The Happy Place Ready 4.0 Eyeshadows by Bare Minerals

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

The Happy Place is putting me in my cool weather state of mind, even though it's still in the 90's (please, make it stop).  I thought for sure I'd already posted a review when I got it back in March, but when I went to look for it, I discovered I had not. 

I love the zen like names of The Happy Place:  Peace + Imagine + Exhale + Euphoria (muted apricot/rose gold/smoky taupe/eggplant).  I also love that there is a mixture of finishes, as it makes it really easy for me to do a complete eye look without going outside the confines of the palette =  a great travel companion.  This may be going to Albuquerque with me in October :-)

Peace

Peace is a soft apricot satin.  I've been using it on my brow and inner eye, and it adds a touch of warmth to my skin.

Imagine

Imagine provides the shimmer and sparkle and while it's official description is rose  gold, I can see copper in there as well.

Exhale

Exhale is a soft taupe matte with a slight mauve undertone.  It was not powdery but did take two swipes to get the color above, as opposed to one swipe for the other shades.

Euphora

Euphoria is versatile plum shimmer with brown undertones that I've been using in my crease, along my lash lines, or as an all over lid color.  All of the shades work together really well and pigmentation is quite good and smooth.

Shade

Sun

The Ready pressed eyeshadow formula by Bare Minerals has become my favorite and I'll continue to collect the 4 and 8 pan versions when new ones are released.  I was fortunate enough to get The Happy Place at half of it's $30 price when Ulta had a BOGO sale last spring.  I can only hope they do it again at some point!

The Elements READY 4.0 Palette by bareMinerals

Ulta had a fabulous sale on the bareMinerals READY 4.0 palettes a while back and I was able to pick up three of them at half price. These pressed mineral shadows have become my favorite eyeshadow formula due to their pigmentation, smoothness, wear time, and skin beneficial ingredients.  If you haven't tried them yet, they really are lovely!  Today I've got The Elements to show you.

Air is an oyster beige shimmer.  Texture was smooth and I like this shade as an inner eye and brow highlighter.

Fire is a medium terracotta orange matte.  It applied smoothly and I like the softness of the color.

Earth is a a matte soft gray/green taupe, almost lichen.  A great neutral shade.

 

Water is a medium peacock blue with a satin finish.  Nicely pigmented and very smooth.

The colors in The Elements do complement each other nicely, and I like the muted quality and finish of the shades.

The Elements retails for $30, and I purchased mine from Ulta.

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

The Next Big Thing Eyeshadow Palette from bareMinerals

I think I've already said this a couple of times before, but in case you missed it:  I love the formula of the bareMinerals pressed shadows, which contains antioxidants, cold-pressed borage oil, caffeine and cucumber, which all help to deliver anti-aging benefits.  When Ulta recently had a 50% off sale (!) of the 4.0 palettes, I picked up three of them.  Today I have The Next Big Thing to show you.

The Next Big Thing was part of the spring Remix collection, and features a shiny aqua case as opposed to the usual matte black.  I had originally passed on this one in favor of The Wild Thing (see review here), which featured greens and aquas.  The Next Big Thing's warm colors naturally appeal to me, but I wasn't sure it was unique enough to my collection to splurge on both.

Rising Star

The colors and finishes are gorgeous though, so I'm glad I was able to get it as well!  Rising Star is an ethereal pale gold.  I love the way this catches the light and enjoy using it as an inner eye or brow highlighter.

Smash Hit

Smash Hit is a soft matte coral.  It applies nicely, can be built up in color, and makes for a lovely tropical eye look.

Hoopla

Hoopla is a metallic brass with an intensely shiny finish.  The pigmentation is fantastic and, in addition to being a great lid color, made for a really pretty eye liner.

Ensemble

Ensemble is an eggplant purple, and looks lighter here than it applies.  It's more of a blackened eggplant when swatched.  It looks a bit patchy in the arm swatch but I did not have issues when applying to my lids.

The colors and finishes of The Next Big Thing work well together - it's a lovely palette!  Here are a few looks I've done with it.

 Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

The Wild Thing READY 4.0 Palette by Bare Escentuals

Now that I've fallen in love with Bare Escentual's READY eye shadow formula, I had to decide which of the Remix eye palettes I would pick up - The Wild Thing or The Next Big Thing?  The Wild Thing was actually more outside of my comfort zone, but also included some colors that I did not have dupes for, so The Wild Thing it was.  Was it a good choice?

Yes, yes, and yes!  I"m a bit obsessed with Sensational, which was probably the color I was the least enthralled with prior to purchasing.  It looks minty green or pale aqua in the pan, but contains an iridescent pale gold sheen that translates it into something much more special.  When used as a base, it transforms other colors in unexpected ways yet also works well on it's own as a highlighter.

Icon was a bit intimidating to me at first.  It has a satin finish with some very subtle micro glitter.  I've been drawn to chartreuse for years now when it comes to home decor, but wasn't quite sure how to incorporate it into a flattering eye look.  It definitely adds a pop of color!

I'm back in my comfort zone with Elitist, a khaki brown with a shimmer finish.  It's a nice neutral that fits wells with these colors, and was also part of The Star Treatment palette, which I adore and reviewed here.

Last up is Controversy, a vibrant peacock blue shimmer.  Indeed, The Wild Thing reminds me of a peacock feather!  Growing up, we had a huge vase full of peacock feathers in our living room, so I've got fond associations with this color scheme.

All of these applied easily and blended well.  Wear time is a solid 8 hours with primer, but I did have creasing after that.  I've got oily lids, though, so YMMV.  I used all 4 shadows for this look, as well as UD's 24/7 pencil in Mainline on upper lash line and Stray Dog on lower:

Here, I used Sensational from lash to brow bone and on the inner eye, and then blended Elitist over the lid.  Controversy is on my lower lash line.

The Wild Thing is a limited edition palette that retails for $30.  I'm really enjoying it!

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.