Melt Cosmetics ‘Gemini’ Palette ($58)

Until now Melt has only released eyeshadow ‘stacks’ so when I saw that they were coming out with an actual palette, I knew that I had to grab it! I snagged mine during a brief pre-sale but the official release date is Saturday, June 2 at 12pm PST. I’ve heard that this is supposed to be a very limited release and that it won’t be restocked again once it’s sells out. We’ve heard this before though so who knows.

Melt Cosmetics is owned by two women, Lora and Dana and this palette is Lora’s baby. The box has tons of beautiful black and white photographs of Lora with her friends and family.

The palette itself is long and slender with an orange rose design. It’s beautiful.

It has 10 eyeshadows, 8 mattes and 2 shimmers. It’s made in the US, cruelty free but not vegan. The pans are slightly larger than average, .066oz/ 1.88g each. It works out to about $3 per gram which is much better value than the last few stacks.

Speaking of that… I was pretty disappointed with Baby Girl and She’s in Parties stacks. They weren’t BAD but they weren’t amazing either. The colors were dupeable af and they contained significantly less product than the original stacks. Basically I just didn’t feel like they were worth the high price tag. With that in mind, I was half expecting this palette to suck but I’ve got to say that I’m enjoying it so far!

Okay let’s take a looksie at some swatches and I’ll give ya the tea as we go!

Luna is a soft brown matte meant to be a blending shade. It has decent pigmentation but blends in with my pale skin.

Gemini is more like a pressed pigment than a shadow, meaning it has larger pigment particles. It’s an orangey pink with gold shimmer. Very sunset-esque (it’s getting late. I’m allowing myself creative liberty with words). Due to the chunky texture you’ll want to either use your finger or apply it over a sticky base. Unless you want gold flecks all over your grill. In which case, have at it!

Lorelei is a deep mustard toned matte. I wish it was a little brighter but it’s still a nice transition color. The formula is quite soft so you’ll want to be light handed to prevent fall out.

Polkadot is a tawny brown. All of the mattes in this palette have a good bit of kick up but they’re highly pigmented and blendable.

Cupcake is a deep neutral brown.

Bonnie is an ultra black matte. For some reason this is the only shade in the palette that’s not vegan. In the Dark Matter stack the only shade that IS vegan is the black. *scratches head*

Leo is a matte army green. This is the only matte that I found to be patchy. It’s not awful, you just might have to build it up a bit and blend it gently.

Goalz is a sparkly green with yellow undertones and a metallic finish. It’s absolutely beautiful, applies easily with brush and looks foiled even on unprimed skin.

Fire OG is an olive toned brown. This one swatched patchy but blends well. It’s such a unique color that I’m going to have a bitch of a time trying to dupe it. It’s one of my favorite shades in the palette

Mochi is a mustard matte with olive undertones. I love this color too!

Final thoughts… the formula of this palette appears to be new. The mattes have a LOT of kick up but they’re highly pigmented and I find them to be easy to use. Both shimmers are beautiful, Gemini just requires some training wheels. Here’s what I don’t like… I think that the color scheme is a little too monochromatic. There’s two dark olives, two mustard colors and two browns. I feel like it would’ve been more versatile if they had branched out a bit instead of sticking to such a specific color story. Also I would’ve liked one more shimmer. I see myself creating a very specific look with this palette and that’s about it. I just got this palette two days ago and I’ve only used it three times but so far I’m enjoying and I’m glad that I purchased it. However $58 is a lot of money and I know that not everyone will like this matte formula… what do you guys think of this palette?? Will you be adding it to your collection or passing?