Review: BH Cosmetics Eyes on the 80s Palette (It's totally tubular!)

Press Sample 

I'm still loving the BH Cosmetics Creme Luxe Lipsticks that I reviewed back in January (click here). So when BH Cosmetics asked if I'd like to do another review, I jumped at the chance to give this palette a try:

BH Cosmetics Eyes on the 80s Palette

(retail: $19.95, 0.81 oz. -- currently on sale for $9.95 on the BH Cosmetics website)

If you're too young to remember the phrase "totally tubular", well first let me admit that I actually used to utter this phrase in the 80s (its origins go back to surfer lingo). A "tube" is a wave that curls over and forms, well, a tube. This is the best wave a surfer can catch (source: Mr. G, who has been surfing in Southern California since the 80s). So to say that something is "totally tubular" just means that it's completely awesome in every way. And that's pretty much how I feel about this palette!

FYI: this palette will arrive to you complete shrink-wrapped

This palette contains a nice mix of mattes, shimmers and sparkles. Most of the neons/brights in this palette are mattes.

Left side of palette

Right side of palette

As a true child of the 80s growing up in San Diego (I was ten years old in 1980) , I spent many of my pre-teen and teen years lusting after Duran Duran and trying my best to put together a personal style that was one part Madonna, one part Cyndi Lauper and one part Dale Bozzio (the original Lady Gaga). I very rarely succeeded in this effort, but by the end of the 80s I did learn how to rock some seriously bold eyeshadow looks. And those memories never fade, my friends. They never fade.

My 80s style icons: Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Dale Bozzio

So when reviewing this palette, I decided to skip the usual swatches-and-eye-look (if you'd like to see swatches of all of the shades in this palette, check out BH Cosmetics' YouTube video here). As a child of the 80s reviewing an 80s-themed palette, I just wanted to do something totally rad for this review. So I'm presenting you with four different eye looks. Two are based on actual looks that I rocked in the 80s, and two are looks that I would absolutely rock today.

Let's start with everyone's favorite 80s color combo, pink & purple:

Colors used

All shadows applied over primer

80s Look: I absolutely loved to wear my pinks and purples like this in the 80s. I just could not get enough shimmery purples and I loved taking them all the way out to the edge of my brow. It was also very popular to line your eyes very thickly with black liner when you rocked this type of look.

Today's Look: I still wanted to show you something bold for the modern look, so I used all of the shades that I used for the 80s look, just in a completely different way. That matte magenta shade that's on my lids is the same color I used for the transition in the 80s look.

This next 80s look was inspired by Whitney Houston:

Colors used

All shadows applied over primer

80s Look: If you're asking yourself if people really did wear their eye shadow like this, oh yes, they sure did. Allow me to direct your attention to this image from one of Whitney Houston's music videos from the 80s. For a while there, it was quite popular to bring a bold color all the way up to your brow and basically not blend it all. The only saving grace for this look was that we usually skipped eyeliner when we did this. Because THAT would just be too much, right?

Today's Look: I used all of the shades that I used for the 80s look to create this one, but I used them in a much softer, more subtle way. I blended the heck out of the matte orange, and I layered just a touch of each blue on my outer "v". I also used the teal shade to line my lower lash line.

Additional thoughts about this palette: 

I love that you get a very nice mix of mattes, shimmers and sparkles in this palette. I also love that there are some great neutrals in addition to all the brights. For the most part, all of the shadows in this palette are easy to work with and have great color payoff. They all work best over primer and the colors stay vivid for eight hours or more for me when I apply primer first. The matte shades in particular work best for me when I pack them on (load my brush up and then press my brush onto my lids) as opposed to brushing them on. But that goes for just about every matte I own. If you have any issues with getting the mattes to show up, try packing on the color with a sponge-tip applicator and then using a fluffy blender brush to gently blend. The matte shades in this palette all have a very smooth, silky texture to them. As for the shimmers and sparkles, some shades are more pigmented than others, but I did not encounter any problematic shades when it came to application or blending. They all become quite vibrant over primer, but you might have to experiment a bit with applicators (some shades work better with sponge-tip applicators, some work better with taklon brushes, etc.). The shimmers all have a nice, smooth texture, but a few of the sparkly shades are a bit chunky, which causes some fallout during application.

FINAL VERDICT: For $19.95, I think this is a great little palette to add to your collection if you love bold mattes, shimmers and sparkles. And if you can get it on sale (as of the time of this post it's on sale for $9.95) that makes it even better! The possibilities are endless with this palette and every time I look at it, it just makes me smile. Definitely use eyeshadow primer before you apply these shadows, and if some of them don't seem to work for you, try experimenting with the different applicators and techniques I suggested above. My inner 80s girl says "You should like totally get this rad palette, dude."

Do you own any of the BH Cosmetics "Eyes on" palettes? They also have an Eyes on the 70s and Eyes on the 60s palette if this one's not to your taste (and don't forget about the free shipping or free palette promotion). 

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.Blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews. For more information, click here.