Becca Apres Ski Eyeshadow Palette

Today I have a product I wasn't going to buy to share with you.

I think I went through at least five different stages with this palette. First, I was intrigued. Then, I saw more photos and was underwhelmed. Next, I reconsidered the palette. I waffled back to a hard pass. Finally, in the haze of a 20% off coupon and one remaining palette on the shelf it came home with me.

For the record, it's more reflective packaging, so photographing it is a joke. It's got that same icy pattern as the face palette, but it's golden instead of blue.

So, let's really dig into the Becca Eye Lights Palette from the Apres Ski Glow Collection.

This eye palette contains seven shades of eyeshadow inspired by the Shimmering Skin Perfectors. This retails for $45, and I picked mine up at Ulta. It's been on sale (probably because it hasn't sold well) for $29 almost the entire holiday season. If I hadn't gotten mine on sale, I'd be mad.

As I mentioned, it's reflective. Argh.

In terms of product, you receive a total of 9.8g of product.

Opening it up, there's a nice, large mirror- and round pans that could've either been bigger or in a smaller palette. Tons of wasted space here.

Funny story: this is the best shot I got of the palette without me in it, and I had essentially dropped it on the ground in frustration. See the shoe heel?

Let's look at this a little more zoomed in:

That's reflecting my background, but in terms of color saturation it's spot on. That's what you're going to get, minus the reflected pattern. I'm loathing these holiday shiny palettes this year.

This is the cleanest shot, but #2 is the truest to color.

Clearly they could've adjusted the size of the pans or the size of the palettes.

Let's get into the shades. There are two holiday-themed shades to complement the shades we know and love.

• Pearl (soft, luminescent white w/ satin finish)
• Rose Quartz (soft pink w/ shimmer finish)
• Topaz (radiant, golden bronze w/ shimmer finish)
• Opal (neutral white gold w/ shimmer finish)
• Moonstone (pale, incandescent gold w/ shimmer finish)
• Toasted Marshmallow (taupe brown w/ satin finish)
• Hot Cocoa (warm burgundy w/ satin finish)

The first day I tested this, I used three of the shades on my eyes: Pearl in the inner corner, Moonstone in the inner lid, and Opal all over. I paired it with some light makeup because I had to do a presentation at work. I was obsessed with the light and fresh look that this produces. I looked youthful and just... alive. (Lashes are Stila Huge Lash and mine. Side note: I should repurchase that mascara. Dang.).

After some additional reflection, I'm happy to have this and think it's perfect for my M-F life. Although I adore color, truthfully I need to keep things pretty tame in my office. I push it to the limit, but I'm a huge fan of easy neutral palettes. I can see this being a great companion to my Viseart Matte palettes, for example. I've continued to reach for this when I want a pretty, glowy, neutral look. To be 100% honest, you can get a nice look using the highlighters on your eyes. That said, there's something about this palette that just works for me. I think it'd be a nice gift.


Here's a swatch of almost all of them... for some reason I didn't swatch Pearl. Sorry about that, but not redoing the swatches at this point since I've been avoiding reviewing this for over a month.

In short, a basic, glow-filled neutral palette. It's nice, and performs well. It's already getting lost in my collection and I feel Becca could've done better. That said, I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it and at the sale price it might be a nice add-on to a Christmas gift.

Becca Sunlit Bronzer in Capri Coast and Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal

I'm a couple of months late with these, but not everyone's paper white. I wanted to share two favorites that I discovered while self-tanned to about a NW18-20 this past summer- both from Becca. I'm quite late to this train, but that's ok.

Both of these products come in the classic Becca packaging. I think you can tell which one's the bronzer.

First, let's talk about that bronzer that I fell in love with this sumer.  Becca released a collection of Sunlit Bronzers ($38, 7.1g/0.25oz) earlier this year. I fell in love with Capri Coast.

Capri Coast is the second-lightest bronzer, making it way too dark for me at the moment but perfect for summer. Like all other Becca products, the compact is stunning and the pattern on the powder is so pretty.

Most importantly, here's how it looks, swatched,

Capri Coast is a warm golden bronze that imparts some golden sheen to your face. I could possibly dust a thin layer on this- especially if I've just redone my hair. I love the sunkissed effect that it gives. I need to stop thinking about using it- it's October!

The other super-basic favorite that I stumbled onto is the cult classic Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal ($38, 8g).

Normally, I'm a Moonstone girl. But being self-tanned, I finally got why Opal's so universally loved. It just does wonderful things to your skin if you've got the correct tone. I normally don't have that correct complexion.

Aren't pristine pans lovely?

Here's Opal, swatched against my current NW13-15 skin. You can see why I've always stayed as far away as possible.

I'm happy to have both of these in my collection, and I think they'll make summer a bit more tolerable next year. I'm sorry that I stumbled on them rather late (late July), so they'll get lots of use in Summer 2018.

Just looking at these two makes me a little sad. I loathe summer, but I loved feeling like a bronzy, glowy goddess with this pair from Becca. They're a bit pricey, but worth it.

Becca Apres Ski Glow Face Palette for Holiday 2017

Today I bring you yet another one of those holiday releases that I wasn't going to buy, yet showed up when I was running merrily through Ulta during a 20% of coupon spree. Call it the red haze of shopping, but after one swatch of Icicle, I was done for.

Say hello to the Becca Apres Ski Glow Face Palette for Holiday 2017. This $54 palette contains six face products- three highlighters, two blushes, and one bronzer.  Each pan has 2.55g or 0.09oz product.

Yes, this is just as reflective but it's going to have to do. I happen to like the Becca palettes, so it was worth a try.

Let's take a look at the inside, with the large mirror.

Let's dig in, shall we?

First up is my favorite Becca highlighter of all time, Rose Quartz.

I adore this shade, which is a perfect beautiful highlight on me. I actually bought a backup. By the way, I think it's back for Holiday 2017. Thank goodness. It was the inclusion of this pan that tipped the balance on this whole palette for me, to be honest.

It's so lovely, right?

Next up is a brand-new shade- Icicle.

This is the other shade that lured me in. It's the perfect icy blue for my fair complexion.

I wish that this was available in a full pan, because I'd pick it up. After so many dark, warm highlighters it's nice to get the occasional pan from Becca that just works for me.

Next up is one of two blushes (or so they say) in this palette. Say hellow to Winter Berry.

This scared me. It's limited edition in this palette, but on the skin? Not as scary.

This is lovely- and a nice flush with a light hand. The shimmer is in the pan, but it doesn't translate other than a healthy flush to the skin.

The second row starts with Blushed Copper blush.

I think this is a straight up eyeshadow for me.

It's pretty, and I'll get creative working it into my routine.

Next up, the classic Opal highlighter.

I'm planning to do a full review of this soon- it's a classic for a reason.

Last up is Bronzed Bondi bronzer.

In the pan, this scares me.

But swatched and blended out, I can make this work. It's really more of a summer shade though. This is more of a nod to medium skintones, which I don't mind.

Here's a group swatch:

I wouldn't necessarily say that this palette is cohesive- the top and bottom rows are disjointed. Light and pale skintones would love row #1, medium skintones would love row #2. I think deep skintones would only like the Blushed Copper shade, honestly. It feels like Becca tried to make a palette for everyone and it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

That said, I think the top row's worth my investment and I'm thrilled to have it in my collection. I'd just think twice about gifting it.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Minis: Vanilla Quartz & Moonstone

What can I say? I love some glow- and a mini is always of interest to me. So when I got an email blast from Becca regarding mini Shimmering Skin Perfectors, I was all ears.

Becca is selling mini sizes of four Shimmering Skin Perfectors for $19 each.  For your $19, you receive 2.4g/0.085oz of product. These little cuties are available in: Moonstone, Opal, Rose Gold, and an all-new shade, Vanilla Quartz.

I purchased two of these for a couple of reasons. I like Becca highlighters, and own most of the shades. I've actually had Moonstone on my list of "to-buy"products for awhile; the opportunity to own it in a pan that I think I could actually use up seemed perfect.

For those two people out there that aren't familiar with Moonstone, Becca describes it as "a pale, incandescent gold that illuminates the collection." Moonstone is to fair complexions as Opal is to medium complexions- it's such a flattering shade and is wearable with a light hand on a daily basis.

I own a quarter-sized pan of Moonstone from the Holiday 2015 (?) palette that was Ulta-exclusive but it's not practical.

Now, let's talk about the all-new shade- Vanilla Quartz.

According to Becca, Vanilla Quartz is "a buttery white shade infused with universally flattering soft pink gold pearl."

All you had to do was say buttery and white- and I'm there. It photographs more pink than it is in person. But here's a comparison:

Looking at the photos, I barely see some pink peeking through. In person this one looks straight up yellow gold!

Here's an iphone photo of the day that I wore this out and about- you can see that it's subtle but works on my fair skin. I had NYX Custom Cover Drops on as foundation and UD Streak as blush here.

Yeah, I'm letting you see some texture, but we'll just deal with that later. It's a gorgeous shade that's perfect for us fair girls.

I may get some heat for saying this, but I'm happy that Becca has decided to also include a fair-friendly highlighter in its rash of recent releases. IMO, since Prismatic Amethyst none of the releases (Lilac Geode, Bronzed Amber, the Chrissy Teigen palette, Smoky Quartz) have been particularly pale/fair-skin friendly. I am so happy that all complexions are getting releases from the brand in 2017- it's needed and how it should be. But it's nice to get a shade that'll work for me as an effortless highlighter twice a year. I don't expect every release to work for me, but it's awesome to appreciate those that do. And yes I know that there are a plethora of shades on the market meant for me- I'm speaking specifically about Becca's formula here.

Please don't make me regret giving an opinion on that matter.

In case you're wondering, here's how they compare to Pearl:

I think it's Moonstone that makes Vanilla Quartz pull pink in the photos- on the skin it's quite yellow.

Now that we've looked at the shades, let's do some math. I love that I could pick up two shades for $38, making these exactly half of the regular price each. Before I get into value, this is great because it allows these formulas to be more accessible. We also all have way too many highlighters and don't use much so these are a great size.

If you've looking for value, this won't be it. Full size is 8g; to match the 50% price tag we we'd need an additional 1.6g of product. That said, I don't mind overpaying if the product's right sized.

These were, as I understood, to be a Becca online exclusive but I see them at Sephora. I highly recommend buying directly from the brand- free shipping, no minimum, and they use UPS. I ordered mine on a Friday morning and I received mine on Tuesday. I placed an unrelated Sephora order and had the same turnaround time.

Bottom Line: I love the size and the price- go, collect them all!

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector- Lilac Geode

Chalk this up to one of those purchases that was inevitable. I knew that this isn't necessarily my best shade, but I really love Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfectors. So when there was a small GWP offered during Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty, I had to pick up the brand-new Ulta-exclusive shade- Lilac Geode.

It's the same size and price as the permanent collection ($38, 7g/0.25oz of product). Like many of the recent LE products, the outer ring reflects the shade rather than being the standard black/silver. I like it.

It also makes identifying the different Shimmering Skin Perfectors much easier. So thank you, Becca.

Let's talk shade. Lilac Geode is described as "cool pink with golden pearl finish." I find it to be a very warm pink- especially for something called Lilac.

It's stunning, isn't it? I love the textured design that Becca's been featuring as of late.

Now, the real question is if I can pull this off. My suspicion going in was that this is a highlighter for those with warm undertones- those for whom Prismatic Amethyst (which I need to get a backup of, stat) pulls chalky.

Here's a representative swatch:

OK, so it might be tough for me to do on the cheeks. Not surprised. By the way, it took artificial light to get it to photograph true to color.

I have to use the lightest of light hands on my cheeks. I use it more in the inner corner, particularly with the Lila Palette (oh yes, just wait for tomorrow).

Becca has been doing a lot of pinks and purples this past year. How does Lilac Geode compare?

Aren't they pretty? They're some of my favorites. OK, here's the swatch comparison:

They're all completely different and unique in my collection- and I'm happy to make Lilac Geode work with my extremely cool and fair complexion.

Do you need this? Go to your local Ulta and swatch in person. That's the best way to tell. We all own so many highlighters that highlighter's not a need at this point. I do like it though.