Bare Minerals Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

Bare Minerals Gen Nude Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette ($48) is a new, limited edition 18 shade Gen Nude Eyeshadow Palette that launched with the Bare Minerals Holiday 2018 Collection. At this point in time Bare Minerals has pretty much released replaces a lot of the older Moxie Lipstick and Lipglosses with new Gen Nude Lipsticks and Lipglosses. They also recently released an entire line of Gen Nude Blushes a few short months ago. All of this has made fans of the brand wondering if Gen Nude eyeshadow singles and palettes might be replacing the old Ready Eyeshadow Palettes. That’s possible but it likely won’t happen until Spring 2018 and it might be a slower process considering how many Ready options are available in the eyeshadow family. But yeah, I see that as something that is coming down the pipeline at some point. A lot of fans are also wondering what exactly is the different between the Ready Eyeshadow Formula and the Gen Nude Formula and I can honestly say I’m not sure I noticed any different at all. Both have a velvety texture with excellent pigmentation and blendability. So, in this aspect you don’t have to start panicking that the Ready formula will be crushed and annihilated. It’ll likely just be remained to match up with the Gen Nude family and collection. Already, there are a Bare Minerals Ge Nude Eyeshadow Palette selection that launched earlier in the Spring. Each of which contains six shades so, I think at some point we’ll see Ready items disappear.

Anyway, Gen Nude Eyeshadow first makes it appearance in the Bare Minerals Gen Nude Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette which launched a few short weeks ago. Unlike past Ready 18.0 Eyeshadow Palettes this is considerably smaller in size with really tiny eyeshadow wells. You’re actually get less product overall for about $8 more if you compare this palette to past releases like the Bare Minerals The Hidden Treasure Eyeshadow Palette which was $40 and included 18 shades at 0.03 oz each vs Aurora Lights which also contains 18 shades but at 0.001 oz each. It’s not huge deal for me because I, like many of you, have a lot of eyeshadow to get through so, I’m like, “eh! Smaller is fine!” However, I do wish they kept the price a little lower considering you are getting less. That does suck.

Sadly, one of the biggest fails of the palette is the fact that only eight of the eighteen shades are new as they have been available in past.

But let’s take a look at the formula and overall performance of the Bare Minerals Gen Nude Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette.

That being said I do appreciate how much more compact this palette is as it’ll be easier to store. It’s about half the size of some my other larger 14.0 and 18.0 Ready Palettes and comes in a small rectangle palette that’s decorated with a gold constellation (looks like the little dipper to me). Inside is a generously-sized mirror and each of the shades has their name printed on the bottom. It’s actually a weight palette that feels and looks very simply elegant. It’s made in the USA.

Bare Minerals Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Spotlight, 500 Thread Count, Interstellar, Venus, Stardust)

Bare Minerals Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Delightful, Catch Me If, Romp, Louder, Santorni)

Bare Minerals Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Meteor Shower, Dazzle, Perspective)

Bare Minerals Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Wavelength, Galaxy, Comet, Forcefield, Presto)

I realized I mentioned the wells being smaller but don’t worry, I didn’t struggle dipping my brush into them and I didn’t hit pain on them right away when swatching (considering they are so tiny).

For my cooler toned ladies and lads you’re going to love this palette as it does have a good deal of cooler shades and I ended up feeling a little disappointed as not a lot of them looked good on me. I thought for sure some of these shades would look amazing on me but they run a bit cooler once I applied and ended up looking chalky. I did love quite a few though and I’ll revisit the palette when the tan I have at the moment fades.

That being said the formula itself is lovely. Velvety, not terribly powdery with any dusky kick up, easy to apply, easy to blend, a bit of fall out but nothing to bad, and excellent pigmentation. There is some frostiness with certain shades but that’s the norm with some Ready Eyeshadows ass well. The palette contains a mix of mattes and metallics as well as some mattes with glitter (Stardust is one and I loved it as a base). I had no issues with application and the shades just jive and pair up well together. All in all, not only a great formula but an excellent of variety of contrasting shades to create several different looks easily. I do miss the get the look guide that Bare Minerals typically includes with their larger palettes as I always find it rather helpful. This palette sadly didn’t have one.

For me I felt like the Bare Minerals Aurora Lights Eyeshadow Palette was dominated by cooler nudes and in a world of warmer nudes I’m sure it’ll be a welcome addition to the cooler girl or guy’s collection. The formula and texture of the shades was spot on, the pigment was great as well. It was a solid performer all around.

Where to buy

Ulta Nordstrom