Models Own Barely There Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hello Beauties! I hope you all had a fab weekend. Today I’m going to give my opinion of the Models Own Barely There Eyeshadow Palette. I picked this up from Priceline with a gift card I received for around $21 AUD as it was on sale, but it retails for $29.95 AUD. Let me say, for the quality of this palette, it’s worth the full price.

The palette itself is a nice size. It has a nice big mirror, it isn’t too weighty but doesn’t feel cheap either. It contains 10 shadows, 5 mattes and 5 shimmers, which I think is absolutely perfect. I prefer a matte eye look for everyday wear, but appreciate the shimmer shadows for when they’re needed. I think it’s a great size for travel, slim and compact and the shade range means it’s a great companion palette to ones that have great pops of colour but little in the way of transition shades. It also comes with a fairly decent brush. It isn’t the best thing I’ve used but it isn’t the worst either and in a pinch, very serviceable.

Using the Smashbox 24HR Photo Finish Shadow Primer to prime my arm, the ELF Eyeshadow Brush for the brush swatches and the Mikasa Quick Change Brush Cleaner to clean the brush off in between swatches, I’ve shown the swatches below. The first swatch is a finger swatch, followed by a brush swatch.

The first row contains 3 mattes and 2 shimmers. First up is Au Naturel, a pinky cream colour. This colour is perfect for setting your primer if you’re as pale as I am. Next is Naked, a champagne shimmer, leaning more towards the gold end of the spectrum. Third is Birthday Suit, a pink shimmer almost a rose gold. Next is Buff, a chocolate brown matte and lastly is Stark, a dark chocolate brown matte.

The above photo is in natural light, the below photo is using a ring light.

The second row contains 3 shimmers and 2 mattes. First is a Nude, a peachy matte. I often use this as my initial transition and crease colour. Second is Exposed, a chocolate brown shimmer. Next is Secret, a cool tone matte brown, perfect for deepen the crease colour. Fourth is Bare Skin, a golden shimmer and lastly is Unrobed, what I call an old gold shimmer. It’s darker than Bare Skin and cooler toned with an almost green reflect. It reminds me of when a piece of gold jewellery is in need of a good clean.

In my opinion, the matte swatches do not give this palette justice but the shimmers make up for it. If you’re after a subtle shimmer go in with a brush, but if you want a nice reflect with your shimmer shades, go straight in with your finger. It makes a huge difference and really lets the shadows speak for themselves. I don’t find these hard to blend or lacking pigment, I gravitate towards this more than my other palettes when I’m in a rush or just wanting an easy everyday look. Below is a picture after the swatches, it has a little kick up but little to no fall out on the face.

Overall I’d really recommend this palette and am looking forward to trying more from the range. There’s also a Barely There 2 that has been released overseas that looks similar but more warm toned that I can’t wait to get my hands on when it launches in Australia. For $30 bucks, this is a steal for me. The shadows perform just as well, if not better than some of my higher end palettes. They feel really creamy and aren’t chalky at all. They last all day and aren’t patchy. If you’re looking to start out a collection or you’re on a budget, definitely give this one a go.

Have any of you tried Models Own? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, Beauties xx

Mikasa Beauty Brush Review

Welcome to another post, Beauties!

About a month ago I was approached by Mikasa Beauty via email, after they’d seen my Instagram account @thebeautybellini, with an offer to purchase products at a discounted rate plus receive a free brush and the opportunity to apply for an affiliate code. As I’m trying to grow my social media presence I thought it would be well worth purchasing some products to see how they worked. I’m a firm believer in promoting products I actually use, ones I would recommend to others without an incentive, and above all being 100% transparent with the people that may be using my reviews to make informed decisions.

I decided to place an order and as I mentioned I received a discount off my order total and a free brush. I ordered a Quick Change Brush Cleaner, a Techni 01 Oval Brush, an E10 Eyeliner Brush and received the E250 Large Eye Shader Brush for free. The prices listed on the site are in USD, something to be mindful of if you live outside of The United States. Shipping is $9.95 for orders under $50 within the US and Canada, orders above $50 qualify for free shipping. International shipping is $19.95 for orders under $100 and free if over $100. They also ship worldwide. I am based in Australia so shipping took a total of 17 days. If you factor in weekends and Public Holidays it took a total of 10 working days.

Each brush arrived individually boxed, the 2 eye brushes with a plastic protection slip over the bristles and the oval brush in a plastic mould. The brush cleaner is encased in a tin. The brushes feel nice, not heavy but not light and flimsy either. I immediately washed the brushes so I could use them right away.

I haven’t had an opportunity to use the E110 Eye Liner Brush yet, a combination of 30°C+ days and no night events planned has made this fairly impossible, but it looks like it’ll be a great brush for gel liner. It’s thin, not too dense and the perfect length for a gel liner pot.

The E250 Eye Shader Brush works fantastic. It’s very soft and doesn’t shed. It’s a great length, lightweight and blends eyeshadows really well. I can see this taking over from some of my current favourite eye brushes.

The Techni 01 Oval Brush is dense, much more than I anticipated and super soft. I have used it for blending concealer under the eyes, but only with one brand so far, I’d like to use some other before I give it a final yay or nay, but so far it works pretty well.

And lastly, the Quick Change Brush Cleaner. This is my favourite of the items I received. It’s so great to be able to do a quick clean between uses without having to wash the brushes, and it’s also great for cleaning off your brush in between colours if you’re using quite pigmented shadows. I’m a big fan of a bronze/chocolate brown eye so my brushes are often stained with the darkest colours after each use. I can see myself using this regularly, particularly for travel when I won’t have the opportunity to clean my brushes. It’s extremely light weight and no bigger than the width of an average tumbler glass.

Overall, I’ve had a great experience thus far with the company and the products. Now that I’ve tried a few different types of brushes I’m keen to get my hands on some more. They offer individual brushes or predetermined bundles at great prices and the fact that they offer worldwide shipping is excellent, in my opinion.

I did received an affiliate code to pass on to my followers and readers to use if they chose to. You can use code BEABELL25 site wide at Mikasa Beauty and get 25% off of your order. Thank you in advance if you choose to apply my code at checkout, but if not, thank you anyway for supporting a company I support! Let me know in the comments below if you’ve used any of the products and which ones are your favourites!

Until next time, Beauties xx

**This post is in no way sponsored and I am not being paid to review the brushes. If you choose to use my code I may receive a small commission**