This post has been months in the making. From when I purchased my first palette, the matte palette, I knew I wanted to review it on my blog. I then got golden hour for my birthday and waited patiently until ablaze came back in stock to purchase.
What it is
A collection of seven portable palettes inspired by Studio trends.
Matte – lush, soft, and velvety with ultra-high coverage shades in warm nudes, cool mauves, and a deep, dramatic black.
Golden Hour – finishes range from matte to sparkle, and the sultry, shades are rich and creamy so you can blend and build a custom smolder.
Ablaze – this palette captures the warmth of the desert in a range of sun-drenched shades—these dimensional pigments are perfect for adding depth and contouring.
~ Sephora.com
Price
Each palette retails for $35.00 Canadian (0.27 oz total). I think it’s expensive for the amount of product you get but the shades are very rich so a little goes a long way.
Packaging
I enjoy the packaging of these shadows. It’s a sleek black, sturdy plastic and I like that it’s compact. The palette is slightly bigger than a credit card which is so perfect for travel. The cover is most attractive and stands out compared to other palettes. As you shift the palette it looks like a powder burst.
Colours
The layout of the shadows is smart. There are two large base shades and six crease & lid shades that work together to create variety of looks. You can imagine each palette consisting of two quads, each colour coordinating together to create a cohesive look. The palettes are very pigmented (with Golden Hour excluded because the shades are naturally sheer) so I don’t need to pack on too much product when creating an eye look.
Cover Shot Matte
The matte palette is definitely my base palette and perfect for when I want an easy go-to look. I gravitate towards the warm brown shades the most but I do love the added salmon and grey/mauve for little hints of colour or when I want to create a smokey eye.
The black in this palette, Deadline, is a true black. It works really nice as a shadow liner or if I want to deepen the crease. When I traveled to Las Vegas, I took this palette as well as my blinc palette from my July BoxyCharm and it was perfect for creating a variety of looks.
Cover Shot Golden Hour
I might wear golden hour the least of the three palettes but if I’m looking for a shimmery version of the matte palette this is it. I like that the base shadows are matte but for me it’s hard to work the shimmer on my lids because they are sheer. I use my fingers when applying this palette because I get the best colour payoff that way.
I think this works best for me if I just use one colour all over the lids and maybe deepen it with another. I love Turned On most because it’s a really pretty pale pink. Don’t get me wrong though, the colours are nice and work if you want to keep things light and airy. I tend to use this mostly for work days.
Cover Shot Ablaze
Of the three, ablaze is my favourite. It feels like this one was everyone’s favourite because it kept coming in and out of stock for some time after all these palettes came out. Throwback, the burnt orange shadow, looks gorgeous on the eyes.
What makes it a staple for me is that as the colours work together but each quad offers something different, one being a set of red and pink tones for a fun spring look and the other side and nice array of gold, brown and orange to wear in the fall. Of course these colours work all year around but I love having a colour scheme for each season and this palette does just that.
Application and Wear
The formula is great. The shadows are highly pigmented but not too powdery. Smashbox really thought hard about the layout of these palettes and I can see the dedication to ensure that all the shades work together within each palette and even across the palettes. I feel like both Matte and Ablaze have the best wear time. Golden Hour doesn’t tend to last as long on me without an eyeshadow base, but I have that issue with most shimmery shades anyway. As I mentioned before, Golden Hour works best if I use my fingers, however, Matte and Ablaze work really well with both natural and synthetic hair brushes.
CoverShot Matte
I wore Assistant all over the lids and into the crease. Using tape to create a very sharp line I built Editor into my outer crease and on the outer half of my lid I blended in Supermodel. To create the wing I used Deadline and Mac’s Fix Plus. I used black liner on my water line and finished the look with my Givenchy Noir Interdit mascara (review coming soon!)
CoverShot Golden Hour
I like to create work looks with this palette which it what I did above. I put Dope over the entire lid and then used Hotline all over the lid. I took a little bit of Stare into the outer edge of the crease to deepen the look slightly and used Rock Stars on the outer edge of my lid. I smudged Hotline into my lower lid. I used Stila Stay All Day liner on the very edge of my lid for a small wing and took some brown liner to the waterline. I used my Smashbox Full Action Brown Mascara.
Covershot Ablaze
Here’s a fun one that I kept messy. I put Moccasin all over the lid and put Throwback all over the crease. On the inner half of my lid I put Torch and on the outer half I blended Nirvana. On the very edge of my crease I blended a little bit of Dark Horse. I smudged some of Throwback into my lower lid and finished off the look with my Noir Inderit Mascara and brown liner in the waterline.
Breakdown
Pros
- compact and travel friendly
- great pigmentation
- little fallout
- colours work really well together in each palette
- good wear time
Cons
- pricey for the amount of shades you get
- Golden Hour isn’t as pigmented
My Thoughts
I think these are beyond just cute small palettes, Smashbox really nailed the pigmentation and formula of these to make them easy to apply and noticeable on the eyes. As someone who hasn’t been a fan of the previous palettes I own from Smashbox, I think these are amazing! If I can feel confident traveling with a palette than I know it’s good. I would definitely recommend these palettes and suggest you try it out for yourself. Luckily there are seven different palettes so you can choose the one the best suites your style. I think I’m going to purchase the bold palette next! Let me know your thoughts on the palettes. Have you tried one?
Lots of Love,
Dal
