The Perfect Palette Tag

Eyeshadow palettes have got to be one of my favourite makeup products of all time. There's something about their resemblance to an actual artist palette that just makes them look so much fun to work with!

As much as I'd love to share with you all each and every one of the eyeshadow palettes I own, I figured that a much easier and more efficient way of showcasing my love (more like obsession LOL) for my babies would be via the 'Perfect Palette Tag.' 

1. Best Packaging

Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Self-made' / $59AUD Sephora
I'm going to be honest. While this palette isn't the most interesting or creative eyeshadow packaging I've come across (i.e. Too-Faced Chocolate Bar), it's just so damn elegant. The palette itself not only has a sophisticated packaging, it also feels luxurious. The texture and material of the palette along with the metal plate with 'Anastasia Beverly Hills' imprinted on it, reminds me of a high class wallet or purse (from afar, it could actually be mistaken for one!) The magnetic cover that effortlessly flips open and close makes it so easy to use. It also feels sturdy and has a good weight. 

Above all, the palette looks as good as it wears - the shadows in this palette are not only pigmented and buttery (as you would expect from a high-end eyeshadow palette), they're also very unique, which makes them phenomenal. 

'Pink Champagne' is the most perfect pinkish, glittery eyeshadow out there that wears beautifully and gives off the most intense metallic finish because its glitters are so refined. My personal favourite in this palette has got to be 'Treasure' - an ordinary shimmery pinky champagne at first glance, but when worn is the most magical cool-toned highlight shade EVER. I'm not even exaggerating. Everything about this palette is absolutely gorgeous. 

2. Best Color Payoff

Urban Decay 'Naked 2' / $78AUD Mecca (now risen to $81 eek! D:)
Even though it's cliche, I couldn't not give the best colour payoff award to Urban Decay's shadows. Apart from the Naked 2, I also own the Naked Basics 1 & 2, which features all matte shades. I adore my UD Naked 2 for its pigmented shadows and variety of matte, shimmer, satin and intensely metallic shades. I have to say that the intensely metallic part of this palette had me convinced that I wouldn't find another palette out there with a more intense metallic finish than that in UD's Naked 2 - namely 'Half-baked' (shimmery gold) and 'YDK' (ultra metallic taupe). 

Due to the intense pigmentation in these shadows, they do tend to kick up quite a bit of fall out, which is something I find less desirable about UD shadows. The darker matte shades can be a little difficult to blend for beginners. I still love the Naked 2 for its intensely pigmented shimmery/metallic shadows, but I would generally not choose to wear this on the daily. However, whenever there's an occasion where a full-blown smokey eye is required, UD's Naked 2 is the palette I would turn to. 

3. Most Versatile

Chi Chi Glamorous 'Mattes 2' / $22.95 Target or Myer
I had a hard time choosing between my Chi Chi Glamorous Matte 1 & 2 palettes, and my Too-Faced Chocolate bar palettes (original and semi-sweet). I finally settled on the Chi Chi Mattes 2, because I have honestly gone to this palette on so many different occasions. This palette contains almost every shade of matte I need for any eyeshadow look - and I couldn't deny it even if I wanted to (considering my Naked Basics 1 & 2 cost a heck of a lot more and go untouched). This palette literally has it all - any warm-toned matte highlight, transition or outer v shade you need is probably in there. And if you're more of cool-toned kind of gal, the Chi Chi Mattes 3 will be your best friend.

These shadows aren't the highest of quality, but they do pack a decent amount of pigmentation. They are similar to Urban Decay's matte shadows, in the sense that they are "wetter" shadows, which can make them ever so slightly difficult to blend. Some of the shades can be a little chalky, but I find that to be the case with some UD mattes as well.

4. Best for Traveling

Smashbox 'Full Exposure' travel size / $35AUD Mecca
I bought this on impulse at the Mecca store some time last month because I was drawn to the cute ass packaging and the awesome range of shimmer, glitter and matte shadows in this palette. The second colour on the top row was to die for and it reminded me of MAC's Honey Lust (but better quality), a drop-dead gorgeous light peachy shade with micro-glitters. 

I love every colour in this palette and can definitely see myself being able to use this for any occasion. The smokey grey shade in the top right hand corner is the perfect grey for a classic smokey eye. I also love the black-brown matte right under it, which is a perfect substitute for a straight out black that can be a little too much for some people. I can't say the shadow quality of this palette is the best I've tried for a high-end product - they are on the drier side, but overall, I do enjoy this palette. It's the smallest and slimmest eyeshadow palette I own and contains a good variety of shades and finishes, which makes it ideal for travel.

5. Biggest Regret

Face of Australia 'Colour Max' palette in 'Nude' / $13.95AUD Priceline
I had to dig up my 'abandoned products drawer' to find this one. Initially I was drawn to the packaging and the pretty shade selection...

The glittery plummy gold shade on the top left hand corner has virtually no pigmentation. The glitters are large and chunky, which is not something you want in a glitter eyeshadow. The metallic light gold however, is absolutely stunning. It's the main reason I held on to this palette even though the other shadows didn't perform so well.

The problem is in the formulation of these eyeshadows. The mattes shades (especially the dark brown) have a weird texture and don't seem to stick to the lids properly. Despite looking decent when swatched, they are too chalky and blend away easily, leaving behind just a sheer wash of colour. The light shades are also extremely sheer. I can still make this palette work as the colours are beautiful and work well together, but as a whole, this palette was a solid disappointment. I believe the Face of Australia Colour Max Palettes are limited edition.

6. Best Color Names

Too-Faced 'Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar' / $70AUD Mecca

When we can all get past how delicious this eyeshadow palette smells, can we take a moment and appreciate how spot on the names are for the actual eyeshadows themselves?! The colours look exactly like their shade names.

Swatches of 'Peanut Butter', 'Mousse' & 'Caramel'

'Mousse' sure enough looks like the colour of chocolate mousse, and 'Caramel' is just this spot on golden caramel shade that looks good enough to eat. I also love that they named the glittery pink 'Pink sugar' because who wouldn't relate glitter to sugar, right? The shade names are ingenious. Kudos to Too-Faced for actually making an effort to match shade names with the actual colours of the eyeshadows!

7. Least Used

The Balm 'Nude-tude' / $50AUD Target

This was actually the first high-end eyeshadow palette I bought when David Jones first started stocking The Balm products (which they no longer do). My first impression of this palette was just - FUN. I was intrigued and entertained by the design and placement of the individual shadows. ;) For creativity, I give it 5 stars.

The shadows are housed in very small rectangular pans, which doesn't bother me considering it takes me forever to hit pan on anything - let alone an eyeshadow. The shades are also quite nice and wearable, and I have no complaints about the formula or pigmentation of these shadows either. However, I just don't reach for this palette as much as my other eyeshadow palettes.

Swatches of (L-R): 'Stand-offish', 'Selfish', 'Sexy' & 'Sleek' (my favourites)

This palette has a really great colour selection, though it may be missing a few all-over-the-lid shades. I have a theory that even though the shades are great by themselves, they don't work quite as well together as shades in other palettes do, which might possibly be the reason I don't pick up this palette very often..

8. Most Used

Too-Faced 'Natural Eyes' / $53AUD Mecca

When I first got my hands on this little palette, I was completely obsessed. It was one of my first (I think 3rd) high-end eyeshadow palettes, and you might remember me raving about it in my review of the Model's Prefer Nude Palette, which is a close dupe for the Too-Faced Natural Eyes. 

Swatches of 'Honey Pot' & 'Push-Up'

The most used shadow in the palette is 'Push-up,' which is a stunning every day taupey-brown perfect for all over the lid. I used this shade religiously for months since I got this palette. It was all I really needed to create an every day, natural eye look, and the quality of the shadows were amazing to say the least. It features three matte brown shades that are great for contouring the eye (I've even used 'Nudie' as a face contour). 'Heaven' is a beautiful creamy matte white for the brow-bone, whereas 'Erotica' and 'Chocolate Martini' are stunning outer corner shades with fine glitter running through them. 'Honey Pot' is obviously another stunner, a very close dupe (though not as intense) for Urban Decay's 'Half-baked'. The only downside I would say is that these shadows don't smell like chocolate like the shadows in the Chocolate Bar palettes. I really wish they did! 

9. Most Loved

Morphe Brushes 35T / ~$50AUD Beautyjoint
I feel like this question is a little more subject to interpretation, as 'most loved' could also refer to 'most used' or in my case, my most beloved or treasured eyeshadow palette. I wanted to give this one to my Anastasia Self-made palette, as my boyfriend gifted this to me for Christmas and therefore, has sentimental value, but I figured I'd keep this strictly product-based. 

The moment I laid eyes on this, I was in lust. Apart from the fact that it is Morphe's 2nd most sought after palette (after the 35O which I am also lusting for), it is a huge inventory of purply, taupe shades. Taupes and cooler toned browns are my absolute favourite eyeshadow shades of all time. I may have my warm-toned or rosey-toned phases like any other gal, but taupes will always be my bae (LOL). I just feel like they are so flattering on my eyes. Sometimes I feel like a full-blown warm-toned eye look can be too much, but taupe has always been a colour I found to be 'natural' on me. So if I ever needed a monster palette containing 35 eyeshadows, a taupe theme would be my kind of palette. ;)

What I also adore about the 35T is that is also features several warm-toned shades such as the shimmery rose-gold and metallic amber on the fourth row from the top (These are RIDICULOUSLY pigmented and buttery as you can tell from the swatches). The colour pay-off on Morphe's shadows are top-notch and so is its colour selection.

10. Desert Island

I've seen a lot of people choose giant palettes featuring literally every colour imaginable for this question, but for me, it's clear that I will take my Anastasia Beverly Hills Self-Made Palette with me to a Desert Island. Not only is the colour selection wonderful - containing all your great neutrals as well as pops of colours and unique shades, it also contains a brush (yay!) Overall, this palette is just great and ticks all the right boxes for me.

Hope you enjoyed this massively long post and the photos of the eyeshadow palettes I shared.
Which are your most loved eyeshadow palettes?

Models Prefer NUDE 10-shades Eyeshadow Palette REVIEW & SWATCHES

As you can already tell, Models Prefer released a 10 Shades Nude Eyeshadow Palette - FINALLY, catching up with the rest of the beauty industry in coming out with Nude eyeshadow palettes, a trend that was originally introduced (or rather, hyped up) by of the Urban Decay Naked Palette. The beauty world has since evolved, and a cosmetic brand is simply not complete without their own Nude eyeshadow palette - which acts as a competing product against other brands, thus sustaining the brand's share of the market.

Enough talk about the marketing! 

Here are some pics/swatches, along with my thoughts about this product...

The Models Prefer Nude Eyeshadow Palette has a nice and sturdy, black plastic packaging - not cheap-looking at all! As you can see from the way I was holding this palette up for a quick snap, it is also quite small and compact, which makes it great for travelling. The print on the front is simple and elegant. The back of the compact oh-so conveniently provides you with a 3 step process to creating a smoky nude eye, which also suggests that you can wear this palette in 3 different ways ranging from light to dark. 

On the other hand, the shades of this palette initially (and strongly) reminded me of a nude eyeshadow palette I already own - can you guess? - THE TOO-FACED NATURAL EYE PALETTE!!!

Yes, the main reason I even picked this palette up (other than the fact that it was such a great value for money) was due to its colour resemblances to my adored Natural Eye palette by Too-faced. What sold me were the yellow-ish gold in the centre of the top row, and the nice mixture of cool taupes and warm colours. I was quite convinced that this was an exact dupe for the Too-faced palette, but later realised that they were actually very different from one another (Silly me!) I must say the shades are certainly from the same colour families as the ones from the Natural Eye Palette - although I might even prefer the shades from the Models Prefer palette because they are relatively warmer in comparison, and thus look more flattering on my olive skin tone. 

Shade Names (L-R): Bare, Sand, Golden, Glisten, Earth

• Bare is a matte off-white - your essential brow-bone highlight shade
• Sand is a shimmery light taupe - perfect as an inner corner highlight or an all over the lid shade
• Golden is a shimmery light yellow gold (bordering on yellow) - super pretty lid/inner corner shade
• Glisten is a beautiful, shimmery dark-chocolate shade (it's just gorgeous!)
• Earth is a matte black-brown - perfect for deepening up the outer crease or applying definition to the eye

Shade Names (L-R): Bliss, Natural, Desert, Nature, Willow

• Bliss is a shimmery white - very pretty! 
• Natural is an interesting, matte clay shade - a nice alternative to light brown as a transitional/blending shade
• Desert is a shimmery olive-toned taupe (is that even a real colour!!? Oh well, at least I tried!)
• Nature is a matte chocolate shade - another great outer v colour
• Willow is another blackish brown (more brown) with purple shimmer - stunning. 

The quality of these shadows are brilliant, especially for the price you pay. The palette retails for $12.99 at Priceline, and you get 10 reasonably-sized eyeshadows. I love how consistent the quality of these eyeshadows are for a drugstore brand - which is truly a rare find! The quality of these shadows are certainly up there with the more expensive brands, and this goes for Models Prefer eyeshadows in general. I use my Too-faced eyeshadows as an exemplar to set the bar on the quality of my eyeshadows, and these Models Prefer shadows actually reminded me of them! They're not as buttery smooth or fall-out-free as the Too-faced shadows, but they certainly feel like high quality makeup - and note that they're only a couple steps down from my beloved Too-faced shadows! The shadows contain the perfect amount of pigmentation - so don't expect crazy, crazy pigmentation where you'll pick up a ton of product by simply tapping the brush. Like blusher, higher pigmentation does not necessarily equal to a better product. Unlike Too-faced shadows, these ones give you a little more time to play with your look without worrying about over-doing it, or packing on too much colour all at once. These shadows highly resemble Clinique shadows in terms of pigmentation.

All in all, at such an affordable price, the Models Prefer 10-shades eyeshadow palette is a must-have for all lovers of nude/natural eyeshadows palettes. The colours work beautifully together to create endless natural looks for both day and night, and the quality is exceptional to the say the least. That wraps up this very exciting product review, which I should add, is really starting to sound like an advertisement! (Oops)

Until next time,

Ethereal. <3

Chi Chi Glamorous Eye Palettes REVIEW & SWATCHES

I know Chi Chi's Glamorous Eye palettes have been on the market for quite some time now, and it's great to see that they keep releasing new palettes to add to this collection. The ones I currently own are Bases, Nudes, Classics, Elegant and Sultry.

QUALITY

The quality of these eyeshadows are hit and miss, and there are some palettes that perform better in others in terms of how pigmented and smooth the shadows glide on.

SHADES

I love these palettes for the great range of shades they incorporate; some are very unique and like nothing I've encountered before! I also love the range of different textures in these palettes - some of these palettes have a rather good mixture of shimmer, metallic, satin and matte shades.

PIGMENTATION & TEXTURE

The majority of the shades in the Chi Chi palettes are pigmented, especially the matte and metallic shades. Some shades can be quite sheer, but I suspect this has something to do with production inconsistencies. I find that the shadows also tend to vary in texture, hence the hit and miss. I've noticed that metallic shades tend to be the smoothest and the most pigmented. The mattes are smooth but tend to be a little chalky - however, still workable. The lighter matte shades have less pigmentation than the darker ones (this will be apparent in the swatches). A number of the metallic/shimmery shades turned out to be quite crumbly, while the satin shades have decent (although not amazing) pigmentation.

LASTING POWER

I typically wear these shadows without any primer or base, and it works just fine for a nice day-time look. However, I would highly recommend slapping on a primer beforehand. The colours will appear more vibrant, and doing so also reduces fall-out.


The moment you've all been waiting for..... SWATCHES!

THE BASES PALETTE

The 'Bases' palette consists of mainly light pinky toned shadows, with a few warm and golden tones thrown in there. This palette reminds me of the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. It is great on days where I would prefer to wear minimal eyeshadow, and instead, amp up the look with eyeliner. Even the darkest shades (far right hand side) are only "medium tones" in my opinion, and they also contain shimmers. It would have been nice to see a matte dark shade which could be used for the outer V. This palette mostly contains light and shimmery eyeshadows, which would make sense considering it is named the 'Bases' (implying these shadows to be used as base shadows/'all over the lid' shades). For a complete eyeshadow look, you may find that you still need to reach into your other palettes for the darker shades. 

Shades (1-6): pale yellow (satin), cream (matte), pale champagne gold (metallic), blossom (satin w/ golden sheen), frosty pinkish white (metallic), neutral light pink (matte).

Without flash (under white lighting)

With flash

Shades (7-12): cool-toned pink (metallic), champagne (metallic), golden champagne (metallic), rusty gold (metallic), mauve (metallic), coppery brown (metallic).

Without flash

With flash

THE NUDES PALETTE

The 'Nudes' Palette features a range of warm-toned neutral eyeshadow shades that is evidently a dupe for the notorious Urban Decay Naked Palette. There have been several reviews over the internet comparing the two palettes, and I must say - the Chi Chi palette is definitely a close dupe. This palette is mostly comprised of metallic shadows with a couple of matte 'transition' shades. There is a nice spectrum of shades ranging from light to dark so the palette is extremely versatile.

Shades (1-6): cream (metallic), light pinkish mauve (metallic), cool-toned light brown (matte), golden chestnut (metallic), neutral-toned light brown (matte), orangey gold (metallic) - similar to 'half-baked' by UD.  

Without flash

With flash

Shades (7-12): chocolate brown (metallic), deep olive brown (metallic), auburn (metallic), plummy purple (satin), charcoal (shimmer), blueish gunmetal grey (metallic).

Without flash

With flash

THE CLASSICS PALETTE

The 'Classics' Palette is by far my favourite palette out of the Chi Chi palettes I own. It has a wonderful selection of matte, metallic, shimmer and satin shadows as well as a brilliant combination of unique and flattering colours. There are a total of 6 matte shades within this palette (half of the total) which are absolutely stunning. The pigmentation and texture of the mattes are quite decent as well (darker shades are more pigmented). Shades #6 and #9 are rather crumbly (especially #6) - I would certainly recommend using a base or primer underneath these shadows! 

This is Chi Chi's most well-made palette, in my opinion. Not only is it unique and like nothing else I've seen before, the colours also work extremely well together. (The first three shades in this palette are all matte shades and can be used to create a simple, classic natural eye). This palette is a staple and HG product in my collection, and I'm so glad I have it!

Shades (1-6): creamy off-white (matte), warm-toned light-medium brown (matte), cool-toned dark brown (matte), peachy gold (metallic), maroon (metallic), lilac w/ golden sheen (shimmer/duochrome).

Without flash

With flash

Shades (7-12): purple taupe (matte), light apricot (satin), silvery champagne (metallic), true taupe (satin), navy blue (matte), dark grey (matte).

Without flash

With flash

THE ELEGANT PALETTE

The 'Elegant' Palette is probably the most disappointing palette out of the 5 in terms of the quality of the eyeshadows. The colours in this palette are incredibly beautiful and unique though. It is comprised of purple tones and colours that complement those eyeshadows. Unlike the rest of the Chi Chi palettes, this palette contains 5 glitter eyeshadows, 3 metallics, as well as 4 matte shadows which is really the only thing I like about this palette. The quality of the glitter eyeshadows are not that great - they're quite crumbly and lack pigmentation. I have been avoiding the glitter eyeshadows which seems to limit my ability to create multiple looks with this palette. However, if you don't mind spending a little bit of extra time using a base under the glitter eyeshadows, this palette can be used to create a variety of sophisticated looks.

Shades (1-6): deep champagne (metallic), greyish purple (metallic), taupe-ish white (metallic), pale pink (glitter), mauve taupe (matte), medium-toned pink (glitter). 

Without flash

With flash

Shades (7-12): deep purple (matte), black w/ purple glitter, white gold (glitter), greyish purple taupe (matte), brown taupe (glitter), dark brownish grey (matte).

Without flash

With flash

 THE SULTRY PALETTE

The 'Sultry' Palette is ONE HECK of a palette. ALL of the shades in this palette are of good and consistent quality (unlike some of the others), and the colours are just freaking gorgeous. I absolutely adore those matte purple shades, but what I really love is the latter half of this palette consisting of your warm/red-toned shades - like that brilliant copper or the shimmery peach. Like the Classics palette, this is a highly versatile palette despite the bright colours. The deep matte shades are perfect for creating definition; there's a nice range of highlight shades in there among your 'lid shades.' This palette allows you to create a more natural/neutral sultry eye, as well as a full-blown bright purple one if you wanted to amp things up!

Shades (1-6): shimmery white (metallic), lilac (satin), violet (matte), purple w/ blue sheen (satin/duochrome), cool-toned purple (matte), deep plum (satin).

Without flash

With flash

Shades (7-12): ash brown (matte), taupe w/ purple sheen (metallic/duochrome), red copper (metallic), rusty gold (metallic), light peachy pink (metallic), pale baby pink (matte).

Without flash

With flash

Finishing off with a look I created using the Sultry Palette (no primer), pretty, no?:

Chi Chi Glamorous Eye Palettes retail for $22.95 at Target and Myer retailers. However, you can often get them for 30% off from Target which means you only wind up paying 16 bucks for each!

With Love,
Ethereal <3