. OVERALL RATING: A-
TRAY ONE - ROW EIGHT: There is no shortage of browns and neutrals in this palette. Which is why I like it so much! This row has warm & cool undertones. I often use the middle shades as an eyeshadow base over my lids. These all perform fairly well for being mostly matte shades. OVERALL RATING: B-
TRAY ONE - ROW NINE: This row is made up of some cooler neutrals. Again these are fairly well pigmented and soft. Two of these shades have the gold glitter as previous shades have had. You can see it much better in these two shades towards the left. OVERALL RATING: C+
TRAY ONE - ROW TEN: This is a really great preforming row! Mostly because the shimmer/metallic shades have a much better formula. As most shimmer/metallic shades do in any palette. I haven't used this row in many makeup looks, but these cool green & gray shades are really beautiful. OVERALL RATING: A-
TRAY TWO - ROW ONE: Another great row of shimmers and metallics. There are a couple of glitter shades in here too, the red on the far left and the black shade towards the far right. Some of these felt a little drier, maybe because they are darker shades. OVERALL RATING: A-
TRAY TWO - ROW TWO: These are some really pretty purples to play with, and that deep cherry color is one of my favorites for fall looks! These all have really great pigmentation and texture. OVERALL RATING: A
TRAY TWO - ROW THREE: For some reason the two shades on the far left look much darker swatched than in the pan. But I promise that these photos are as true to the colors as I can get! These are really great neutral shades and that mustard yellow shade is so pretty! OVERALL RATING: C-
TRAY TWO - ROW FOUR: I really enjoy these pinky-brown shades. The pigmentation is pretty great in these shadows and they are very soft & smooth! OVERALL RATING: B-
TRAY TWO - ROW FIVE: Another one of my favorite rows! These colors are so gorgeous and easy to use! I tend to gravitate towards these almost every time I open this palette. Great mattes shades, with an easy to use formula. OVERALL RATING: B-
TRAY TWO - ROW SIX: Some nice bright pink shades to add a little color to this palette. Red shades are hard to nail and a few of these aren't that great at all. The lighter pinks are definitely chalky and have poor pigmentation. The darker shades at least have some pigmentation, but are still quite chalky. OVERALL RATING: D
TRAY TWO - ROW SEVEN: These pinks are pretty poor in quality. Very chalky and very poor pigmentation. I have used a few of these and they are workable, but definitely my least favorite shades to use. I'm glad they are pinks and not some pretty neutrals though. OVERALL RATING: D-
TRAY TWO - ROW EIGHT: I'm really surprised with these shades. These golden yellows are really pretty and I don't think I have every really played with them. The pigmentation is decent, I usually use that lightest shade as an all over eye shadow base. I'm really looking forward to playing with these more. OVERALL RATING: C-
TRAY TWO - ROW NINE: These neutrals are hard to see in swatches because they kind of just blend in. They are actually really good to work with and have good pigmentation for how light they are. OVERALL RATING: C
TRAY TWO - ROW TEN: I think that this is an interesting row to include in this palette. These very cool, silver shades seem a little out of place. Again, I haven't used this row very much, but because they are more metallic and shimmery they are quite pigmented. So if I ever get the desire for some silver, these will work really well! OVERALL RATING: C+
Overall I think this palette is great for beginners in makeup & those that have more experience. Is it makeup artist quality, probably not. But it is a great purchase to add a variety of neutral shadows to your collection to get you started in makeup and doing different makeup looks. I totally recommend this palette for it's versatility and it's easy to use formula!
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