Price: $26 * Buy At: Sephora * Size: 1 x 0.092 oz & 3 x 0.04 oz The Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quad in Smoke consists of four cool toned matte shadows. The Shade + Light Eye Contour Quads come in a very cool black compact, with her signature tattoo-esque design. Smoke, as the name suggests, comes with shades perfect for creating a classic smokey eye: a medium taupe, a black, a cool grey, and a white. This typically is not the color combination I reach for within a palette collection, but the formulation of the grey and black shadows just really blew me away. Greys and blacks can be difficult to work with, and blend especially, so I was very impressed with how easy this quad is to apply and blend. XOX ♥
0 Comments
Price: $5.49 * Buy At: Target * Size: 0.33 oz The Essence All About Greys Eyeshadow Palette consists of four cool toned grey shades and four warm toned grey shades, with a variety of finishes. I have really loved Essence’s little palettes in the past, and now that certain Targets now carry the line, they have released some larger palettes just for Target. The packaging is pretty cheap, which is to be expected from such an affordable item. Five of the shades are shimmery, one has glitter, and two are matte, which is a decent variety in a drugstore palette. The shadows’ formula is super soft, so it does have a bit of powder kick up, but that doesn’t deter me at all. All of the shadows are very pigmented; none of them are duds whatsoever. Essence makes my favorite shadows from the drugstore, and they continue to impress. I would recommend trying out these palettes to anyone! XOX ♥
Price: $18 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 16 x 0.02 oz The Nyx Ultimate Shadow Palette in Brights consists solely of sixteen bright and colorful shadows with a variety of finishes. The Nyx Ultimate Palettes are fairly small and come with a clear lid, which I like. I have never been much of a fan of Nyx’s shadow palettes, but this one really impressed me, so I had to pick it up. I actually got to visit the Nyx store in the Mall of America, which was really cool. Some of the shadows need a bit more building up than others, but for the most part, these shadows have some pretty intense pigmentation (especially the bottom 2 rows)! On the eyes, these shadows blend out amazingly well, especially when you consider how colorful they are. Of course this kind of palette is not for everyone, but if you are really into makeup, a color selection like this can come in handy for particular looks, or if you just want to have some fun with a bright eye look. I love incorporating a shade or two with a fairly neutral look, and have actually found myself reaching for this palette more than I thought that I would. XOX ♥
Price: $5.49 * Buy At: Target * Size: 0.33 oz The Essence All About Vintage Eyeshadow Palette consists of half green-toned and half rosy-toned shadows. I have really loved Essence’s little palettes in the past, and now that certain Targets now carry the line, they have released some larger palettes just for Target. The packaging is pretty cheap, which is to be expected from such an affordable item. The texture of the shadows is very soft, so it can kick up some excess powder. The pigmentation across the board is great. My only gripe with this palette is that only one of the shades is really matte, so it really needs to be combined with other palettes or shadows. However, I love to use these Essence palettes on top of other shadows to add intensity and shimmer to the finished look, especially with the lighter colors. Even though I wouldn't typically use any of these shades in my crease, the shadows are very easy to blend out. Essence remains to be my favorite drugstore shadows, and I would definitely recommend checking these palettes out. XOX ♥
Price: $18 * Buy At: Nyx * Size: 16 x 0.02 oz The Nyx Ultimate Shadow Palette in Cool Neutrals consists of sixteen shadows with a variety of finishes. Nyx’s Ultimate Palettes come in a small, square package with a clear lid. I have never been much of a fan of Nyx’s shadow palettes, but this one really impressed me, so I had to pick it up. I actually got to visit the Nyx store in the Mall of America, which was really cool and had testers that you cannot get in Ulta. The palette consists of mostly neutral shades, but has some fun pops of color, like the electric purple shade. The top half is mainly lighter shadows, and the bottom half contains the dark shades. The shadows have very nice pigmentation and they have a smooth formula that doesn’t have too much powder kick up. These shadows blend out very easily, which is great to see in a drugstore eyeshadow palette. I am super impressed with this palette, and although it is pricy for a drugstore product, it is comparable to many super expensive palettes! It outdoes many more pricy items as well, since the shadows in the palette are smooth and soft. XOX ♥
Price: $6 each * Buy At: Makeup Geek Website * Size: 0.05 oz Makeup Geek has just released eighteen new shadows for spring, and I picked up four of them: Sand Dollar, Friend Zone, Rebel and Tiki Hut. Sand Dollar is described as a “porcelain pink grey” with a matte finish. While it would be a highlight shade on many skin tones, on me, it is a really pretty, light transition shade. I find this shade to work well with both warm and cool crease colors, and it can work for different purposes on every skintone Friend Zone is described as a “dusty purple brown” with a matte finish. Although I expected this shadow to be a bit more unique, to me it is just a pretty average dark taupe, which I have plenty of within my collection. This is not to discount the formula however, which is smooth, pigmented, and easy to blend. Rebel is described as a “deep dusty purple with a gold overlay” and a shimmery finish. This shade is really unique; I do not have any shadows in my collection that are similar. How it looks in the pan really translates onto the eyes. Rebel has a smooth, soft texture and needs a bit of building up to get the gold overlay to be intense, but once you do, it is absolutely gorgeous! Tiki Hut is described as a “medium tawny brown” with a matte finish. Tiki Hut is following along with the mustard-tone eyeshadow trend, and provides an affordable option to shadows like Bobbi Brown Camel. The texture is smooth and blendable, comparable to many more expensive shadows.
XOX ♥ Price: $40 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 6 x 1.4 g The Buxom Suede Seduction Eye Shadow Palette consists of six matte shadows, three with a warm tone and three with a cool tone. The Suede Seduction Eye Shadow Palette has the same packaging as the customizable palettes, but it has a cool patterned lid and also has the shades written on the back. This is one of the premade palettes, and it includes exclusive shades and is limited edition. The shades in this palette are Social Scene, Trendsetter, Hot or Yacht, Beachfront, Invite Only & Cashmere Craving. Social Scene, Trendsetter and Beachfront are exclusive only to this palette, while the other three can be purchased separately. I just love the formula of Buxom shadows. They are smooth, creamy, super pigmented and so easy to blend. All the shadows in the palette are consistent in texture and pigmentation, which is great. I really like the color selection, as half of the palette is warm and half is cool; this makes it a great staple for combining with any shadow look. Since the palette does not contain any shimmery or super dark shadows, I would combine the palette with other shades. Overall, I love the palette and will continue to purchase shadows and palettes from Buxom, as the formula is just amazing and super consistent. XOX ♥
Price: $36 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 3 x 2 g/0.07 oz & 6 x 0.9g/0.03 oz The Too Faced Peanut Butter & Jelly Eye Shadow Collection is a nine shadow palette with colors inspired by nothing but a PB&J sandwich. Like all of the Too Faced palettes that come in the little tin, this palette has three large shadows accompanied by six smaller shades. Like many Too Faced products, this palette has a delicious chocolate scent, which I absolutely love. Honestly, I was sold on this palette before I even saw it--just by the name. I eat PB&J sandwiches all the time and it is one of my favorite foods, so I had to get this palette. My only complaint with the palette is that most of the shades fall in the mid tone region, there aren’t any dark shades for adding further definition to the eyes. All four of the brown shadows (Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Cup, Peanut Brittle, and Nuts About U) all look pretty similar, as they are all very warm, mid-tone browns. Despite the shade Jelly, the Peanut Butter & Jelly palette is quite neutral, so it works easily on a day to day basis. The shadow formulations are pretty consistent, but Jelly is a bit less pigmented than the rest, as you can probably tell in my swatches. All in all, I don’t think that this palette is quite a staple item, but if you are more of a makeup collector, or just love PB&J sandwiches (like I do) than I would definitely pick this palette up! XOX ♥
Price: $40 * Buy At: Sephora * Size: 6 x 0.05 oz The Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow Bar Palette is a custom eyeshadow palette that can fit 6 eye shadow pans. Each individual shadow is $12, but when you buy six shadows and the palette it is only $40. The six shadows I purchased are Designer or Die, No Faux, Pure Platinum, It Crowd, Filthy Rich and Gimme Gorgeous. The palette is small and compact and has the Buxom logo in gold on the lid. To put the single shadows in the palette, you slide the tray out from the side, put the shadows in, and slide the tray back in. It comes with the tiniest little brush ever, which is not very useful due to the size. I did not create my palette to be cohesive, but I really liked each individual color. With the color combo I chose, this would not be a palette I would travel with, but the palette itself is very travel friendly. The formulation of these shadows is amazing, which of course is what interested me in this palette. Pure Platinum is the most intense metallic silver I have ever used, I barely had to apply any to get the intensity in the swatch photos. All three matte shades--Designer or Die, Gimme Gorgeous and Filthy Rich--apply beautifully and are so easy to blend out. It Crowd and No Faux have equally great formulation and pigmentation, and are fun to add to a neutral look to add some color. I will definitely be getting my hands on another palette soon! XOX ♥
Price: $10 * Buy At: Kmart * Size: 0.21 oz / 6 g The Milani Everyday Eyes Eyeshadow Collection in Earthy Elements is a six shadow palette consisting of warm neutrals. The palette is plastic and cheap feeling, but that is expected with the drugstore price tag. I feel that the packaging is kind of bulky for just six shadows, but again, I am not too bothered. Unfortunately, the first shadow is pretty much a dud, but the rest of the shades are really nice! The two matte shades are really the stars of the palette; they are smooth, pigmented, and blend super easily. While I like the color selection, I don’t think you can create a ton of different eye looks using only this palette, since there isn’t any pale or deep shades. Two of the shadows are lighter, but not to the point that they could be a highlight, at least on my skintone. I feel that the palette could also use a dark matte brown or black, which is a staple shade for me on an everyday basis. All nitpicking aside, I think this palette is really nice, even if you just buy it for the two matte crease shades! I have never been a fan of eyeshadows from the drugstore, but I would definitely recommend this palette to anyone on a budget looking for shadows that are easy to work with. XOX ♥
|
Product Reviews
All
Archives
May 2017
|