I chose eyeshadow as my first topic because it is such an important element of a completed makeup look. Bright colors will give off a fun vibe, whereas dark smoky colors add drama and sensuality. Creating well blended eyeshadow takes the right tools, skill, and quality products.

Oh, and time.

I’ve shown swatches and reviews of some makeup palettes on my channel already: The Lorac Unzipped, Too Faced Semi Sweet, and Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary. I’ll have them linked below if you’d like to watch those. In today’s post, I’m going to show a few more palettes that I own.

Lorac Pro Palette 2  

Retail $42

Lorac’s Pro shadows are the highest quality of shadows in their line. The colors in the first Pro palette are on the warmer side whereas this has more cool toned shades.

All sixteen eyeshadows have a soft or buttery texture. In addition to the palette, Lorac also included a mini Behind the Scenes Eyeshadow Primer. Unlike many other lid primers on the market, this one blends into the skin and barely leaves a trace of color.

By taking a closer look, you can see which colors I use more.

I have owned this palette for 13 months and in that time Buff, Snow, Cool Gray, Beige, and Charcoal were either untouched or swatched just once. The matte shades are nice but Lorac’s shimmer shadows are phenomenal. Because these shadows are so soft, I take only a small amount on the brush at a time and then build up the look.

My personal favorites are Rosé, Mocha, and Cocoa. I forgot how beautiful Jade is! I’ll have to use that more often. It is difficult to build intensity with the black shade (I prefer darker black eyeshadows) but it’s still nice to have a matte black. This is the palette I take on trips because of it’s mix of light, dark, matte, shimmer, neutral, and pops of color.

Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Zinc Stearate, Boron Nitride, Silica, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Mineral Oil, Kaolin, Methicone, Lauroyl Lysine, Althaea Officinalis Root Extract, Carum Petroselinum (Parsley) Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Extract, Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben,

May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (Cl 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090:2), Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide (CI 77510). *Contains Carmine as a Color Additive.

CoastalScents Warm Palette 88

Retail $22, Currently $9.95

I bought this not long after I began making beauty videos on Youtube. However, I’ve only used this palette a handful of times. I ordered it from the CoastalScents website and broke it the day after it arrived, despite still being in the bubble wrap. About 25 of the shadows fell out of the poorly glued palette and 14 of those had to be re-pressed. Some of the eyeshadows may not have been put back in their proper place (I used the back of the box as a guide).

The colors are beautiful. I particularly like the darker mattes and the light-medium shimmery shades. The variety for the price is a great bargain but not surprisingly, the quality is slightly lower than what you would find at the drugstore. They’re tricky to build up without becoming muddy and there is an overwhelming powdery/talc smell when you open the palette. Some shades are more pigmented than others. I randomly chose 6 of the 88 to swatch.

I think this is a good depiction of the better shades in the palette. I should note that I used the Lorac Eyeshadow Primer underneath all of the swatches here today.

Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Squalane, Dimethicone, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Stearate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Lanolin, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, BHT. May Contain : Mica and Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ultramarine Blue, Manganese Violet, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, Chrome Oxide Greens, Hydrated Chrome Oxide Green, FD&C Red No.40 A1 Lake, FD&C Yellow No.5 A1 Lake, FD&C Blue No.1 Al Lake.

Smashbox Santigolden Eyeshadow Collage  (Limited Edition)

Retail $36, Discontinued

There were two palettes in the collection and the one I own is called “Earth as We Know It.” The picture on the box is the same as the lid of the compact. This palette is more than just a collector’s dream, as the impressive shadows are of high quality. A little goes a long way. The center blue color is the only matte. The two on the left are shimmer shades and the two on the right have more glitter in them.

I love the green and brown shades. The downside is that I rarely wear green, so this palette doesn’t get much use. I suspect that the price and color scheme are the reasons the entire Santigolden collection (glosses, liners, shadows) did not sell well. I say this based on how long Sephora listed the products in their sale section, in addition to the “Last Chance” sale Smashbox had on their website. In fact, I paid $16 when I combined the 50% sale price with my 10% off holiday coupon.

This collection was for Spring/Summer 2014.

That is all I have for you today. As promised, links to my past palette videos are below.

Lorac Unzipped (7:54-12:57) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFEjnDCQbjY

Too Faced and Hello Kitty  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yko2AeNiPOE

❤ Lili