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.
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).
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| Without flash (under white lighting) |
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| With flash |
Shades (7-12): cool-toned pink (metallic), champagne (metallic), golden champagne (metallic), rusty gold (metallic), mauve (metallic), coppery brown (metallic).
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| Without flash |
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| With flash |
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.
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| Without flash |
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Shades (7-12): chocolate brown (metallic), deep olive brown (metallic), auburn (metallic), plummy purple (satin), charcoal (shimmer), blueish gunmetal grey (metallic).
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| Without flash |
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| 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).
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| Without flash |
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| With flash |
Shades (7-12): purple taupe (matte), light apricot (satin), silvery champagne (metallic), true taupe (satin), navy blue (matte), dark grey (matte).
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| Without flash |
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| With flash |
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).
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| Without flash |
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| 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).
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| Without flash |
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| With flash |
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).
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| Without flash |
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| 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).
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| Without flash |
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| 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!
Ethereal <3
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