Smashbox Full Exposure palette ($49 at Sephora, Ulta, Beauty.com, Nordstrom, and Smashbox.)
For the past week, I've been using the Smashbox Full Exposure palette. You might have seen the black shadow from this palette in last week's black shadow round-up.
The packaging is pretty good - I love the rainbow lettering on the front and the magnetic closure palette is pretty standard these days. Nothing over the top or special but it feels substantial enough to protect the shadows inside. Sorry to say, I neglected to take a photo of the palette open. Like so many others, this palette has a mirror inside but no way to prop the lid so that you can actually use it. I'd really like to meet the person that applies shadows from a 14-pan palette holding the palette or with it flat on a table somewhere. The included brush is decent quality, natural hair on one end, duo natural/synthetic on the other; I'd say more actually versatile and usable than the brushes that come with any other palette.
I swatched from left to right, top row and then second row. These shadows don't seem to have names, they're referred to by Smashbox as Shimmer 1 through 7 and Matte 1 through 7.
Smashbox Full Exposure swatches
I'm sure you've already spotted the main problem with this palette. The shimmer shades suffer from major fallout and wash out to a very similar color in all but the darkest shades. The mattes, however, do not suffer from this problem. In fact, I think this palette is worth purchasing just for the mattes, if you're looking for matte neutrals. However, I have the Naked Basics palette along with Urban Decay's Buck, Laced, Tease, Secret Service - I'm well-served in the neutral matte department.
Even worse than that, though, was what happened when I applied these without the shimmer shades sticking around:
Even worse than that, though, was what happened when I applied these without the shimmer shades sticking around:
So similar. Still fighting with the eyebrows.
No matter what application method, tools, or look I used, they just kind of washed out to being the same. I don't have this trouble with Urban Decay's Naked Basics, which only has six shades. It's disappointing, at least to me, to spend between ten and twenty minutes standing in front of your mirror to walk away looking like you did the day you spent five minutes on a look.
Overall, I'd say this one is a pass unless you're really looking for basic mattes that will give you a consistent look day to day. Honestly, I think that may be part of the design, as the packaging describes Smashbox's process for choosing these colors - colors that can be used to create a "natural" look on a variety of skin tones for makeup pros. Certainly, you can choose the shades that work best for your skin and eye colors and have a standard look that's easy to pull together quickly - but don't expect versatility out of this one - but it seems an awful shame to buy fourteen pans of product to only use three or four.
Overall, I'd say this one is a pass unless you're really looking for basic mattes that will give you a consistent look day to day. Honestly, I think that may be part of the design, as the packaging describes Smashbox's process for choosing these colors - colors that can be used to create a "natural" look on a variety of skin tones for makeup pros. Certainly, you can choose the shades that work best for your skin and eye colors and have a standard look that's easy to pull together quickly - but don't expect versatility out of this one - but it seems an awful shame to buy fourteen pans of product to only use three or four.
This is why you didn't get full-face at all - my glasses were uncooperative this week.
F-Bomb is still awesome, though.
F-Bomb is still awesome, though.
Coming up this week I have swatches from Urban Decay's Electric Palette (oh, come on, you knew I'd buy it) and a short review for the Paw Palette I recently purchased.
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