A fantastic eyeshadow if you can afford it! (Smashbox Eye Shadow)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	Smashbox Eye Shadow
Date:	26/04/09 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lovely colour, very pigmented

Disadvantages: a little bit messy, pricey

A while back I bought a set of Smashbox cosmetics from QVC which included two eyes shadows. At the moment I have a palette of Avon eyeshadow which I use most often, so I only really wear these two now again, but I wore one of the colours for about three days in a row last week, so I thought I'd review it while it is still fresh in my mind!

I believe Smashbox make their eye shadows in duos and trios but I just have two of the single shadows. There is a wide range of colours available and they come in either matte or shimmer shades. Both of mine are shimmery, so I can't really comment on how good or bad the matte ones are.

The shadows are pressed powder which come in round black pots with screw on lids, and the lids have a little clear window which is handy if you have several, because this way you can see which colour is which very easily. You don't get a brush or applicator included with these, but I rarely use the ones that come free with eye shadows anyway, so I wasn't too fussed about that.

When sweeping a brush over the eyeshadow, although the brush picks up a lot of the colour very easily, I also found that it left me with loads of loose powder on the top which made it quite messy as this had to be shaken off.

I found that the eye shadow goes onto the lid very smoothly and easily and these are very pigmented so you get a strong colour. It is possible to get a more subtle look, but you will probably have to tap some of the powder off your brush first or blot it on a tissue. In fact like I said the powder is quite...well, powdery (as silly as that sounds) so you will probably find that some will fall onto your cheeks too. This is solved by holding a tissue under your eye as you apply it, although for those of us with time starved lives, it's not always the most convenient option.

The finished look from these shadows is actually quite impressive. It gives a nice amount of shimmer without looking too sparkly or over the top, and as mentioned the level of pigmentation is really good.

Now normally I use Urban Decay's primer potion under my eye shadow, but due to the fact I lost it last week (shock horror, but it's OK it's now been found, much to the relief of my bank balance) I have used it without, and can confirm that this eye colour stays on for hours and doesn't even so much as crease, which is really impressive.

Now as I got these in a set, I didn't realise how much they cost until I looked it up online for the purpose of this review. I was shocked to find that the single shadows cost £11.26. I do own the odd item of expensive make-up, but I'm not sure I would pay that for an eye shadow in the future unless I really really loved the colour. You can buy them from www.justbeautydirect.co.uk

So in conclusion, I would give this full marks for colour, pigmentation, staying power and overall finished look. The price though is a little high and I found it annoying how messy the powder was (especially considering it was a pressed powder!) so that let it down a bit. Overall though, a good eye shadow and I would use it again, but only if I could get hold of it a bit cheaper.

Summary: Smashing!