Review: bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 4.0 The Next Big Thing

Hey! Remember the bareMinerals eyeshadow quad I had on my wishlist a few weeks back? Well I've now bought it and used it a couple of times so I thought I'd review it.

I previously mentioned it was the £29 price tag that put me off, but then I found it on eBay as an auction starting at £8.50! A much more reasonable price, and as the only bidder I managed to snap it up for the starting price (plus postage). I know some people are a bit dubious about makeup items on eBay, but I have a feeling this is mostly MAC products and when this arrived it looked and felt like the genuine thing.

First off, I looove the packaging it's so sleek and summery looking! It also has a nice big mirror if you wanted to use it on the go, although I haven't used the little foam applicator yet as I prefer to use brushes.

The four colours are Rising Star (a pale golden colour), Smash Hit (a coral colour), Hoopla (an intense gold colour) and Ensemble (a plummy brown colour). These colours are perfect for creating a gold smokey eye, using Rising Star and Hoopla with the addition of Ensemble in the outer corner/crease for a night-time look. Smash hit is lovely used in the outer third of the lid over a base of Rising Star, but I have also used it very lightly as a blush colour when travelling (less to pack, saving space).

The two gold colours have a nice shimmer to them, and the other colours have a matte finish. All four are a fine powder (almost a creamy texture), so I've found there is very little fallout from these, and they last really well too. Having said that though, I haven't tested these without primer, since I always use an eyeshadow primer (Urban Decay Eye Primer Potion) otherwise any eyeshadow would crease on my lids.

I originally thought some of these would be close dupes for some of the colours in the Urban Decay Naked/Naked 2 palettes, but on closer inspection (and swatching) there are subtle differences.

Top (left to right): Urban Decay; Bootycall, -, Half-Baked, Busted
Bottom (left to right): bareMinerals; Rising Star, Smash Hit, Hoopla, Ensemble

Rising Star has a lot more yellow tones compared to Bootycall and is slightly more shimmer to it. Hoopla is a much more pigmented, intense gold than Half-Baked and Half-Baked has a slight copper tint to it. Ensemble is actually quite different to Busted, as busted looks slightly plummy in the pan but this doesn't transfer. Ensemble definitely has plum undertones, and is also matte instead of shimmery.

The three Urban Decay shadows are from the Naked 2 palette, so if you already have this (or the first one, or even either of the MUA dupes) I'd say you wouldn't need this eyeshadow quad as the colours are close enough really. I got mine because I'm actually running low on Half-Baked and then I dropped and broke my Naked 2 palette (one of the clasps has come off), so it's not fit for travel any more. :(

The eBay version is no longer available but its still available directly from bareMinerals here although it is limited edition so I don't know how long it will be there for!

Have you tried any bareMinerals products?

xxx