I've really been loving the amazing shimmers of the Adept Cosmetics palettes that I reviewed previously (The Heather Austin and House of El palettes, in case you missed it!). They are a little chunky and can be hard to work with, but they are really gorgeous. When I saw the Minka palette, I noticed that it was pretty neutral, but Makeup By Torrence talked me into it with his gorgeous eye tutorial!
I got in on a pre-order, and though it wasn't supposed to ship until January, I got it in about a week before Christmas and I just couldn't wait to play with it! I also got in the cheek palette collection (it was a whole bundle thing) but I haven't had a chance to work with those yet so they will have to get their own moment to shine!
These shades are gorgeous and metallic, but they are definitely much more neutral than either of the other palettes that I have from the brand! For the swatches, I did them over the Ulta Matte eye primer with a finger on the left and a brush on the right. The top photo is under my studio lighting with no flash, and the bottom photo is the same lighting with a flash.
Before we get into individual shades, can I just say that these shimmers were not easy to work with! They were a cream/putty formula that was almost impossible to pick up on a brush. I was easy enough to get them with a finger, but they applied very thick, a little chunky, and a lot of product stayed on the finger. I keep thinking that I need to try the silicone brush applicators that Torrence is always showing off on his channel, but this might be the palette that finally pushes me to do it!
Minka is a dirty taupe base with a silvery taupe metallic glitter/shimmer. Emma is a brownish base, fairly sheer, with an antique gold shimmer. Ava is a dark, cool-toned base with a champagne gold. These are all very hard to work with. I like that Adept has all magnetic palettes so you can mix and match, but I think these are going to have to stay all together so that I can go to use them when I am mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepared for the struggle.
Layla is a bright yellow gold metallic. Maya is a champagne shimmer with silvery notes throughout. Toya is one of only two mattes in the palette; it's a bright lilac shade that did react a bit with the primer and darkened on the brush swatch, but blended out beautifully to a smooth finish.
Luna is blue...I guess? It's a dark base with some blue and some silver glitter particles in it, but I had a hard time getting it to show up with any real color. Nora is a bright coppery bronze metallic, nice pigmentation and opacity. Cora is a golden olive, and while it applied nice enough with a finger it took an act of Congress to get any to stick to my brush. That swatch is multiple passes, and I swear I almost hit pan moving that product around trying to get it to stick.
If you're tired of me bitching, then you're in luck: I saved the best for last! Linda is a gorgeous multichrome with green, pink, and golden tones. You get the gold throughout, and then the other colors shift in a way that is truly spectacular and absolutely beyond my skill with my janky cell phone camera! Selena is another gorgeous shifty shade that is purple with hints of pink, and at the extremes I swear it looks almost peach! These two shimmers are so much easier than any of the other shades in the palette to work with, and they look beautiful and unique! Maria is the other matte, a deep grape that struggled over the primer but otherwise was a nice soft matte with good blendability. I wouldn't recommend having any sort of tacky base with these matte shades.
This is a beautiful palette, but it's just not for people who aren't of at least intermediate skill. The shimmers can look stunning, but it's going to take work. Your effort is usually rewarded, but I think there are other brands doing shades that are just as beautiful without as much of a learning curve. I think that Linda and Selena are the two obvious standouts, and Adept's mattes are always gorgeous (if a little touchy about what primer you use), but it's a tough sell for those two shades considering how much the full palette costs. I'm still interested in Adept and will be keeping an eye on them, but this one feels like a bit of a misfire.