You may or may not know this about me, but I love makeup (and have WAY too much of it). For a while now I’ve restrained myself from infusing too much of that interest into this website under the misapprehension that you wouldn’t be interested. I mean…horse girls are tough. Horse girls are dirty. Horse girls spend all their time and money on their horses. Horse girls don’t have time for this frivolity. Honestly makeup (and skincare) so usually feels like an embarrassment for me…because what real horse person would spend their precious time putting on a complicated eyeshadow look or a perfect red lip. Then I realized something. That’s my problem, not yours! Those are my hangups. I know tons of glamorous horsewomen. Hell, my trainer wears makeup and fixes her hair nicely to go to work because she’s a freaking professional. Duh. She’s not less of a horse person for looking nice. She doesn’t work any less hard than other horse people that show up disheveled and splotchy. What is wrong with me that I have this embarrassment (seriously…I wish I knew where this was coming from)? Well no more! I’m done hiding that side of myself. I love makeup. There. I said it!
My first step to remedy this mental hangup – review some makeup! This brand makes me so happy. From the young enthusiasm of the founder, to her beautiful artwork, to the awesomeness of cosmetics created specifically for equestrians in mind. It’s fabulous. Of course I’m talking about the In The Irons eye shadow palette from Blue Ribbon Beauty. (Thanks to Rachel for sending Kristin and I a palette to try)! I have done something a little different this time with a video review / try on to go along with this article. You can check that out below or go here to watch.
As I said before…oh the artwork. SO cute. I was happy with the packaging and it was in line with the pricing of the product. It’s a nice sturdy cardboard type packaging with a nice mirror included. It also has a protective sleeve. The pans are fitted nicely and sturdy into the palette.
The color story is a lovely cooler leaning neutral, which is perfect for horse show make up and every day looks. Because it’s more cool to neutral, it works well with my cool/neutral skin and doesn’t make me look like I’m wearing too much makeup. The only color I rarely reach for is Close Contact, as it’s a little warm for me (especially in relation to the rest of the palette). If I could, I would change that color to a very deep cool brown or gray as I do think this palette doesn’t quite go dark enough if you do need or want that “smoke.”
The quality of the eye shadows is good as well. They don’t have a ton of pigment (which some people require to call a palette great), but personally I think that’s fabulous. I can keep going back in and building it up without getting too much on and then having to clean it off and start again. It makes it REALLY easy to use. Another thing that makes it easy if you’re not creative with these things are the looks mapped out on the packaging to help you with color choice and placement. The shadows blend well and easily, so there’s to too much of a worry about doing it wrong. The only thing I would say is that i wish the shimmers had a bit more shimmer to them. They are a little muted and I would have appreciated the beige shimmer in particular having a bit more pop.
It’s a great palette for beginners to this whole eye shadow thing, as a first palette for teens, or for people just looking for a nice everyday look that doesn’t scream “I’m wearing a ton of makeup today.” Not to mention the amazing packaging and the comments it will bring. It’s perfect for work. For horse shows. For going to to the grocery store.
The palette can also be perfect for amping up the drama. It plays really well with various other brand formulas so you can add more depth of color, brighter colors, and crazy shimmers on top and it blends well.
I am impressed by the longevity. I usually have some fading after a whole day…specifically a whole day of riding/horse showing, but the look created by this palette did well to hold on for an entire horse show (specifically the Triple Oxer color really held on). As you can see, what foundation I still have on has sunk into and gotten patchy on my pores around my nose and cheeks, my eyebrows are a mess, my lip color is long gone, and my mascara is starting to flake. The eye shadow still looks pretty though.
I highly recommend you give Blue Ribbon Beauty a go and if warmer/browns are your thing try their other palette Latigo N Lace (Kristin is going to be reviewing that one). I think the value is good on these palettes and their pricing is comparable to others (and better than in some cases) in the same price point. AND you get the adorable equestrian packaging you won’t get anywhere else.