Mega palettes are somewhat of a craze right now. Urban Decay started it, of course, with their Naked palette and its sequels. Then there was Lorac Pro (and other ginormous offerings from the brand), not to mention Laura Mercier's several Artist palette in more variations that I could follow. Smashbox is now joining the fun with their Full Exposure Palette. Original? Not really.But it is well-thought and contains fourteen eye shadows, half of them matte, so it's worth having a look. Each Full Exposure Palette comes with a dual-ended brush (one side for matte, the other for shimmer), and there's also an extra item, in my case a mini mascara, but I also saw a version where the extra was a primer (or was it an eyeliner? I'm getting my palettes mixed up). No one buys the palette for the free mascara, right? So let's move on to the main course. This post is about the matte eye shadows, the next one will feature the seven shimmery colors.
The textures of M1-M7 is decent. I've seen silkier ones, but they're fine and easy to apply and blend without muddying things up. The shades range from the basic lid brightening nude to black, with two warmer browns and two cooler ones to balance things out. Pigmentation is moderate for the light colors and intense for the dark ones that can also be used for lining. The standouts for me are M2 (a natural crease color) and M6 (perfect contour) but I'm pretty sure I already have similar ones somewhere in my collection (Bobbi Brown? Rouge Bunny Rouge? maybe Naked Basics 2?). Smashbox has succeeded in making these eye shadows the perfect combination of firm and soft--- there's no chalkiness or powdery mess in the palette or on the lid, so that wins them a gold star in my book. The eye shadows might not be a dream-come-true of silkiness but they're still a good starting point for several matte eye looks.
Next: The Shimmers.
Smashbox Full Exposure Palette was sent to me by PR. It's available from Sephora ($49). The palette is made in the USA, brush manufactured in China.
Lovely mattes!
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