Beauty Moment- Review of Smashbox Cosmetics

This Christmas, one of my favorite gifts was the Ultimate Studio Pop palette by Smashbox.  Because it was a limited-edition holiday palette, this particular set is no longer widely available.  You may be able to find it on eBay or sporadically at Ulta or Sephora.  

So I'm not going to review this palette, in particular.  Instead, I'm going to give you my impressions of the makeup contained within the palette itself - there are so many different products included that I have a really good idea of which products I like and would purchase again...and which I would not.

Eye Shadow
I've used and loved Smashbox eye shadows for a few years, now.  The color payoff is terrific - very saturated - and the formula is creamy enough to blend out easily.  But they also have great staying power, especially when paired with an eye shadow primer.
A few of my favorite shades, discovered within the Studio Pop palette, are:

• Roast - a dark chocolate brown flecked with gold
• Spruce - a minty beige
• Fizz - the prettiest champagne shimmer

Cream Eye Liners

Before this palette, I was familiar with Smashbox's Jet Set Waterproof Eyeliners, which I think are really terrific.  They're comparable in performance to Mac and Bobbi Brown's gel eyeliners.  I was expecting a similar level of staying power in the cream eye liners and was woefully disappointed.  

The liners are not well-pigmented; the only color that showed up well on my fair skin was Onyx - the dark black.  Everything else took a lot of product, and a lot of effort, to get any use as a liner.  As for lasting power...yeah.  None.  They smudge and fade within just a few hours of wear. 

I tried to make use of the cream liners as eye shadow bases.  I especially thought Amethyst and Gold would look great underneath several of the eye shadows within the palette.  And they did...right up until they creased and caused a huge mess.  There is no way I would ever recommend the cream eye liners to anyone.  

Soft Lights

I've been eyeballing the soft lights highlighting power for a while now, but didn't want to shell out $29 for a product that was unproven.  I was thrilled to find two different soft lights shades in this palette - and they've become an integral part of my everyday makeup routine.  

• Lens - peachy gold
• Prism - silvery pink

The peachy gold shade casts such a warm glow to the face.  I wear it most often during the day, when I want to make my skin look a little less pallid and winter-worn.  The pink shade has slight silver undertones to it, and looks great at night - paired with a smoky eye or bright lip color.  

Blush/Bronzer

Although I'm happy that the palette included blush and bronzer, there's not much to say about either of them. They're fine.  Nothing special.  At $24 and $29, respectively, I can't say that I think they're 'must-haves.'  At a similar price point, I prefer Bobbi Brown blush and bronzers - the color range is more versatile and the powders last longer on my face.  

Lip Gloss

I really, really like the lip colors in this palette.  The formula is thick, but not sticky.  It feels very smooth on the lips and the color payoff is great.  My favorite shades are:

• Bella- rich raspberry
• Lily - mauve
• Tea Rose - brick pink

The only problem is that I'm not exactly sure which of the many lip formulas that Smashbox carries these are because the palette simply calls them lipcolors - and when I searched the Smashbox website for the colors by name, nothing came up.  I think they're the Lip Enhancing Glosses because I've used that formula before and they feel similar.  

So to recap, I would repurchase and recommend:

• Eye shadows
• Soft Lights  highlighter
• Lip Enhancing Glosses

I would not repurchase or recommend:

• Cream Eye Liners
• Blush
• Bronzer

Beauty Moment- Smashbox All Day Beauty Kit

I'm having fun discovering and playing around with Smashbox cosmetics. Here's a little overview of my thoughts on my first major Smashbox purchase- the All Day Beauty Kit. In the video, I mention several great reasons for ordering online from Smashbox.com...but I forget to include that shipping is FREE in the US. All the time. No code necessary. No minimum.



In the video, I also call the kit the Day to Night Kit..oops. Same concept. It's really called the All Day Beauty Kit.

Beauty Moment- Stila's Adventurous in Aspen Palette

This past fall/winter, Stila released a series of palettes that I immediately glommed on to. Each one includes 4 eyeshadows and one convertible color (for lips and cheeks).

The palettes helped me break out of a makeup rut that I'd been in for a while - using the same shades (even if I bought them at different counters!) over and over, in the same way over and over. I learned a lot about how the shades in each palette, while appearing overly dramatic at first glance, are extremely wearable when blended together. Case in point? The Adventurous in Aspen palette.





The convertible color is a very pale, sheer pink shade called Rosy. And from the top left, the eyeshadows are:
* Glisten - burnished gold
* Snow Angel- glimmery lavender
* Ajax- gold flecked black
* icicles - navy blue

I looked at this palette and thought, "Uhm...how do I make purple/gold/navy blue work together?" It was a lot easier than I thought:





After evening out my complexion with Bobbi Brown's foundation stick, I covered up my under-eye circles with Bobbi's Corrector & Creamy Concealer. Then I dotted the Rosy convertible color onto the apples of my cheeks and blended the color up toward my temples with a fluffy powder brush.

For the eyes, I patted Snow Angel onto my entire eyelid. Then I pressed Glisten onto the inner half of my lower lid, starting from the tearduct and stopping just about my iris. I tapped Icicles into the crease, focusing at the outside corner of my eye. Then I put a little Glisten onto a fluffy shadow brush and swept it over my entire lower lid to help blend all the colors together. Ajax was my liner shade, defining my upper and lower lash liner.

I swiped a touch of Rosy convertible color on my lips, then topped it with a very pale pink gloss. Voila! Intimidating colors mastered.