My great love for Z Palettes

Hi everyone! Today, I would like to talk about one of my iconic makeup tools: Z palettes. It is not just a makeup product, it is a way to use my creativity and a good sense of organization while I have fun every morning by using these palettes. They are something I use on a daily basis and I cannot talk about my makeup routine without presenting them. 

Coucou ! Aujourd'hui, je voudrais vous parler d'un de mes outils de maquillage le plus iconique : les Z palettes. Ce n'est pas qu'un produit de maquillage, c'est une façon d'exprimer ma créativité et mon sens de l'organisation en m'amusant le matin en utilisant ces palettes. Je les utilise tous les jours et je ne peux pas parler de ma routine maquillage sans vous les présenter.

If you came across this article by chance, first, let me welcome you and secondly, let me introduce you to the concept of a Z palette. They are makeup palettes which are sold empty so that you can fill them with eyeshadows pans (or face powders). Some makeup brands (Makeup Geek for instance) sell some of their shadows without packaging so that you can place them in an empty palette and arrange them as you want. Or, you can also pull apart an existing palette to collect the shadows and place them in a Z palette. 

Why would I dismantle a brand-new palette? Because I like to arrange my shadows how I want in standard-size Z palettes. They are very easy to store and handle. I can gather shadows from different palettes in order to have the perfect arrangement of the colors I personally want to use every day. Dismantling a palette is also a craft activity that I find very fun! 

When you start to have more than one hundred shadows (like I do lol) it is so much more convenient to use them like that. Now, I only use my shadows placed in Z palette even though I have more in other brands palettes. It is time-saving for me to reach for the same palette every morning when I wake up at 6 am and have no idea about what makeup I will do.

Si vous avez cliqué sur cet article par hasard, déjà, laissez-moi vous souhaiter la bienvenue et ensuite, permettez-moi de vous présenter le concept des Z palettes. Ce sont des palettes de maquillages vendues vides afin que l'on puisse les remplir avec des fards (à paupières ou à joues). Certaines marques de maquillage (comme Makeup Geek) vendent certains de leurs fards sans packaging afin qu'on les place dans des palettes vides et qu'on les arrange comme on le souhaite. Sinon, on peut aussi détruire une palette existante pour récupérer les fards et les mettre dans une Z palette. 
Pourquoi est-ce que je détruirais une palette neuve ? Parce que j'aime arranger mes fards comme je veux dans des palettes de taille standard. Elles sont très faciles à ranger et à manipuler. Je peux rassembler des fards venant de différentes palettes afin d'avoir l'arrangement de couleurs parfait que je veux utiliser tous les jours. Détruire une palette est aussi une activité manuelle particulièrement amusante ! 
Quand vous commencez à avoir plus de 100 fards à paupières, c'est beaucoup plus pratique de les utiliser ainsi. Maintenant, je n'utilise que les fards de mes Z palettes même si j'ai aussi des palettes d'autres marques. C'est un gain de temps pour moi de prendre la même palette tous les jours quand je me lève à 6h et que je n'ai aucune inspiration de maquillage. 

The pans of powders 'stick' to the Z palette because they are magnetic. Most metal makeup pans are already magnetic. If not, you can stick one of the 20 magnetic stickers sold with a Z palette on the back of them (like for Morphe eyeshadows).

Z Palette is not the only brand to sell this concept of empty palettes but I would say it is the most well known. They have a wide variety of colors and sizes that you can see on their website. As for the price, I think however that they are a bit expensive considering that the palettes are empty and made of plastic and cardboard. Their price depends on where you buy them. Considering that I live in France, I usually pay 20euros online for my Large Z palettes (their iconic size). The other sizes might be more expensive.

Les fards "collent" au fond de la Z palette parce qu'elles sont aimantées. La plupart des supports métalliques des fards sont déjà aimantés. Sinon, vous pouvez coller dessous un des 20 magnets vendus avec une Z palette (comme pour les fards Morphe). 
Z Palette n'est pas la seule marque à proposer ce concept de palettes vides mais c'est la plus connue. Ils ont une grande variété de couleurs et de tailles que vous pouvez voir sur leur site. Pour ce qui est du prix, je pense en revanche qu'elles sont un peu trop chères alors qu'elles sont vides et faites de carton et de plastique. Leur prix dépend de là où on les achète. Sachant que j'habite en France, je paye mes palettes Larges (les Z palettes les plus vendues) aux alentours de 20euros en ligne. Les autres tailles peuvent être plus chères. 

I have 9 Z palettes (yes it is a lot haha). I bought 7 Large ones in various colors. I also have a Medium palette (the little black one) and a Dome palette (the big black one). Both are thicker to allow dome-shaped powders (like baked blushed) to fit in.

J'ai 9 Z palettes (oui c'est beaucoup haha). J'ai acheté 7 palettes Larges en 7 couleurs. J'ai aussi une palette Medium (la petite noire) et une palette Dome (la grande noire). Ces deux dernières sont plus épaisses et permettent aux fards en forme de dôme (comme les blushs cuits) de rentrer. 

These pictures allow you to have a good size comparison. In a Large Z palette, you can fit 27 standard-sized eyeshadows (2,6 mm), 35 in a Dome or Extra-Large one and 15 in a Medium one. 

What I also like to do is to paint some patterns on my Z palettes with nail polish to make them more personal. So, the drawings you see were done by me, not the brand.

Ces photos vous donnent une idée des tailles. Dans une Z palette Large, vous pouvez mettre 27 fards à paupières de taille standard (2,6 mm), 35 dans une palette Dome ou Extra-Large et 15 dans une palette Medium. 
Ce que j'aime aussi faire c'est peindre des petits détails avec du vernis à ongles sur mes palettes pour les personnaliser. Donc, les dessins que vous voyez ont été faits par moi, les palettes ne sont pas vendues ainsi. 

Palette 1/9: This orange palette is the one that I use every day. I filled it with what I consider to be the perfect nude combination of colors. On the left side, I put my sparkly homemade Bellapierre eyeshadows. The mattes come from Morphe palettes that I depoted following YouTube tutorials I watched. In all my Z palettes are the shadows from the Morphe 35OM, 35OS, 35P, and Kathleen Lights palettes. I really like Morphe shadows but their palettes are cheap and their color arrangement did not suit me.
I sometimes change the arrangement of my orange palette by picking some shadows in the following palettes.

Palette 1/9 : Cette palette orange est celle que j'utilise tous les jours. Je l'ai remplie avec ce que je considère comme étant le parfait arrangement de couleurs naturelles. A gauche, j'ai mis mes fards Bellapierre pressés à la main. Les fards mats viennent de palettes Morphe que j'ai démontées en suivant des tutoriels YouTube. Dans toutes mes Z palettes, on retrouve les fards Morphe des palettes 35OM, 35OS, 35P et Kathleen Lights. J'aime beaucoup les fards Morphe mais leurs palettes sont vraiment cheap et l'arrangement des couleurs ne me convient pas. 
De temps en temps, je change l'arrangement de ma palette orange en prenant des fards rangés dans les palettes suivantes. 

Palette 2/9: This palette gathers all the purple shades I have which come mainly from the Morphe 35P.

Palette 3/9 : Cette palette rassemble tous les fards violets que j'ai et qui viennent principalement de la palette Morphe 35P. 

Palette 3/9: Here are a bunch of blues and greens coming from Bellapierre loose powders that I pressed and some matte browns. 

Palette 3/9 : Ici il y a quelques fards bleus et verts provenant de fards Bellapierre que j'ai pressés et quelques bruns. 

Palette 4/9: This palette contains only sparkly Morphe eyeshadows.

Palette 4/9 : Cette palette contient uniquement des fards irisés Morphe. 

Palette 5/9: Here are some Morphe matte eyeshadows.

Palette 5/9 : Ici il y a quelques fards mats Morphe. 

Palette 6/9: This palette contains various shapes of shadows coming from 3 different palettes. I dismantled them because they were taking up too much space and I was not choosing them a lot.

Palette 6/9 : Cette palette contient différentes formes de fards provenant de 3 palettes différentes. Je les ai détruites car elles prenaient de la place et je ne les utilisais pas tant que ça. 

Palette 7/9: This is my everyday face palette. The 4 pans I use a lot are Benefit Hoola, Dallas, Dandelion and Coralista blushes/bronzers. I was lucky to find them in a limited edition palette (that I dismantled obviously) at 60euros. Otherwise, they cost 30euros each which is a lot...

Palette 7/9 : C'est ma palette quotidienne pour le maquillage du teint. Les 4 fards que j'utilise beaucoup sont Hoola, Dallas, Dandelion et Coraslista de Benefit. J'ai eu la chance de les trouver dans une palette en édition limitée (que j'ai détruit) à 60euros. Sinon, un seul d'entre eux coûte 30euros...

Palette 8/9: This is my Dome palette where I store other face powders. The 2 blushes on the top right corner have a dome-shape so they do not fit in a standard Large palette.

Palette 8/9 : C'est ma palette Dome où je range d'autres poudres pour le teint. Les deux blushs dans le coin en haut à droite ont une forme de dôme donc ils ne peuvent pas rentrer dans une Z palette Large standard. 

Palette 9/9: I use the Medium palette only when I am traveling and need to take just some essentials. It is very convenient to place in a bag and it is thicker. 

Voilà, I hope you found this article interesting and useful! If I have forgotten anything, feel free to leave a comment! You can also contact me via email: leblogdunerosedesbois@gmail.com. I will be happy to talk to you.

Palette 9/9 : J'utilise la palette Medium uniquement quand je voyage et que je n'ai besoin que de prendre quelques essentiels. Elle rentre très bien dans un sac et elle est plus épaisse. 

J'espère que cet article vous aura plus. N'hésitez pas à me laisser un petit message si vous avez des questions, je serais enchantée de vous répondre. 


Rose

Complete review on Bellapierre Loose Eyeshadows

Hi everyone ! As you may see, I am a French blogger but today I am attempting to write an entire article in English because I would like it to be read by as many people as possible. I wanted to present one of my favorite products which sadly is not as well known as it deserves, but I love it. Let me introduce you to the Bellapierre Loose Eyeshadows!

French version of this article / version française de cet article.

Bellapierre is a American mineral brand which is quite good value, especially if you buy it on Amazon (around 5$ a color). Its products are great and, above all, different from classic eyeshadows.

In order to call my review a "complete" review and make myself clearer, I will split this article in 3 parts :

I - General presentation of Bellapierre Loose Eyeshadows

II - How I use them: how I compact them

III - Swatches of the 25 shades I own

I - General presentation of Bellapierre Loose Eyeshadows

Every Bellapierre loose shadow is presented in a small round plastic box which are quite easy to store and handle. They are 2,35g each for a large quantity. Almost all shades are really sparkly and metallic.

These products are so versatile! They can be used as a dry sparkly shadow but also as a metallic/foil shadow once they are wet. Some colors can be applied on the cheeks or the lips too!

Under natural light, the finish of these shadows is shimmery and really wearable. Under direct light, you can see so many lovely fine sparkles. I love very sparkly eyeshadows! Moreover, if you mix these shadows with water or a fixing spray, they start to look like opaque liquid metal, it's so impressive and absolutely gorgeous!

The biggest drawback is that they are really messy; I see fallout everywhere on my table and under my eyes. When you use them, I highly recommend to do your eye makeup first, then to clean your cheeks and finally to apply your face makeup.

Bellapierre Loose Eyeshadows are sold individually and in kits. Sometimes they can be cheaper individually or vice versa. Be aware of the prices in the different places where they are sold.

Each kit of three eyeshadows is sold with two amazing brushes and a base. The base is sticky. In a way it is great to have the maximum result for your shadows but I find that it does not stay in place very well. I prefer to use my classic Urban Decay primer. However, the brushes are soft and effective, I love them!


II - How I compact loose eyeshadows

I often use these shadows as they are, but I like to compact them too. Firstly, it makes it easier and safer to store and handle them once they are in a Z palette. Secondly, they are less messy. And finally, it is so fun and satisfying to create my own favorites colours while mixing them.

Here you can see all the shadows that I have made. I created a third of them by mixing colors. On the first row, I made the gold of my dreams with some champagne and copper!

I have already written an article in French explaining precisely how I compact my shadow. You can still see the pictures here. You can also find a lot of tutorials on YouTube. Basically, I bought some Z palette empty metal circles pans. I mixed the shadow, a few drops of coconut oil and alcohol in the pans. Finaly, I pressed really hard with a tissue to absord the excess liquid and I let my shadow dry overnight.
Most of the colors work as compact shadows but a few don't have a nice texture, especially the ones which are too sparkly or not sparkly enough. I will specify that for each shadow below.


III - Swatches

I own 25 shades which I bought alone or in kits. These nine are part of the Fabulous kit, but they can be bought one by one too.

From left to right : the kits Smokey Eyes, Vibrant Trio and Pretty Woman.

Here are the six final shades which I bought one by one.


FABULOUS KIT

Desire is a warm, bright pink with lots of golden sparkles. It is kind of a duochrome color. Wet, it has a lot metallic reflections. This shadow can be compacted as well quite nicely. If you have a very light hand, you can apply a veil of it on your ckeeks.

I love Cinnabar! It is such a pretty burgundy, red wine, perfect for fall. The best, I think, is to use it with golden shadows in order to make a "halo effect" on the lid. This shadow works so well compacted and is really metallic. You can try to apply it on the lips too with some lip balm or gloss.

Celebration is stunning! It is probably one of the most sparkly and foil eyeshadows on earth. But it is also not very easy to apply. The powder gets everythere, it is so messy! This shadows does not work well compacted and wet, it turns into a crumbly pigment. There are only two ways to use it properly on the eyes : taking just a quick wash of powder or, if you want to get the foiled effect, using a glitter glue or a sticky base. This shadow is perfect to add a golden highlight on the center of the lips.
My personnal favorite way to use it is to compact it with some Champagne. Champagne has a much finer texture and the mix of both works perfectly and gave me the golden shadow of my dreams! Gold eyeshadow is such a basic for me. It is crazy that I have not found one in stores... Even Bellapierre does not have a real gold eyeshadow!

Ocean is a pretty light blue which can be used effortlessly, wet, dry or compacted, on the lid or the lower lashline. With a golden shade, you can do a nice halo. The cool and the warm shades compliment each other well and suit most skins tones.

With Provence, the same problem arises as with Celebration. This shade is fabulous, kind of like an evening sparkly color, but messy! However, it is still pretty. I just recommend having a light hand. As an evening look, you can try it on top of back eyeshadow to make it pop.

Hurly Burly works well dry, wet or compacted. It is really dark and can be used dry to make a smokey eye and to darken the outer corner.

Discothèque is a light apple-green shadow with a champagne shine. This shade is great for spring and is applied easily.

Reluctance is a green-grey which is also easy to apply.

Tropic is the warmer sibling of Ocean. This blue is greener with a golden shine. It is applied effortlessly.

VIBRANT TRIO KIT

Money is bright warm yellow whithout a lot of shine. I recommend to use it dry. It does not work wet or compacted, it is too crumbly.

Apt has a similar formula to Money. Orange is a great compromise between wearing a color and still looking natural. Actually, the yellow and the orange can work nicely as transition shadows.

Forest is a disaster applied wet! It looks like plaster. As I do not see myself wearing a grass-green shadow, I did not try it.


SMOKEY EYES KIT

Snow Flake is a basic perfect bright white. It works perfectly compacted or wet. It can be used to highlight the inner corner or as the main lid colour. It is also perfect to light up other colours and make a new compact one.

Tin Man is not a silvery shadow but a real metallic grey. It is much prettier to compact it with Snow White and make a lighter silver.

Noir is the only mate eyeshadow. It can not be used wet, that is a disaster. It can work dry to make a smokey eye. However, I find its formula a bit dry and I prefer to use another classic ready-compact black eyeshadow.


PRETTY WOMAN KIT

Champagne is a must-have. It is a warm luminous nude. Wet or compacted it becomes more pink and golden. To make it as bright as possible, I mix it with white. I also use it to make my perfect gold white Celebration.

Earth is also a must-have. It is a taupy pink that can be applied effortlessly alone or, like I do, with matte browns in the crease and the outer corner.

Cocoa is not a real chocolate brown. It contains some red or pink. It is difficult to name its shade but it is gorgeous as well!

If you want to try these eyeshadows, I highly recommend the last three shades. They are nude, versatile, easy to apply and so pretty!

OTHER SHADES

Resonance is a crazy bright pink without shimmers. It works better dry. It ressembles a Too Faced shadow which is in several of their palettes. This shade can be applied nicely on the lips.

Reddish is a dark pink with a fine texture. Again, it works on the lips. You can also compact it with a lot of white to make a light cool pink.

Wild Lilac is as crazy as Celebration. It is a bright violet pink with silver sparkles. It can become crumbly quite fast, and it is also difficult to use. But that is because it is made with pure glitter... Nobody ever said that glitter is pratical!

Spectacular is the darker sibling of Provence. It is also less sparkly (so easier to work with) and paradoxically...less spectacular.

Freeze is a neon cool blue. It does not work at all compacted (I tried - it became dry and the pigment would not come off on the finger/brush). It belongs to the same family as Resonance: bright and without many sparkles, kind of difficult to wear I think.

Ha Ha is also in this family. It is a bright royal blue.

Starry Night is a perfect colour for smokey eyes, all over the lid, in the outer corner or on a lashline.

Voilà! I hope all my pictures and comments were helpful to you. I really recommend these shadows. I understand that some of you will not see the point in spending time compacting them. But for others, it can be a fun DIY project that enables you to create the shades you want. Those eyeshadows are the most sparkly I own. They perform like pressed pigments but I am sure that they are a little bit cheaper. At last, you can make them look exactly how you want.

Rose


A huge thanks to my lovely friend Mary for helping me. You can visit her blog here.