Two years ago, I could name green makeup palettes with the fingers of one hand, but since then, it’s been raining palettes! I’m thinking of doing a big round-up in the future, but in the meantime, I’ll do individual reviews because the one I’m currently using has become my go-to palette and ignited an interest in PHB. I’m referring to the PHB Pressed Minerals Professional Pallet.
A pioneer eco brand, PHB Ethical Beauty is also a family-run business, using 100% naturally derived ingredients. They have a large collection of vegan, cruelty-free & halal certified (alcohol-free) beauty products. Their products are handmade in the UK and palm-oil free. Definitely ticking a lot of boxes.
PHB Pressed Minerals Professional Pallet is ultra versatile and practical because it has a little a bit of everything. The pallet comes in a sturdy cardboard packaging with a large mirror inside. What’s in it? Well, 4 blushes, 1 bronzer, 1 finishing powder, 4 lipsticks shades.
The Blushes: All the swatches are made with a brush, one swipe sufficing to provide enough pigment. Finger swatches are always more impressive but they do not give a clear indication of the pigmentation and application. The blushes for me were the highlight of the palette. I’d buy an entire blush palette from PHB because of how good they are. They are all super pigmented, which means what you really need to go with a light hand when you pick up the color and apply it to your cheeks. I’m a pink and coral kind of gal, but I have to say that Peony wowed me: it’s a copper hue which really warms up the complexion while imparting a lovely flush of color, as if you had just taken a long, nice walk in the fresh air. Camellia is the cool-toned one of the bunch. If some of the colors are too bold for you, you can also use them as eyeshadows. The result is incredible as well.
Ingredients: Eye shadow/Blusher/Bronzer: Mica, Iron Oxides, Calcium Carbonate, Caprylic Triglyceride, *Simmondsia Chinensis (Organic Jojoba), Ultramarines, Titanium Dioxide.
The Bronzer “Tan” is a soft bronzing shade. As you can see it is subtle, similar to Lily Lolo’s Sculpt & Glow contour shade in terms of shine and pigmentation, but it is lighter and more peach-toned than Lily Lolo’s. I like it since I go lightly on the contouring, this color adds a little definition to your face without looking over-the-top.
Ingredients: Mica, Iron Oxides, Calcium Carbonate, Caprylic Triglyceride, *Simmondsia Chinensis (Organic Jojoba), Ultramarines, Titanium Dioxide.
The Finishing powder is barely visible on my arm which is a good thing since it almost matches my skin tone at the moment. I apply it all over my face to set the makeup and get rid of extra shine.
Ingredients: Mica, Boron Nitride, Iron Oxides, Caprylic Triglyceride, Simmondsia Chinensis** (Organic Jojoba), Ultramarines.
The second compartment: eyeshadows, and lipsticks.
Ingredients eyeshadows: Mica, Iron Oxides, Calcium Carbonate, Caprylic Triglyceride, *Simmondsia Chinensis (Organic Jojoba), Ultramarines, Titanium Dioxide.
The palette contains 8 illuminating colors (no matte shades) with a mixture of cool and warm tones. The long-lasting, pigment-packed colors stay put throughout the day and are crease-free. They are hypoallergenic and I did not experience any irritations or any sorts of discomfort. My favorites are Smokey Quartz and Peach. I usually apply Almond and Rose Quartz on the inner corner of my eyes. Smokey Quartz and Peach are then used all over the eyelid. I often use Peach on my crease when I wear both. Liz’ little tip: all 4 shades can double as highlighters (depending on your skin tone).
I like to call it the “party row” because those colors definitely call for a fun evening makeup look. None of these pictures are touched up, this is how the colors appear depending on the change of lighting. Initially, I thought that there was very limited chance that I’d use any of them for a daytime look, but I find myself reaching for Celestite quite often. Silver is not as extravagant as expected. Onyx is a really cool dark color with a metallic sheen, but it’s the one I use the least (occasionally to line my lower and upper lashline). Those who are into smokey eyes might be able to do fab looks using that color, though. I use Amethyst and Air as eye liners, rather than applying them all over my eyelids. Air makes brown eyes really pop.
The lipstick row was the less exciting part for me, which might come as a surprise for those who know my love for lip products. The color themselves are very pretty, with a solid pigmentation, and I’m a big fan of metallic tones. It’s just that I don’t really enjoy lip products in palette formats as I find them really hard to work with. They feel drying once worn. (did I hear someone say lipstick tube/pot purist? Possible 😉
The good news is that they are available in lipstick tubes too. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if it was intentional, but the blushes and lipstick shades are similar so you could actually match your blush with your lipstick.
Ingredients – lipsticks: Ricinus Communis**, Rosa Canina**, Simmondsia Chinensis**, Butyrospermum Parkii**, Limnanthes Alba**, Euphorbia Cerifera, Copernicia Cerifera, Mica, Iron Oxides (CI77491, CI77493, CI77499), Tocopherol, Citrus Tangerina oil**. **Organic. *Occurs naturally in essential oils: *limonene, *linalool.
All in all, I’m really impressed by the quality of PHB Ethical beauty makeup and I’ll definitely be paying close attention to their range. The PHB pallet currently retails for £69.95, which I consider a fair price considering that it is a large palette, containing a great variety of shades with excellent pigmentation. If you like the colors, then it will come in handy (especially for traveling) and become a daily staple. For price comparison, the Jane Iredale Glamour Lip and Eye palette (which I loved) retailed for $75, but was significantly lighter (8.29g). This one is 90g! If the palette is too large for you, PHB also has smaller ones (here), as well as individually-packaged shades. Each color in this palette is also sold individually, which is also why I added the names on the pictures, in case any of you are interested in specific colors.
The PHB pressed minerals makeup pallet is available on LoveLula as well as the entire PHB skincare and makeup collection.
Have you tried PHB Ethical beauty? What’s your favorite product?
Take care,
*Sample through the LLABP, all my opinions my own. May contain affiliate links, see disclaimer
2 Comments
The photos don’t charge
I’ll re-upload them this week. I am not sure what happened. Thank you for the message!