I feel like it’s kinda rare to come across a makeup collab that isn’t so in-your-face that it’s clearly a collaboration. Case in point, Smashbox’s Cover Shot palettes, which came out earlier this year. In fact, if I hadn’t seen Shay Mitchell post about them on Instagram, I never would have known she worked with the brand on them.
Insta-famous and known for her role as Emily on Pretty Little Liars, Mitchell is the star of the campaign for these seven palettes that are inspired by trends seen in the studio. There’s a palette for every occasion, from metallics to shimmers to mattes. Each palette, which are purse-sized by the way, contain eight shades, with six high-impact accent colours and two bigger base colours so you can create a variety of different looks. Each palette has a theme; there’s more neutral ones, there’s one with all mattes, one with all bold rainbow shades, and more.
I received two of these palettes, Soft Light (pink-toned shimmers) and the Matte one (all matte, staple colours). Each palette is housed in a small case with a super cool holographic lid that features powder exploding on the cover (this is the best way I thought of describing this haha). They may be small, but the amount of eyeshadow you get in each palette is good for the price (C$35 each). I found each shadow to give off highly pigmented colour and was easy to blend.
I totally thought I would like Soft Light more, but once I started to play around with Matte, I really enjoyed the versatility of this palette. Matte in general is such a trend right now, but these colours are staples that everyone should have in their collection.
I didn’t want to do a traditional swatch post, and instead I used the two palettes together to create a wearable daytime look. Although I totally thought I would be using Soft Light more, I ended up dipping my brushes more often into the Matte palette. The way I think of it is, Matte is a great palette to just have in your collection. The colours in here are treat for those transition colours and crease colours, whereas Soft Light is more of an everyday glow palette. It’s for those days where you want to wear minimal makeup just to highlight your features.
Anyways, like I said, I came up with a wearable daytime look that I would totally rock to work, at a coffee date, for day-to-day errands, etc. I used a combination of the two palettes so it wasn’t too overly frosty or too matte. I found that a light dip into the Matte palette was all I needed for colour and blending, whereas a few swipes from the Soft Light one was when I felt I got enough product on my brush to really pack on the colour. Soft Light would also work wonderfully with a brush sprayed with setting spray or water for that super shimmery look.
1. Fill in your brows then lay down an eyeshadow primer. I used the Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer. With a fluffy crease brush and Werk It, the taupe nude from the Matte palette, lightly brush that into your crease.
2. With Aglow from the Soft Light palette, a shimmery lavender, brush that over the lid area.
3. Back to the Matte palette and a crease brush (MAC 217), apply Editor, the eggplant shade, in the crease lightly.
4. Lightly tapping the same brush into Deadline from the Matte palette (the matte black), add that your crease so it darkens the crease a touch.
5. For the brow highlight, use Spectacle, the cream with purple iridescent, from the Soft Light palette.
6. To finish up the eyes, I applied a liquid eyeliner (Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper) to the upper lash line, winging it out. After a couple coats of mascara (Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes) on the lashes, I applied Beach House to the lower lash line to finish the look (and a coat of mascara on the bottom lashes as well).
For C$35, I think this palette is good value, considering the fact that it’s Smashbox and you get a fair amount of eyeshadows. Don’t let the size the palette bring you down, as there is a fair amount of each shadow in here, but it’s also small enough to toss into your purse. Although I did mix and match colours from the two palettes, each product has more than one look that you can easily create. The hard part is choosing which one to buy ;).
Have you tried the Smashbox Cover Shot palettes? If so, which one did you get?
Please note, product provided by PR. All opinions are my own.
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Since highlighters are so popular right now, it makes total sense that brands would start to come out with products for other areas of the face as well.
When I first heard about Make Up For Ever Star Lit powders I totally thought they were like a highly glitter eyeshadow. Well, I wasn’t too far off as these are a shimmery loose powder for a variety of different uses.
Available in eight shades that range from neutrals to bold, dark colours, these are an ultra-fine loose powder that is used to highlight your features. Use them on your eyes, cheeks, lips, really anywhere you want a little highlight. They contain pure mother of pearl to add light-catching colour and shine.
Each container (they are tiny, 2.7 g) contains ultra-fine powder that surprisingly doesn’t get everywhere. Although you can use them wet or dry, I tried them out dry and I didn’t really have to tap my brush to get rid of any excess powder. Also, a little goes a long way (meaning you’ll have this forever). They apply really smoothly and give you intense shine and colour.
I received three shades from the line, 02 (Frozen Gold), 13 (Ivory), and 15 (Golden Pink). The lighter shades are really beautiful for the inner corner, as well as your cheek highlight, seriously, 02 as a cheek highlight is life. The other shades, because they are neutrals, act perfectly for the lid and add some glisten and shimmer that is so eye-catching.
These retail for C$21 each, which isn’t a bad price since you need a tiny amount of product to get a dazzling effect. The only thing is, you need to be careful when you open the jar, since there is no stopper. It’s literally just a jar with a hole in the centre that you dip your brush into. There’s no sifter of sorts.
If you love a major highlight, I would definitely look into these as I love how they are a versatile product and can be used for all sorts of uses. For example, I applied 02 to my inner corner and my cheeks for an angelic glow. The other darker colours, although I haven’t tried them, would give you the frostiest glow for the lids..
You can find these at Sephora and if you love a little glitter, as well as a major highlight (really though, who doesn’t?), look into purchasing one of these. The only problem is, it’s kinda tough to figure out which shade to get. Do you get one for highlighting? For the lids? For some drama? Good luck and let me know what you choose ;).
Have you tried the Make Up For Ever Star Lit Powders? Which one is your fave?
Please note, products sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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I get the most excited over two releases from Covergirl, new mascaras and new foundations.
The drugstore beauty brand has been releasing some amazing products lately and they just keep going with their January releases. I’ve tried my fair share of their foundations and although my fave is the Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation (which also received a new packaging this year under the Outlast umbrella), I still get pumped whenever I’m sent a new one to play with.
Although there are tons of new stuff in Outlast this season, I was most excited for the All-Day Soft Touch Concealer and the All-Day Matte Finishing Powder. You really can’t have enough concealers in your collection, and really a matte finishing powder should be in everyone’s bags.
The Outlast All-Day Soft Touch Concealer (who do beauty brands have to give these products such long names?) instantly erases the appearance of dark circles and blemishes thanks to this creamy, smooth formula. It conceals, but is still lightweight enough that it won’t clog posts and it lasts all day. Really though, the highlight of this for me was the fact that it looked like a lipgloss. I’ve never seen a concealer feature the soft-touch applicator that this guy has. Usually it’s a wand or a brush, never really the soft angled applicator that makes applying this product actually super easy. All you do is squeeze the tube, apply the product and then use a brush to blend it in. It’s great for the underage area since the brush is extremely soft and it makes the ease of application super simple. The concealer is available in six different shades, all of which are on the lighter side, so unfortunately if you are dark in tone, you may want to try a different line.
The Outlast All-Day Matte Finishing Powder is a lightweight multi-action formula that hides imperfections and minimizes shine. It’s oil-absorbing, meaning that it won’t clog pores and it blends seamlessly into the skin, creating a smooth and even complexion.
Usually I would just use this product as a finishing powder instead of an actual foundation, but for the purpose of this review, I actually just applied the concealer under my eyes and then the powder all over my face. It surprisingly gave me a lot of coverage. Now keep in mind that I have pretty good skin already, so I don’t need much coverage in general, but I was happy with how my skin looked. Although this isn’t near the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders at all ($60 compared to around $12), it kinda does the same thing, as in it’s a good product to have as it will set your makeup and add that extra bit of oomph to your skin. I would typically use this product for a heavier makeup application as it would act the same way as a setting powder would. Also, it would be great for those hot days where you have some shine on your face or for oily skin tones. This product comes in three different shades.
Overall, I really liked these new CoverGirl releases. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how well that new concealer covers undereye circles since I don’t have any, but for adding some light to under the eyes, it does a great job.
Let me know if you’re excited to try out the new CoverGirl Outlast face products!
Please note, I received this product for review. All opinions are my own.
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