Emily’s collaboration with Makeup Revolution London has generated lots of interest online. The brand is very popular and loved, one of the reasons being that it creates affordable duplicates for popular high end products.  I have played with the palette for a few weeks now and I have noticed both its positive and negative aspects.

General observations & swatches

Packaging: It is nice and sturdy. It is approximately 23 x 15 cm. Even though it is made of plastic it looks quite elegant and the large mirror inside gives the impression that you own a luxury palette.

Shades: contains 24 shades, from matte warm tones to cool matte tones. It also contains shimmery cool and warm colours, that have a more satin finish. They all have a very velvety and soft texture, just as most Makeup Revolution eyeshadows do.

Swatches: five of the colours have amazing pigmentation and are creamier than the rest. They reach intensity in colour with just one swipe of the finger or the brush. The rest of the shades are nice as well, but not nearly as pigmented.

Out of all these there are five shades that, as I previously said, impressed me. The five have amazing pigmentation and wear time. These are: Good Vibes, Dues Paid, Capricorn, Top Story, Cupcake.

Eye looks & wear test

Autumnal Leaves for the evening

• This looked great and most of the colours were easy to blend and quite vibrant.
• I was slightly disappointed in Side Hustle which did not seem pigmented not even when applied with my finger, but Top Story and the brown shades that I used were fantastic.
• Grateful is an interesting beautiful shade, and Corduroy makes a lovely contrast with Top Story.
• I lined my eyes with Dark & Early which looked really good.

5 Hours Later

• No creasing, which is amazing with my hooded eyes
• Colours faded a bit, but it still looked good

Sweet Purple for daytime

• Eve Rose is very beautiful, having a unique combination between rosy pink and gold, but it is not very pigmented.
• Belle Violet is difficult to be applied as vibrant, not even when applied with fingers.
• However, I loved this look a lot. Very subtle yet with personality.

7 Hours Later

• Not sure what happened there, but after seven hours of wear my eyeshadow was falling apart.
• However, as you can see in the picture, my skin was ridiculously oily that day. The oil production on my eyelids could have erased the eyeshadow.

10 Hours Later

• After nine hours the eyeshadow was basically non-existent on my lids. Could it be from my oil production or from the longer wear test compared to other looks?

Daytime Red Leaves

• The red tones in this palette are beautiful and they blend well.
• They are fantastic to be used in autumn, and I have been wearing them a lot since I got the palette.
• Some of them are not very pigmented but I do not really mind as it allows me the freedom to gradually build the colour and decide when to stop.
• However, the colours seem to fade into each other slightly.

5 Hours Later

• Everything looks the same, apart from the Cheer used as eyeliner which faded away almost completely.
• It looks as if I only used one lid colour when in fact I used about 8, so the colours fade quite a bit.
• No creasing!

Ingredients

Mica, Aluminium Starch Octenylsuccinate, Magnesium Stearate, Paraffinum Liquidum/Mineral Oil/Huile Minerale, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Polyethylene, Polybutene, Dimethicone, Kaolin, Syntethic Fluorphlogopite, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Tin Oxide. [+/-: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, 77492, 77499), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Blue 1 (CI 42090), Yellow 5 (CI 19140), Carmine (CI 75470), Black 2 (CI 77266), Red 40 (CI 16035).]

There are two ingredients that present some red flags:

Carmine is a bright red pigment produced from cochineal insects (dried female cochineal beetle)– so this could impose an issue for those of you who are looking for vegan products.

Black 2 (CI 77266) has restricted use due to concerns of being carcinogenic. Black 2 can be used in the maximum concentration of 10% and has purity and production restrictions, like many other ingredients in cosmetics (see page 13 of the EU’s regulations). However, if it is used according to the imposed regulations it is believed to be safe. For a long study of its safety you can check here.

“I wanted this palette to inspire but could also allow you to stay in your comfort zone. I wanted the perfect balance of light, medium and really rich dark shades. I want the colours to be buildable, so you can reach that level of intensity that you want.’ (Emily – the creator)

Pros

• Only £15 ($20) for 24 shades
• Cruelty Free
• Has mattes as well as shimmers.
• Cool tones as well as warm tones; it also has the more neutral everyday colours but also has fun colours for a night out, so it is a versatile palette.
• It looks cute and would make as a good gift in my opinion.
• Contains some nice copper red mattes which look fantastic for autumn.
• Shadows are soft to the touch and most are easy to blend.
• As Emily said, this palette inspires you to create more looks while also staying in your comfort zone, which is true for me. I managed to create more colourful looks than I would be used to but at the same time I felt comfortable wearing them.
• Buildable colours.
• There are so many different looks you can create with this palette! You can get creative every time.

Cons

• Some of the shades need some work in order for the colour to be vibrant.
• Some shades are slightly patchy and hard to work with, especially some of the lighter shimmers.
• The colours fade with time.
• The arrangement of the shades is odd – warms tones are mixed with the cool ones, I found myself a bit lost when looking at them and when creating a look.
• The longer wear test (10 hours) failed.
• I have used this palette a few times now and unfortunately the shadows do not last more than a few hours without a primer and setting spray, so if you have hooded eyes they might not be long-lasting.
• While this product is cruelty free it does contain carmine (produced from cochineal insects) so it is not vegan (for those of you interested).
• Contains Black 2 which has restricted use in cosmetics, but many cosmetic products contain it (especially eyeliners) and it is deemed to be safe if used according to regulations.
• The validity after opening is 12 months which in my opinion is not the best considering it is such a big palette which so many shades.
• If you get a 32-colour eyeshadow palette from Makeup Revolution it costs £8, so the Emily Wants palette is obviously more expensive because of the collaboration.

This blog post is not sponsored and there are no affiliate links.