e.l.f. Bite Size Eyeshadow Mini Palette ‘Berry Bad’ Review + Demo

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Hey, pretty people!

e.l.f. Cosmetics is one of the most popular drugstore brands out there at the moment, and their popularity seems to be constantly rising.

They had a major breakthrough a couple of years ago when their released their very own Putty Primer (which is amazing btw), and ever since they have been on the radar of beauty lovers all over the world. Their products seem to be fairly high quality at an affordable price, so it is easy to see why!

Not so recently, e.l.f. has put out a product that had everybody on TikTok shook; the Bite Size Eyeshadow Mini Palettes.

These little products feature a total of 4 eyeshadows, and come in a total of 8 ‘styles’ (10 if we consider the two Mint palette); also, they are probably smaller than what you are thinking!

I have picked up a total of four of them; Berry Bad, Pumpkin Pie, Hot Jalapeño and Açai You. Today, however, I will only be reviewing the Berry Bad palette; I will make sure to add the links for the other reviews at the very end of this one, though!

So, are you curious to find out if this little palette is actually worth the hype?

Let’s get started!

GENERAL SPECIFICS

3$ | 4€
4 shades total
2 mattes + 2 shimmers
Warm red and berry tones
Nt. Wt. 0.12 Oz. | 3.5g
Vegan
Cruelty-free
No mirror
No brush

You can find the full list of ingredients on elfcosmetics.com.

PACKAGING

Before we dive deep into the aesthetics of the Berry Bad palette, I just wanted to give you a quick heads up.

I have decided to review each palette separately, but this packaging part is going to be the same for every single one of them. I really hope you won’t mind too much, but since they are identical palettes it made sense to me.

OVERALL

This packaging is a fairly cheap and minimal one, that much is obvious.

The shadows come in a white and clear plastic packaging, with the name of the brand printed in grey on the front; on the back, we have a sticker with all of the general informations about the product. Unfortunately, I ended up removing all of the stickers as soon as I got the palettes – sorry about that!

The clear front window allows you to see the shades inside perfectly, but also gives away the fact that the Bite Size Eyeshadow Mini Palettes do not come with a mirror. This didn’t really bother me, since the size of the items is so small that a mirror would have been useless.

Another detail about this packaging is that these shades do not have names. I personally could care less, since there are only four eyeshadows here, but I do know it is something worth mentioning. I usually prefer when shadows carry names underneath, but since there are so few of them it would truly make no difference.

THE SIZE

Something that you definitely want to know is that these palettes stay true to their name. They really are Bite Size Mini Palettes!

Their size is even smaller than what I had anticipated, and literally fit perfectly into my hand. In my opinion, this makes them for the perfect travel or on-the-go item. You can shove them in one of your bag’s pockets and call it a day.

However, since they are so tiny, you could easily lose them. On the other side, they do close quite well, so don’t ever be afraid on any accidents!

Overall, I must say I have nothing bad to say about this packaging.

Sure, aesthetics do play a big part in our willingness to buy a makeup product, but at the end of the day it’s the inside that counts!

SHADES’ SELECTION + BREAKDOWN

I usually review much larger palettes, and talking about a four-shadows one kind of feels odd to me!

This small palette, as the name Berry Bad suggests, is red and pink themed. We have two mattes and two shimmers, and all of those belong to the berry category.

THE MATTES

The mattes are quite different from each other, with the one on the left being more dusty orange/pink-ish toned one, and the one on the right being a deep, sultry brown-toned burgundy. While I think the latter would suit a large amount of skintones, I have to admit I don’t think the former would succeed.

In fact, I see the shade on the left as being more of an everyday transition/base for light to medium complexions.

THE SHIMMERS

These shimmers, on the other hand, do look a little bit more similar to each other – although I couldn’t possibly classify them as being the same. In fact, the one on the left is a rusty dark orange, while the other one is a cool-toned burgundy.

When it comes to the shade range as a whole, I do think these shades pair well together – although they do create a more interesting effect than what you would usually go for. The left shimmer is much more warm-toned compared to the others, and would very much stand out against the matte deep burgundy. That being said, I must admit that this shades’ selection definitely works!

BREAKDOWN

#1. This very light warm brown shade could be the perfect base shadow for medium skintones. However, I have to say it doesn’t really show up well on lighter complexions. This shade definitely looks darker in the pan than it does on the eye, which can turn into a double-sided sword really fast. On one hand, it works perfectly with the other matte of the palette, creating an amazing blurring effect. On the other hand, it won’t really create that much depth when used alone.

#2. Although we are dealing with a rusty orange shimmer, this shadow looks a tiny bit lighter on the eye than it does in the pan. The difference isn’t as dramatic as it was with the previous shade, but still can take your look to a whole new level if you don’t take that into consideration. I must say that this eyeshadow has a very good pigment to it, and does lay down very nice on the eye. On the other hand, it can create a little bit of fallout. This often happens with highly pigmented shades, and doesn’t really bother me too much. However, it is better to proceed with caution.

#3. This burgundy shimmer performs like a lot of other shimmers I have worked with, and you most likely have, too; working with a brush won’t have it show up properly, but using your fingers would fix the issue immediately. I know it can be annoying for some people, but I think it is a pretty common practice. Moreover, it is a much quicker method!

#4. The last shadow of the palette is a deep burgundy matte, perfect to use on your outer corner and deepen every look. This color picks up well with a brush, and has quite the impressive pigmentation to back it up. Moreover, it blends out in an instant. On the other hand, blending takes a good deal of pigmentation out of it. You are going to need to re-inforce the shape and blend it out again, which happens a lot with matte shadows in general.

DEMO #1

After priming my lid, I sketched out an elongated cut crease shape with the darkest matte of the palette. Then, I blended it out with the lighter one. Once I cut my crease, I set the lid with the rusty orange shimmer (shade #2 of the palette) and swiped the darkest matte on my lower lash line. To finish off the look, I used a bright orange shimmer in my inner corner and a brown pencil in my waterline. Lastly, I re-inforced the cut crease shape with a black eyeliner.

DEMO #2

On a primed lid, I packed the darkest matte on the outer part of my eye. Then, I blended it out and into my crease using a bit of the lighter matte shade. I set the inner part of the eye using the burgundy shimmer (the third shadow of the palette), and placed a white highlighter in my inner corner. Lastly, I swiped the darkest matte on my lower lash line and popped a red pencil in my waterline.

DEMO #3

On a primed lid, I sketched the elongated cut crease shape with the darkest matte of the palette. Then, I blended it out and cut the lid. I set the inner portion of the lid with the lightest matte, and re-inforced the cut crease line with an orange liquid eyeshadow. After that, I swiped the darkest matte on my lower lash line. Lastly, I popped a red eye pencil in my waterline and a yellow highlighter in my inner corner.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Alright, here we are at last.

In conclusion, would I recommend the Berry Bad Bite Size Eyeshadow Mini Palette by e.l.f. Cosmetics? Absolutely!

I think this product deserves every bit of the hype it has gotten online, especially considering how cheap it is. The quality is quite impressive, which certainly is the most important detail about it.

WHAT I APPRECIATED THE MOST

There is a lot to appreciate about Berry Bad, aside from it being a very cheap palette.

This eyeshadow palette offers a very compact selection of shades, and a perfect balance between mattes and shimmers. These colors pair up quite well together, which should be the whole point of any color scheme. However, I am not too sure about how these hues would perform on a deeper complexion.

I think this scheme would work well on lighter to medium skintones. There is a lighter matte and a much darker one, but there’s no matte black or proper transition in sight. You would definitely need more shades to use here, so I am not really sure of much of this palette you would enjoy.

Overall, I believe these shadows to be fairly high quality – especially in the drugstore scene. I actually think they perform better compared them to other more expensive brands!

I did encounter a few problems along the way, but as you have seen from the individual break down of the shades nothing was too much to handle.

THE DOWNSIDES

Now, what did I not enjoy about the Berry Bad eyeshadow palette? Very few things, truthfully.

Like I said before, this color scheme is a little tricky to work with. The lightest matte works well paired with the darkest one, but didn’t really impress me whenever I used it alone.

Another detail about this color scheme is the fact that the shimmers work better when using your fingers rather than a brush. This can be said for most of the shimmer eyeshadows you’ll find out there, regardless of where they come from.

However, I do believe this is something worth mentioning.