Smashbox Full Exposure - Review and Palette Parade Check-In

What's a palette parade? See this post.

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:

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.

This is why you didn't get full-face at all - my glasses were uncooperative this week.
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.

Do you have an expiration routine?

Quick post - as I was going through and replacing my toothbrush and Clarisonic heads, I wondered: do all of you have a routine to keep track of when you should be tossing things?

For instance, on the first of each month, I switch my razor blades (even if they "don't need it,") toss anything that has reached the open-for-too-long point, and try and clean out my makeup area.

At the first of each quarter, I change toothbrush and Clarisonic heads, toss any open mascara, and sanitize anything that hasn't been taken care of (I set stuff aside to be sanitized as it is used. You know that one wash-by-hand dish that sits next to your sink? Like that.)

At the new year and half year, I check medications, sunscreen, and other expiration dates. Of course, I label everything and toss as I go if I encounter a passed expiration date but this helps me stay ahead of the panic that I suddenly don't have eye cream or one of the three types of sunscreen I keep in my cabinet.

Do you have a routine? Do you prefer a more relaxed approach?

Palette Parade Check-In: Urban Decay Neutral Custom 6-pan

Not sure what the Palette Parade is? Check out this post here.

Sorry guys, this is a fairly tame one. This week I used the Urban Decay custom 6-pan - the pan came with my favorite blending shade, Walk of Shame, and I added Virgin, Tease, Laced, Buck and Secret Service. Very matte, very basic.

How basic is this? So basic. 

I had planned to use it with some Geek Chic singles but I was rushed for time a lot this week and the loose format of the Geek Chic singles mean you really need time to put down a sticky primer like Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy - and there's not a lot of room for error once that stuff is on. (I'm going to try and do a swatch-and-review soon on Pixie Epoxy. That stuff is wonderful and a little scary with how long it lasts.)

Given that, I spent most of the week with my face looking like a variation of: 

Basic face is basic. 

Lipstick is Urban Decay's Gash, which is exclusive to their website

I really wish Naked Basics had a few more shades in it - if it was this palette, plus Crave, it would probably be my favorite thing ever. One of the very nice things about Laced is that it doubles as a blush for me and Buck can also work as a contouring shade - which makes this palette very versatile for me, as it's more than just eyeshadow shades.

Additionally, I feel like the Urban Decay single shadows are a bit overpriced at $18 each - MAC charges $10 for pans, the shadows in Urban Decay's own palettes break down to somewhere around $4 a pan. It really provides an incentive to purchase palettes where you can. That said, I like the build-your-own palettes. I wish Urban Decay had gone with a less bulky way of managing the packaging, think of how much space we could save with something more like a naked pan and it would have less plastic, less to ship, and less expense!

We had a sunshine-lite week last week but I did finally manage to get black shadow comparison swatches. Expect to see them on Wednesday!

Next week's Parade Check In: Naked 2 or Smashbox Full Exposure. I haven't decided yet. 

Palette Parade Check-in: Sugarpill Heartbreaker

Hey there! Checking in with this past week's palette: Sugarpill's Heartbreaker.

Not sure what the Palette Parade is? Check out this post.

Sugarpill Heartbreaker Palette

I'm kind of a completist. I want to have all of the the options at my fingertips, if there are options to be had. I initially bought this palette with that in mind. I liked the purple (2AM) and blue (Velocity) shades in it and figured the lime green (Acidberry) and mint green (Mochi) wouldn't see much use. How wrong I was. That green shade? Is amazing as in inner corner highlight and that mint green blends like a dream.

I really enjoyed using this palette this week. Unfortunately, I spent so much time playing with it most days that I didn't have time to set up good photos for you guys - especially in the suddenly-bright and then suddenly-dark weather of Seattle's standard spring. 

Not very helpful, is it? 

I did get some decent photos on two days and I'll share those with you guys here. 

On my first day using these, I was worried that I was going to wind up with a week's worth of looks that were so similar to what I got from Sweetheart - which I very much liked but were overwhelmingly blue and intense. I think the purple in this palette is what really rounds it out and makes it capable of softer looks, if you need it to be.

 

You can kind of see the similarity to the Sweetheart look here.

(Lipstick is Urban Decay's Obsessed)

That same day, eyes open: 

Indoors, it was a very soft look, which was not the case with Sweetheart.

When you throw the green into the mix, you get something that really pops but doesn't scream that you're wearing neon shadow:

 

I think this looks completely different with and without glasses. Sorry about the brows, we're having a tussle over control of the shape. The brows are winning. The eyeliner (Sugarpill's Royal Sugar loose shadow and MAC Mixing Medium) miss is thanks to a ready-to-leave four year old. :)

See? Glasses seem to make the purple crease seem stronger. 

(Lipstick is Urban Decay's Catfight)

I'm kind of surprised to say this, but I think this may wind up being my favorite of the three matte palettes from Sugarpill. I'll have to do a showdown between this and Burning Heart at some point and see but I see lots of use in this palette's future. The mint shade as a lid color really ties together and grounds brighter purples, blues, and greens. Acidberry brings a color that can't be matches, which really helps keep the colors in this palette firmly out of 80s-theme-day territory. 2AM, the purple, is just red enough to play well with Velocity, the royalest of all blues. Like every other Sugarpill shadow I've put my hands on, these all blend amazingly and can be packed on for intense color or blended out for a soft wash. 

You can pick these up from Beautylish like I did, from Sugarpill directly, or Makeup Geek's store for $32 (shipping varies.) Shades are available in the palette or individually.

Do any of you want reviews on the Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks? The line was revamped not too long ago and a few samples wound up dragging me in - the shade range really fills the gaps that MAC seems to miss, cool-toned mid-range and not-red shades. 

Coming up this week: a new black-shadow face-off - will Makeup Geek's Corrupt out-black Blackout? 

Nail of the Week: Pinta and Chloe

As I've mentioned before, I use almost entirely Zoya polish because it holds well for over a week and keeps my nails strong. In last week's madness, I didn't get a chance to shape or paint my nails which lead to some breakage. When that happens, I tend to cut them short and even and go for a glittery or dark (or both, in this case) color.

I had some trouble capturing the holographic glitter that is Chloe's main characteristic. I'm not seeing Chloe on Zoya's US website but I am seeing it on their Australian website (lucky Aussies!) Any pink-toned holographic flake nail polish should have the same general effect, I haven't found them to be all that different from one another and there are quite a few out there - Milani, Color Club, Chanel, and a lot of indie brands have all made holographic flake polishes.

Chloe here is layered over Pinta, which is a deep royal purple cream. The end effect is something like a speckled egg and works well as a transition-to-spring color, as well as a transition-to-fall color.

Here you can really see the base color of Pinta but the fleck isn't showing up that well.

And here you can see the fleck of Chloe but the base color isn't showing up that well. 

I find that I like darker colors better for shorter nails than bright colors but that is perhaps a product of remembering the '90s well and the admonitions to not wear black polish on long nails (which I do anyhow.) Do you keep your short nails bright, light, or dark? 

Palette Parade: Sugarpill Cold Chemistry

Hello! I'm sorry to have missed all of last week - things were a bit hectic and I'm not caught up enough to have posts queued in advance. I'm going to jump right back into this week with last week's Palette Parade check-in: Sugarpill Cold Chemistry. See my first post on the topic, Palette Parade, for guidelines and general information.

This week's palette was Sugarpill's Cold Chemistry.

At first glance, I was worried I wasn't going to get a lot of versatility out of this one and I have to admit, the first few days I was very heavy-handed with it it. This is a very pigmented set of shades - the lighter looks I did this week were a single tap of the brush to the shadow smoked out with a blending brush to create a lighter look. At this rate, I expect this palette to last approximately forever.

Definitely a keeper, this palette will create some very bold looks and some incredible smoky eye looks. I'm going to put my favorite two looks outside the jump and then the rest of the week behind the jump. 

This look was created using only Diamond Eyes (the white shade) and Soot and Stars (the glittery black shade.) One of my favorite daytime smoky eyes ever.

This heavy-handed purple look was early in the week and is only Diamond Eyes and Elemental Chaos.

Palette Parade

Eyeshadow palettes. They seem to be taking over the world. I remember when quads were a big deal because you got "so much" product in one package. Now it seems like everybody has six, eight, and twelve shades locked away in magnetic, zippered, and clasp enclosures. I've found it to be a rare person that has just one palette.

However, it seem we all have that one palette we use more than the others and turn to on our laziest days because we know we can use it in our sleep. Then there are those palettes that you bought because the shadows were buttery, the pigmentation was great, and you were sure you'd love the colors - and they are collecting dust in the bottom of a drawer or traincase. Maybe you're just not sure how to use the shadows, maybe you bought the palette hoping to branch out a little, or maybe you just auto-pilot in the morning because the coffee hasn't quite hit yet when you put on your makeup.

Sephora forum user bombshell30 decided to do something about that.

There are no hard rules but the basic guidelines are:

• Put your palettes in an order - you choose how to do this, one person used a number generator, I alternated bright palettes with neutral palettes
• Use your palette five days in a row (most of us have been doing Monday to Friday for simplicity) - two days a week are "free" days. It was also decided that holidays, birthdays, and special events could be exempt or "free" days.
• If you decide to get rid of a palette (return it to the store, trade it away, or toss it,) you can either take a free week for the rest of the week or move on to the next palette
• You can use singles with your palette but no other palettes (remember, we're trying to use each palette, so this rule is to prevent you from using your go-to and just accenting with a shade from the parade palette.) 
• Continue until you've used all of the palettes in your collection

After the jump: my palettes for parading, some rules modifications, and my progress so far.