Musings of a Muse

A Blog of Musings from a Cosmetic Whore

Nov 8, 2007

Bare Escentuals Pure Platinum Collection Review

I purchased the Bare Escentuals Pure Platinum Collection from Nordstrom.com this past week and it arrived in the mail yesterday! Yay!

It's quite an interesting little kit and I'm very eager to get my hands on the Classic Rock Collection as well now. You might recall I did a comparison of the two in a previous post thanks to a dear friend and reader, Betsy, who had purchased both sets! You can click here to see the post.







I'll give you a break down of what we have in this set and the price and cost per item. The kit is $59USD with tax it'll run you about $64 give or take a few cents. You get a total of 9 items (10 if you're counting the double ended mascara as a dual product). Broken down that would mean you are paying about $7 per an item ($6.40 if you count the dual end as two products) which isn't such a bad price. The good news is that all the items in the kit are highly usable so you aren't left with some items you love, a few you like, and a few you'll never use. All the items are good, high quality items that are well worth the $7 bucks a piece you'll be shelling out for 'em!

The kit includes all of the following:
Platinum Gossmaer Face & Body Color
Platinum Glimmer
Twlight Eyeshadow
Posh Blush
Ripe Fig Natural Lip Color
Dual Ended Classic Black Mascara and Platinum Beautifully Luminous Lashes
Full Flawless Face Brush
Full Tapered Shadow Brush
Crease Defending Brush

The three brushes alone, purchased separately, would run about $50. So I guess you can say you'll be buying the brushes and getting a buncha of free stuff with those!

Pictured from Top to Bottom: Tapered Shadow Brush, Flawless Face Brush, and Crease Brush


Bare Escentuals make pretty ok brushes but some do shed however the ones included with this kit did not shed thankfully. The Flawless Face Brush is a nice brush for buffing on color. It's very soft and as I said thankfully no problems with shedding. The shadow brush was equally as good for spreading shadow on without a hiccup however the crease brush was a bit stiff to me. Usable but very stiff bristles. Overall, I'd say the brushes included with the kit are pretty good and the Flawless Face Brush is the best of the three in quality.

Ripe Fig Natural Lip Color


The lipstick included in the kit is very good as well however the color isn't totally me. It's a muddy nude rose shade that does nothing for my complexion however it can easily be redeemed by slicking on some tinted lipgloss in a softer pink. I found it tones down the color and makes it wearable after mixing with gloss! It's most definately moisturizing and applies flawlessly with one coat it's just the color that is somewhat turning me off but the actually quality of the lipstick is good.

Dual Ended Classic Black Mascara and Platinum Beautifully Luminous Lashes




The Dual Ended Mascara is an ok product as it does what it's supposed to in lengthening your lashes. However, I am a mascara snob so this isn't a product I'm exactly hyped over. It's good quality but does nothing impressive to my lashes that makes me get up and shout in excitement. The product is dual ended and has a Beautifully Luminous Lashes on the other side. I have a love/hate relationship with Beautifully Luminous Lashes as it doesn't quite accomplishment what I'd like it to do and I've found better Japanese brands that do what this product promises. If you've never heard of the product let me explain. It's basically a colored overcoat that you use after your mascara to give your lashes a touch of sparkle and shine. I do love the look it creates by using this but it takes a bit of work to get it on correctly and I believe that's due to the brush applicator. I think this would work wonderfully if it was brushless but none the less a nice product all the same.

Posh Blush


Posh Blush isn't all that I wanted it to be sadly. It's a bit of a muddy rose color and similar in style to the Ripe Fig lip color. It's almost a perfect match actually for the lip color! If you like warmer colors this would be a perfect blush but I'm more for bolder shades that light up my face this I guess gives me more of a sophisticated look that isn't entirely suited to my face.

Twlight Eyeshadow


Twlight Eyeshadow is nice and pigmented and contains just the right amount of sparkle! I really like this color and it goes well with the rest of the items within the set.

Platinum Glimmer


Platinum Glimmer is quite gorgeous. Shimmery, Sparkley and pigmented! This too goes well with everything within the kit! It contrasts wonderfully with Twlight!

Platinum Gossmaer Face & Body Color


My favorite piece in the collection is the Gossamer! It's full of sparkle and it looks positively perfect as a highbrow highlighter, within the crease, on the lid, on your cheeks, or dusted on your cleavage! I love multitasking makeup ;) And the flawless face brush applies it perfectly!!!!

I tried the kit this morning and wasn't impressed with the results as I attempted using only items I got with it (plus my own foundation of course) and I wasn't so thrilled so I think basically if you use it in conjunction with items you already have you can make a stunning face! It's quite a nice kit and really when you break it down the price is very good. I do sometimes over analyze items so don't mind me ;) I'd say it was most definately something nice to pick up for yourself or a friend this Holiday season! And, of course, I'm still wanting the Classic Rock Kit as well!

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have to say that i.d. most often come up with things that sounds so good that I suddenly feel that I HAVE to have it all, but when I look more closely to what the kits and so contains, I always think they fall kind of flat.
I find their brushes quite horrible, to be honest.. The flawless face brush is the only decent one I bought from them, and even that one sheds. The others are stiff and also makes my face itch a bit. Not good at all!

Their foundation and mineral veil however I adore! Guess it's why I insist on keeping my eyes open for new products and kits from them..

November 8, 2007 at 1:48 PM  
Blogger the Muse said...

Hi Sofia!

I have to say I really do like the kits but many times I get more misses than hits. The glimmers are really great, some mascaras they do (such as the brushless) are fabulous, etc...

A majority of the brushes I've tried range from good to ok. Many shed such as the kabuki that sheds like bloody hell :(

I also don't find why everyone gets hyped over the mineral foundation kit. I purchased one and the only thing usable for me was the veil. The foundation just offered me no coverage at all and it felt weird going on! Maybe I was doing something wrong.

Overall I do still love the kits though and like you, always on the look out for a new kit ;) and see if it's worth getting!

Thanks for the comment ;)

November 8, 2007 at 1:54 PM  
Blogger Liz said...

I do love the foundation - I've been using it for a couple of years now, although I'm thinking about trying the Laura Mercier when I next need to replace mine because it can clump a little if I accidentally apply too much or get sweaty. It is, however, the best foundation I've used so far.

That said, I've been completely underwhelmed by the rest of their line, and I think the brushes are downright bad. They shed like a middle-aged man's scalp, they're really not soft enough for powder application, and they deposit product unevenly. The exception is the synthetic brush they include in the foundation kit, which doesn't work for its stated purpose (concealing - mind you, I don't think the foundation works well as a concealer whatever you apply it with), but it's pretty good for applying cream shadows.

November 11, 2007 at 3:12 PM  
Blogger the Muse said...

Hi Liz,

I've noticed that if my face is sort of dewy after I moisturize that I got a bit of a lumpy feel when applying which originally turned me off to BE. Because I normally use cream foundation and it just goes on perfectly without all the drama of waiting for my face to "dry" before applying my foundation!

Brushes are hit and miss for me. A few of the shadow brushes are ok but generally the face brushes aren't so fab. And agreed the shedding is ridiculous on most.

Thanks for the comment :)

November 12, 2007 at 9:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mine have just arrived and I am eager to try it out, I know this post is old but I was searching for others whom have tried this... great detail, great pictures..

Girl Japan

August 7, 2008 at 10:31 PM  
Blogger the Muse said...

hello girl japan :)

I hope you'll like it :)

Glad you enjoyed the review and pics!!!!!

I look forward to hearing what you think of this set ;)

Hugs!
Happy Monday!

August 11, 2008 at 10:30 AM  

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