I was supposed to publish this post last night but I fell asleep in front of my laptop after processing the photos to be uploaded in this post. Oh well, someone’s badly needed to take a rest I guess? By the way, I hope that you’re all safe from the non-stop rain / typhoon yesterday. My out of town trip was moved to next week and my schedule was kinda messed up, whew!
Anyway, I actually received this palette together with my other EM Cosmetics purchases last March 2014 and would you believe that I only got to use this starting July when I finally took makeup artistry seriously and I needed more colors for my clients and models, then I remembered, I had this palette sleeping on my shelf for the longest time. I had this ordered by a friend in the US last year around December 2013. Yes, I waited that long and I’m patient to whatever I really want but it’s just so ironic that I only started using this a few months ago, not even a swatch! Okay, no judging please. Haha.
If I’m not mistaken, it took Michelle Phan 2 years for everything before she finally released her own cosmetics line, EM. Michelle Phan partnered with L’Oreal, the center of the other brands like Lancome, Urban Decay, YSL, and more.
I honestly like her brand name “EM” is the reflection of me. Michelle Phan, aside from her artistic tutorials is also known as a person who empowers women. I’ve been her automatic fan ever since I watched one of her videos on YouTube. I was a late bloomer. I started using makeups when I turned 20. Before then, the only products I know are J&J baby powder, drugstore eyeliner, and eyelash curler. So when I decided to explore more on beauty, I started watching video tutorials and I discovered her. I have heard both positive and negative feedback about Em cosmetics but I’m an avid fan should I say , who wouldn’t care until I’ve tried it for myself and buying her products made me feel like “Oh hey Michelle, I bought your products because I love you!” 
EM. Michelle Phan – The Life Palette in Love Life ($75) – Php 4,500.00
with 26.8 grams (0.948) oz. of products
“em is the reflection of me”
I was kinda heartbroken when they recently lowered the price to $59.00 and I bought it for $75 plus shipping fees, taxes, and all those stuff. Originally it’s P4,500.00 from my friend but she told me that I’ll get it for P3,500.00 if I’ll buy two palettes which I did, then I just sold the other palette because I noticed the colors are kinda similar. The other one is the Day Life palette.
It comes in a beautiful box, knowing Michelle Phan, she’s one of the most talented and creative women I know and look up to. I love the pretty illustrations plus the flip-top design of the box where you can easily peek through the whole palette when opened without literally opening a side of the box.
The palette comes in 4 illustrations and video tutorials of makeup looks that you can follow. Of course it’s Michelle, a video tutorial shouldn’t be missing in her products.
At the back of the box are the lists of ingredients for each makeup (eyeshadow, blushes, lip gloss, lipstick). The Love Life palette is inspired by the girl who wants all of her color in one place, organized, customized, and necessary for life’s moments! It’s inspired by Michelle’s favorite things, from looks she always wears to colors she can never live without.
Packaging:
It’s almost a size of a whole and a half of my iPad Mini which is kinda heavy not only because it’s big but the packaging is made of sturdy acrylic material with two magnetic closures. I love how simple yet sophisticated it looks. You can clearly see the colors in the palette.
At the back of the palette you can see an illustration of each group (look 1 to 4) plus the names of each shade. I just forgot to take a photo but the names of each shade are also printed on each pan (when you remove it from the palette).
When opened, there’s this thick and clear protective plastic to further protect the products from being damaged when carried or on travel.
It also comes with a dual-ended brush (eyeshadow and eyeliner applicator), plus a tool to remove each pan of colors just in case you want to depot or transfer them to the free case.
Each palette comes with this travel-sized palette so you can depot the colors that you used and take them with you for retouching or recreating your favorite look while on the go. I love how it matches with its mother palette only that the cover is not in clear acrylic because it comes with a mirror.
The mirror is big enough to see your entire face while putting on makeup. This travel-sized em cosmetics palette is handy and sits comfortably on the palm your hand. My only problem with this is you can only depot a certain quad or group of colors for a certain look. You cannot put two blushes nor 4 bigger pans of eyeshadows.
Now let’s go with the palette! Yay!
Moving clockwise, each block is for a certain look: Warm Fuzzies, The Real Me, All Yours, and Girl Time. The whole em cosmetics the life palette love life comes with 4 blushes, 24 eyeshadow colors, 4 lip glosses, and 4 lipsticks. Before I thought that the palette is too expensive but doing the math, with all of these in just $75 is a good deal. It’s like $5 for each blush, $40 for 24 eyeshadows, and $15 for 8 lip products (lip glosses and lipsticks). And since they decreased the price for only $59.00, it’s now more affordable. It’s like an intro price to a luxury brand but I cannot compare EM to high-end brands like Chanel which targets mature women or pro. For me it’s on the same level with UD and Lorac and targets teens to early 20′s gals.
By the way girlies, I didn’t do full swatches, I mean I only swirled my fingertips on the product 3x then swiped at the back of my lower arm. For me, that way you’ll see the pigments without me needing to build up the color.
WARM FUZZIES
(swatches in counter clockwise starting from the blush)
This is perfect for everyday wear. I like the selection of colors and this is my most favorite blush in the palette. My least fave would be bunnies (eyeshadow) the one next to the blush swatch. I find the shimmers a bit chunky to my liking but the rest of the eyeshdows are pigmented and creamy. The lip gloss and lipstick here are good for everyday look as well. You can wear them together or alone.
THE REAL ME
This look is for neutral fanatics out there, like me! The transition of neutral colors is nice and they are pigmented. The black one though is not as pigmented as the one in my Naked Basics palette but it’s more blendable. I like pink lippy here as it totally matches the neutral eye makeup look that you can create. Wear the lipgloss on top of the pink lipstick for a more natural look.
GIRL TIME
Sorry guys, the royal blue eyeshadow swatch is missing! I just noticed it now. Didn’t know how I missed it while doing the swatches but it’s a pigmented color in this palette. You can wear this look for day time parties or dates with your girl friends. The only color that I don’t like here is that chunky and chalky dark purple shimmer eyeshadow.
ALL YOURS
I find this look wearable for night time parties. My favorite colors are all yours and subconcious (the blue and the gray one next to it). Not a fan of the lippies here as I find them sheer. You can use the lipstick from Warm Fuzzies or Real Me together with the eyeshadows in this group.
If you are still new with makeup application, this palette is perfect for you! It comes with this detailed instruction or guide that you can follow to recreate the looks plus you can also watch the tutorial on EM Cosmetics website.
Here are some looks that I created with this palette. I used the neutral colors on the left while black and shimmers on the right for gradient look.
I cannot bring the whole palette in a makeup gig though so I use my small z-palette to get the colors that I need. I still need to find a bigger z-palette so I can inclued the blushes and lippies. Wild Peach Cosmetics didn’t reply to my message T_T I was planning to buy their large one.
Is it worth it?
For me, my $75 were well spent. What more if I bought this for $59! Packaging is nice, it’s just heavy and not recommended for travel. The blushes are good but they are for my personal use since all of them have shimmers. For the eyeshadows, they are surprisingly pigmented but easy to blend. There are only around 2-3 colors that are a bit chalky but the rest are good. They are not as pigmented as the ones in Urban Decay’s Naked Palettes but I still like this palette. Even in makeup school, my teachers don’t prefer UD shadows because they are so pigmented that sometimes they are a bit hard to blend but we all have our own preferences with everything. The lipsticks are super pigmented and last long while the lip glosses don’t feel heavy on the lips.
Overall, it’s a nice buy especially if you’re a fan of Michelle Phan like me ^_^ Support all the way! And the palettes are now for only $59 on Em Cosmetics website with free shipping if your in the US.
Let me know what you think about EM Cosmetics Michelle Phan and if you’ve tried any of her products! 
