Review: BH Cosmetics 120 Palette- 3rd Edition

How do I write this?
I hate BH Cosmetics.

I hate BH Cosmetics, or at least their 120 3rd edition Palette. I had been wanting it for so long- 120 eyeshadows, colors in brights and gorgeous smokey neutrals, it seemed like there was no downside. And only 30 dollars! I believe it's normally priced at $34.95, but I got it during a sale for $27 (although with shipping it came right back around to thirty five again, maybe thirty three). For 30 dollars you can only get about 3 MAC eyeshadow refills, but for 30 dollars at BH Cosmetics, you can get a 120 eyeshadow palette. The value was undeniable. So I bought the palette, waited the whole week for it to come in the mail, and was so excited when I finally received the box.

After having purchased and used the 120 palette, this is my final verdict: Buy the 3 MAC eyeshadows instead.

I was so excited after watching YouTube videos featuring/swatching the 120 3rd edition palette. However, videos lie, and so do pictures. The only way to truly experience something is to do it yourself- this I know now. When I swatched some colors on my finger tips the pigmentation seemed so rich. However, actually working with the eyeshadows was a nightmare. These are some of my least favorite shadows. They were at times difficult to blend, or the shadow was so lackluster that it would come right off if I used my finger to try and blend the edges. After having the palette for two weeks, I can say that I think the trick is to work little by little. You have to gently add colors, and not work too vigorously, or else you might get a patchy, sloppy, muddy mess. The colors don't layer very well in my opinion, and many of the colors are not true to how they look in the pan.

The following are pictures I have included of looks I've done simply using BH Cosmetics for my eyes. Even though some of the pictures might look decently promising, believe me when I tell you how much work it took to make the eyeshadow work with me to get an acceptable result.

 

I feel like these pictures defeat the purpose of saying the shadows suck, because clearly you can get some use out of them. However, it really does take a lot of effort and practice to use these, and I was frustrated to the point where I would just wipe off everything on my eyes and re-do them. After a while I didn't even want to try with these anymore. Eventually though I took it for what it was- a cheap eyeshadow palette. Once you recognize it for what it is, and know that you can't expect a lot from it, you loosen up and the experience is less frustrating. My final reccomendation though is that you would have a much easier and more enjoyable time using gorgeous creamy pigment-rich eyeshadows from MAC or Urban Decay, then getting cheap eye shadows with okay to pretty decent results that are somewhat dull (with the exception of a few shimmery shades). I wouldn't say the shadows are matte, I would say they are dull. However, they would probably be classified in the matte/satin category. 

In terms of quality it gets a C+. In terms of what I expected it gets a D. In terms of what they show on the site and what you get I would also rank it poorly because the pictures are deceptive. This is what they show on the site.

This is what you get: 

I didn't bother taking a close up of the bright colors tray because that tray seems pretty accurate but the colors are not as cool as pictured. The second tray looks different to me.It is a lot less dark and a lot more blue-toned. In fact it looks like a third of the palette is blue. Also in the picture, both the trays are opposite each other but in real life they would be stacked one on top of the other. In conclusion this eyeshadow palette is okay but the shadows feel rough on the lid and are cheap and dull. At the same time it is kind of one of those things you have to buy for yourself because the value seems so good. So I guess I would say if you want, buy it so you can have it on hand if you want to use a specific color, but don't expect it to replace all your shadows.