Alamar Cosmetics Reina Del Caribe Palette Review

July 16, 2018

Alamar Cosmetics Reina Del Caribe Palette Review

I feel like I don’t even have to explain my love of eyeshadow palettes anymore. All you have to do is take one look at my blog and understand the true obsession that’s going on here. I just love how much variety palettes have to offer and for the most part, they’re all very different when it comes to quality and shade selection. I also love trying new brands that I’ve never heard of before. Who knows what kind of amazing discoveries can be made?! Alamar Cosmetics is completely new to me, so I had a lot to look into while testing this Reina Del Caribe eyeshadow palette.

Alamar Cosmetics was created by beauty Youtuber, GabyTeeMUA. I’m not sure if she’s still a Youtuber, though, since I didn’t see any activity on her channel from the past year. According to their website, aside from being an actual location in Cuba, Alamar technically means “stay close to the sea.” Gaby translates that into staying close to her culture, so she has designed the brand and products to reflect Cuban culture.

As of right now, it seems as though they only offer two products. First is this Reina Del Caribe palette, which retails for $28, and a separate eyeshadow brush trio for $18. I was surprised to see that they don’t have much on their website. There was no “about” page, no “FAQ”, or even any other important information such as shipping and payment methods. They also don’t accept any returns. Those are definitely things that I think they could improve on. I did receive this eyeshadow palette in last month’s Boxycharm, but if I were to have been searching for it on my own I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable ordering from a site with such little information and no returns.

The claims on the back of the palette are that it includes eight intensely pigmented shades that range from shimmers, high shine metallics, and mattes. It also says Vol. 1 as if they are planning on creating future versions. The packaging feels very nice and sturdy, and I kinda like that it’s in a slightly different shape. It almost looks like a little journal or something sitting on my desk. However, there is no mirror or applicator included. I don’t mind not being provided an applicator, but I do think they had plenty of room to place a mirror especially since they didn’t choose a clear cover.

The shades shown from left to right in the swatch picture above are: La Costa, El Malecón, Varadero, Celia, Coco-Taxi, Trópico, Guantanamera, and Cafecito. La Costa and El Malecón are the two metallics, Varadero and Celia are the two shimmers, and the rest are all matte. The shimmers and the metallics can be applied with a wet brush, but the mattes cannot.

They all swatch incredibly well and are super pigmented, just as their claims suggest. The two metallics are probably my favorite because they're so intense, but I do love the warmer matte options as well. Although Cafecito doesn’t seem like it in the swatch, it can definitely be used as an eyeliner. For the most part, I can get a full look out of this palette -- which you will see in a tutorial next week. The only thing it’s missing for me is a matte cream shade. This palette can provide a somewhat neutral look, you just have to be careful because it can get too colorful real quick!

Now, one thing I absolutely do not appreciate about this palette is that the formula can stain. I noticed that with the blue shades the very first time I swatched these shadows, but the more attention I paid to that, I realized the orange mattes do it as well. Thankfully, I don’t have a problem removing the mattes from my eye. It’s just a pain to have it stained onto my fingers and having to be cautious not to get it on anything else. The blue shades have even stained the cardboard packaging!

The shadows do stay in place very well and last longer than other formulas when applied over a primer. They will start to fade, just like anything else, but I noticed that the pigmentation was more intense after the 7-8 hour mark than most other shadows that I’ve tried. Overall, I do think it is a really nice product. There are quite a few things that I would recommend that they improve on, but I have been happy with it for the most part. As far as whether or not I suggest purchasing it from their site, I can’t say that I would currently feel comfortable with it.

~Mani Monday~

This is the first time that I can remember really being influenced by a nail color that I saw on social media. A few weeks ago, I saw a black mani on Instagram that I thought was so pretty. Then it got me thinking that I don’t even own a black nail polish, I don’t think I ever have! So I went out and found one from my favorite brand, Sinful Colors. This one is appropriately named Black on Black. I know dark colors are typically reserved for Winter months, but I’ve never been one to stick to those “rules” and actually really enjoy having this change of pace from all the bright colors. Totally opposite from last week’s white!