Profusion Cosmetics: Your New Favorite Drugstore Brand

It’s not every day when a brand I’ve never heard of before just comes in and knocks me off my feet with the first products I try. But alas, that’s what happened with Profusion Cosmetics.

Profusion Cosmetics just launched 30 brand new products available at Target, and it is probably the first encounter with the brand for many beauty-lovers. From eyeshadow palettes to contour kits, the brand has made a splash. And if I can predict anything for this year, the tide is only going to rise higher for them.

I’ve had a chance to test out a few of Profusion’s new releases and have quickly accumulated my favorites— mostly the eyeshadow palettes. I was particularly impressed with the packaging, which reminded me of high end brands but nothing was outwardly a dupe or rip-off at all. The performance was a surprise in and of itself.

So let’s jump in. Check out these four favorites from Profusion Cosmetics that should be your first stop when exploring the brand.

1. Profusion Cosmetics Mixed Metals Palette ($9.99)

This was the first product I tried from the brand, and way to hit the ground running! The palette packaging seriously feels luxury to me. The top has a glitter finish with textured letters, and the case itself is a hard plastic to protect the shadows. Inside, you get a large square mirror that takes up the entire lid, and nine big shadow pans.

The palette is on the neutral side with bright pops of gold, champagne and rose gold in metallic finishes. The rest are matte shades to round out the dimension of you look. Both finishes give you great, buildable and blendable pigmentation (even the light matte shades!). I think the spectrum of shades is perfect for supplying full looks— you’ve got clear highlight, lid and crease shades.

Something that also made me really happy was that the metallic shades looked gorgeous dry (how they’re swatched above). I’m not really a fan of applying shades wet, even to get a reflective finish… so the fact that these metallics are low maintenance but still give you a fun flash.

2. Profusion Cosmetics Smoky Eyes Eyeshadow Makeup Case ($6.99)

My second favorite that I discovered was the Smoky Eyes palette. This “makeup case” sleek packaging has a hard tin feel and snaps securely closed, making this a top choice for traveling. Again, you get a mirror the length of the entire palette, and included inside is an actual makeup brush! No crazy sponge nubs. This is a synthetic, dual-ended brush with a flat shader on one side and a soft, flexible blending brush on the other.

As soon as I got my hands on this, I broke out my Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette for comparison. There were definitely a few similar shades. Above, I swatched the colors that looked similar when in the pans. I would say we have maybe 1-2 real dupes, but the others had pretty big differences either in the shade or the finish. For example, Enchant would be a dupe of Armer but it’s more satin while the UD shade has chunky glitter.

For a more exact dupe of the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette, check out this post!

Funny enough, I’m starting to prefer the Profusion Smoky Eyes palette more than the Naked Smoky— and can you guess the reason? Yep, it has more matte options, both light and dark. I think this really opens up the possibilities of what kind of looks you can achieve… because smoky doesn’t necessarily mean sparkly. It also provides you more highlight and lid shades in my opinion, if you want to keep the smokiness to your outer corner/liner. I will say, however that the shadow is a little crumbly and you get a slight amount of kickback in the case. Not something that’s a huge concern, but you will get fall out. Put down a Shadow Shield or do your eyes before your face makeup!

3. Profusion Cosmetics Amber Eyes Palette ($6.99)

The Amber Eyes palette is the same format as the Smoky Eyes palette in the 12-pan tin packaging. This one is far more warm, with orangey and magenta tones. I think this color palette is really pretty, especially going into Spring/Summer.

It also stood out to me the most because it gives off major Modern Renaissance vibes, which some users have even mentioned in the Target reviews, though I don’t have that one to compare with swatches.

The mood is romantic nonetheless, and again we get pretty good pigmentation across the board. The two shimmer shades are a little bit chalky so I would suggest a nice primer and base shade to get the most out of them. Amber Eyes also includes the same dual-ended brush that will definitely do the trick if you’re short on tools.

4. Profusion Cosmetics Define Brows Professional Brow Kit ($9.99)

Finally, a product that really impressed me was their Define Brows Professional Brow Kit. You really have everything you need here to get your brows on fleek— including multiple powder shades, a highlight, tweezers, wax, two pencils, an angled brush with spoolie and STENCILS! While I wouldn’t personally purchase this because I clearly only need one brow shade, I think this could be a really affordable addition to a beginner makeup artist’s kit. Or, you could make it work for yourself if you find yourself switching up your hair color and need to adjust your brows to match.

Even though it’s not something I would buy for myself, I thought it was an innovative kit that could be very useful for a variety of purposes.

Right now, you can find Profusion Cosmetics in-store and online at Target. I mean… did you see those prices!? I could see myself paying $20 for palettes of the same quality… and I have! I’m so excited to see this brand expand on the mainstream. Oh, did I mention they’re cruelty free? YES!

Let me know in the comments: which of these would you like to see a tutorial with? Which gives you a great first impression?