I just can’t get enough of bareMinerals’ READY eyeshadows. They’re truly top-notch quality with an extremely velvety texture and wide selection of shades. I first picked up a READY duo in France during a wait for a train (bored people go to Sephora), then a quad about a month or so after.

When bareMinerals went on sale, I decided to pick up two eight-pan palettes since they were marked down, and also because I felt bad about missing out on The Playlist, which I had been eyeing. Hello, Retail Therapy. You rang?

(Although, I think I just have unnaturally grabby hands.)

Anyway, here’s the first—and more expensive—of the two, The September Issue. I picked this up partly because of the name. I have always dreamed of working in magazines, and also, I am a September baby! I think this palette gives me room to play around more, too. I gravitate towards more neutral anything, and I’m at a place where I’d like to be more adventurous. The September Issue seems to invite that quality.

There’s a great variety of shades, but there’s also an array of finishes for them. This adds dimension in and breaks the monotony of your eye looks. I’ve talked about this before, but I do love that each of the shades are named. They are as follows:

(Image was edited to match the actual shades as closely as possible.)

• Couture — Medium taupe (Shimmer)
• Silhouette — White (Matte)
• Statement — Fuschia (Matte with gold micro-shimmer)
• Pret-a-Porter — Gold (shimmer)
• Tres Chic — Rich creamy beige (Matte)
• Editor’s Pick — Deep blue green (Shimmer)
• Gliteratti — Warm light pink (Shimmer)
• Ensemble — Deep, muddy eggplant plum (Matte/Satin)

Swatches! I decided to do some finger swatches just because the colors seem to register better. The quality is great, as expected. The shadows are extremely pigmented and I experienced minimal to no fallout, especially the shimmery shadows. These stay on all day. I’ve worn these with an eye primer (NARS Pro-prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base & Etude House Pro 10 Eye Primer), and they may last up to 16 or so hours. Amazing.

Here’s a rushed look I wore to the grocery! I followed the “Day” diagram that comes with the palette. It uses three colors: Couture, Silhouette, and Tres Chic. They also give looks for “Night” and “Now.”

It comes with a dual-ended brush (a small fluffy brush & a dense pointed brush), in a silver metallic (plastic?) case with a full-width mirror on the inside of the cover. I have two other READY palettes (which are housed in rubberized compacts) and I never felt like it was hard to open them. This eight-pan palette was a bit hard to pry open, though.

It’s worth noting that the shades in the eight-pan palettes come in amounts smaller than those in the 2.0 and 4.0 versions, but overall, you get more product for your buck. All in all, it’s a good buy. At $40, this palette is definitely worth it. At $32, it’s a steal.

I know it’s a bit hard to get a hold of these products in the Philippines, so I went through the GCASH/AMEX system, which I will post about soon, as some have requested. Some of the steps were a bit inconvenient, but it’s definitely worth it if it means that I get to be one step closer to these babies.

VERDICT: All in all, The September Issue is a good buy. At $40, this palette is definitely worth it. At $32, it’s a steal.
How much? $40 for 8g or 0.28oz. Bought $32.
Will I repurchase? Yes. It’s a great variety of colors that I can see myself using a lot.
Where to purchase? I bought mine from the bareMinerals website, but they’re also available in Nordstrom, Sephora, Beauty, and other retailers. ASOS carries the brand, but not these 8-pan palettes.