One brand I'd always steered clear of was Profusion Cosmetics. I assumed the quality to be questionable because it's sold at Dollar Tree alongside L.A. Colors, which is like p-u-r-e chalk to me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Dollar Tree and always check out the beauty aisle, but I'd drawn the imaginary line at chalk.
The Profusion Holiday 2013 palettes I picked up at Walgreens after reading this post on Nouveau Cheap, however, are totally not like that. I was pleasantly surprised and thought I'd share swatches in case you'd like to pick them up before they're gone.
Twinkle Twinkle 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette in 01 $1.00 | 8 grams
Available at Walgreens
Twinkle Twinkle 01 is a new all-shimmer, purple hued palette. The eyeshadows are quite opaque for $1 makeup, and primer helps bring out the colors even more. The texture is surprisingly soft to the touch without being flaky, dry, or chalky, which was my biggest fear (save for the white). The standout shade is the duochrome lilac-mauve. It's difficult to show the greenish-grey shifts in color but I promise they're there! The black is nicely pigmented but it stains, which may or may not be a bad thing depending on your preference.
Bottom Line: Definitely a must-have if you enjoy purple eyeshadow and have an extra dollar to spare! It's also a nice alternative to Wet n Wild's Petal Pusher.
Profusion Twinkle Twinkle 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette 01
Swatched without primer (L), swatched with primer (R)
Twinkle Twinkle 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette in 02 $1.00 | 8 grams
Available at Walgreens
Twinkle Twinkle 02 is a new all-shimmer, neutral-toned palette. Its quality is typical for $1 makeup, but primer does bring out the colors. The champagne shade is sheer and crumbly, as is the middle brown. The remaining shadows are soft to the touch and ever-so-slightly more pigmented. The standout color is also the most disappointing: the cool brown/burgundy with a gold glitter wash on the far right. It's incredibly dry and chalky, blends out to nothing, and has satin finish only if worn over primer.
Bottom Line: I'd recommend skipping need this one, especially if you're like me and already own tons of neutrals. Then again it's $1. Just expect a lot of glittery fallout.
Profusion Twinkle Twinkle 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette 02
Swatched without primer (L), swatched with primer (R)
Twinkle Twinkle 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette in 03 $1.00 | 8 grams
Available at Walgreens
Twinkle Twinkle 03 is a new all-shimmer, earth-toned palette. It instantly reminded me of Wet n Wild's Comfort Zone. All of the eyeshadows have great pigmentation and soft texture. Primer helps the gold in the middle green shade pop and gives the black something to adhere to as it's pretty crumbly without it. There's no real standout shade here, they're all great. The middle green also reminds me a little of Urban Decay's Mildew.
Bottom Line: Totally worthy of a dig through your couch cushions!
Profusion Twinkle Twinkle 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette 03
Swatched without primer (L), swatched with primer (R)
Overall: Some of the shades in the Twinkle Twinkle palettes are SO shimmery I'd say they're borderline frosts. I was very impressed with the performance, even with 02's shortcomings. It's up to you how you want to spend your dollars, but 01 and 03 are definitely winners.
When I picked up the Twinkle Twinkle palettes, I noticed there were quite a few other palettes on display along with all of the holiday bundles at Walgreens. One caught my eye because of its similarity to BH Cosmetics' Galaxy Chic Palette (you can see swatches here on Cait's blog), so of course I figured "why not?"
Angelic Eyes 10 Baked Shadows Palette (Silver Packaging) $5.00 | 13 grams
Available at Walgreens
Angelic Eyes is a new colorful baked palette. It has ten beautiful marbled eyeshadows, all of which really shine over primer. They are very hit and miss without it. All are soft to the touch, and two crumbled easily beneath the pressure of my finger alone (photo here). Because they're baked they all have nice color shifts and really remind me of a few Urban Decay eyeshadows.
Bottom Line: It's a nice abbreviated alternative to BH Cosmetics' Galaxy Chic Palette which is normally $22.95 when it's not on sale (but it's never not on sale). Though I'm not in love with the palette, I do enjoy a few shades that I think compare to Urban Decay's Fishnet, Oil Slick, Haight, and Grifter somewhat in color—not quality.
So, what do you guys think? I'm alright with having spent $8 on Profusion Cosmetics, and maybe next time I won't be so quick to pass on the brand. As always, all images are clickable and lead to massive photos on flickr if you want to take a closer look!
I always love when bargain makeup works out! Those Profusion palettes aren't too shabby for one dollar! I'm really diggin' the first one and that Angelic Eyes baked palette is really cute.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of primer did you use?
P.S. Thanks for the shout out! :3
Me too! I was pleasantly surprised by two of the Twinkle Twinkle palettes but that one neutral guy was a bust... I swatched the eyeshadows over Essence's I <3 Stage Eyeshadow Base, which is what I use when I can't find my e.l.f. or Milani primers.
DeleteThe Angelic Eyes palette also comes in gold packaging but the colors are almost exactly the same in each. I haven't actually played with that one beyond swatches but the more I look at it, the more 'meh' I feel about it. Do you think any of those swatches compare to your BH Cosmetics palette?
There are some slightly similar shades, but I think that the Galaxy Chic palette has deeper, more intense colors. There is definitely a wider range of shadows in the Galaxy Chic palette and it looks like they are also more pigmented.
DeleteTotally! I actually think I'm going to return it (even though it was only $5) because there is just way too much glittery fallout. It was still fun to play with!
DeleteI have always loved bargains that turn out to be amazing :)
ReplyDeleteThe swatches look amazing :)
xx
Yeah! I few were really great but I ended up returning the baked palette because of fallout/having similar-ish shades in my collection already. I feel like a bit of a cheapskate but I'd rather spend those five bucks on Wet n Wild's new stuff coming out!
DeleteI just picked up the earth tone palette. I was shocked at how crazy pigmented it was, especially for $1. They don't seem to have much wear, but hey, that's nothing a good primer can't solve. FYI, the bronzey dark brown shade, when used over primer, is a VERY strong dupe for Urban Decay's Darkhorse from the Naked Palette.
ReplyDeleteI just picked up the earth tone palette. I was shocked at how crazy pigmented it was, especially for $1. They don't seem to have much wear, but hey, that's nothing a good primer can't solve. FYI, the bronzey dark brown shade, when used over primer, is a VERY strong dupe for Urban Decay's Darkhorse from the Naked Palette.
ReplyDeleteRight? The pigmentation was such a pleasant surprise! I'm the type of person who always uses primer so wear time hasn't been too big an issue. Though, I have to admit, I lower my expectations significantly according to the price of the product.
DeleteAlso, thanks for the heads-up! I don't actually own NAKED so that's great to know! :)
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ReplyDelete