Sometimes you follow the crowd, and sometimes you have to try things for yourself to know what you like.
When browsing Sephora.com a while ago, I stumbled upon the Smashbox Full Exposure palette ($49 retail). A neutral shadow palette with mattes AND shimmers? And they're all beautiful colors I can use to create a range of looks from professional to partay? What??
And yet, I only saw one or two positive reviews out of three total (figuratively...) on the blogosphere.
A lot of people proclaimed it "meh" when they swatched it in stores. Of course I heard nothing from anyone in real life besides a Sephora assistant, who said it was selling like hotcakes despite there being twenty left on the case. It was also after she said that when I bit the bullet and got it to try out anyway.
Wow, thanks for letting me know the names of these pretty colors? I'll be sure to use M1 in the crease and S3 on the lid. Wait what? I'm confused already. You do get a double ended brush that's of decent quality included. I also really enjoy the hefty weight and solid feel of the case, though its portability may be questionable.
Wow. I can't get over this palette simply because of its visual appeal. Lots of cool dark silvers and a black for a smokey night time, lots of colors for crease blending, and a lot of drama in that shimmer/glitter on the top row. It seems to try hard to appeal to a lot of different tastes.
And it also came with an instructional booklet on adapting the palette to different eye shapes. I kept matching myself to everything since my eyes are slanted upwards, hooded, and almond. What the hell. And as a second thought, a freebie mascara was thrown in. I'm using a full size of the Full Exposure mascara at the moment and I really enjoy it, but they could've left it out and lowered the price.
Main points to gleam?
1. The colors do not pack as much as a punch as they suggest in pan. If you use the shimmer shades only on top of the lids and blend with mattes, it isn't vulgar for the office. They're not crazy pigmented.
2. If you have any neutral eyeshadow set with "Naked" or "Bare" or "Neutral" in your stash, you don't need this. However, I find that the entire bottom row could serve as crease and transition colors for any other eye look you may do with another palette.
This palette is much more versatile than my UD Nakeds simply because I can rotate through the entire palette and use each shade equally without being afraid that one shade is too cool for me (too warm does not exist in my vocabulary.)
3. There isn't a buttery feel when you swipe your fingers and swatch. However there is no problem with application for me. I didn't get major fall out or patchiness on the lids.
Below starts the swatch-fest. Enjoy.
This is indoors with indirect lighting. The matte shades were swiped twice and the shimmery shades were swiped once. Notice how patchy the matte black and cream colors swatched rather badly.They don't do this on the lid.
Excuse the dog butt. This is sort of outdoors, but there's no direct sunlight. The colors look very subdued, which could be a hit or miss depending on what you like.
This is direct sunlight. Yummm, arm creases.
Here's another view in direct sunlight. I swatched going from bottom to top and right to left on the palette.
Texture: The textures of the mattes vary, but most are rather powdery on the fingers. When you pick up certain matte shades with a brush there is some powder that kicks up in the pan. However, I didn't notice any patchiness on the lid. The textures of the shimmers are really nice and they swatch beautifully on the skin in my opinion. A flat brush is needed to pick up the optimal amount for the shimmery shades.
Pigmentation: The pigmentation again varies, but you can see for yourself that three of the matte shades don't swatch or show very well on my NC25 forearm. As for the shimmers, one swipe was enough of an effect for me, but those expecting extremely pigmentation may be disappointed. I rather enjoy how light the shimmer and colors are to act as a highlight on the top of my lids or inner corner. The shimmers don't have fall out, but again, your experience may vary.
Wear: These wear just as well as any other mid- range eyeshadows, perhaps on the same level as Laura Mercier and Too Faced. I used them with a primer with no creasing problems. Without primer, they last for about 5 hours of wear on the eyes before fading.
Color: It seems like every color was well thought and planned out for this palette, and I enjoy the S7 and M1 shades the most because they perform excellently. I don't think any of these colors are too cool, but the bone and light taupe shades don't show up too well on my skintone. I think M2 is perfect as a crease color. I think that this palette is really versatile even as a neutral palette because of the two contrasting textures. I can wear all mattes for work and add a shimmer for happy hour if need be.
Packaging: I adore the magnetic closure and heavy duty cardboard of this palette. It's not super sleek, but it has substantial heft that will ensure that your eyeshadows are well protected. The exterior feels like the Lorac Pro palette, which means it can be wiped down with a cloth regularly. Both the mirror and the eyeshadow pans are sized well, and the nook where the brush is stored doesn't allow it to fall right now when you open the palette up.
Price: I don't think the
Full Exposure palette is worth its retail price, but I still think it's a very good palette more so than people give credit. I enjoy the fact that there is an equal amount of mattes and shimmers (that's really shimmery, not just satin) and there is consistent quality across the board. However, if I had fifty bucks to spend I would get one of the Naked palettes (too bad I own all three already...)
So, the main lesson is to not trust even the swatches you can take in stores and actually use products on your face before judgment, right? I found that with any daily routine of shadow primer and even novice application, the
Full Exposure palette is a good staple with a lot of variety for looks.
xo, Be
