Review: Smashbox Wonder Vision eye set

You know what's crazy? A few years ago I would've never given a penny of my hard earned money on expensive eye shadows. Although I've always been a fan of makeup, I just didn't really care much for eye shadows. It's just something I never thought I'd use. Boy was I wrong! Lately I've been going eye shadow crazy--but mostly for the palettes. The most important thing for me is to incorporate as many diverse colors as possible. I'm not a huge fan of getting similar colors just for the sake of getting a similar color. I like having my palettes all be for different purposes. With that said, I've been going crazy with the really big palettes out there, like the Naked palette. I wanted something that was compact and a bit smaller, so it would be easier for me to switch out and carry around.

So when I saw these babies on sale at Macy's, I knew I needed to pick them up! I did get to swatch them a little bit while I was at the store, but everyone knows that department store lighting can be very deceiving. They were originally $35 but were on sale for $25. Each of these come with an eyeliner and mascara as well. They seemed decent when I tested them at the store, so I thought this was a great deal! And even better, they'd make great gifts! So let's see how they turned out at home.

There are 3 different palette options: Sparks, Cosmic, and Flash. I only got Flash and Cosmic. Sparks is a more neutral palette and since I already have a few neutral palettes, I didn't feel the need for another one.

This one is FLASH. As you can see, it's a very shimmery pinky neutral palette with 5 different colors. I really wanted this one, despite having the Naked 3 already, because I'm IN LOVE WITH PINKY NEUTRALS. I don't think you understand. I am just obsessed with pinks. Okay, let me stop myself before I go crazy again.

Swatches: (from Left to Right) plum, slate, purple shimmer, taupe, ballet pink, pink shell

I tried my best to show the most accurate color of the shades. These probably took about 3 or so swipes to show the colors off. And I did use a shadow primer.
The first thing I will say is, it does to have a bit of fall out. The formula of the shadows are not very hydrated at all, meaning they are mostly a powder formula. I'd say, the quality is an in between of drug store eye shadow quads and a more higher end shadow. The color payout isn't that great, but regardless, they are still very pretty shimmer colors that are good for neutral looks with a bit of sparkle.

Note: I haven't used these on my actual eyes yet.

The second palette is called COSMIC. And omg--I really like this one.

(From Left to Right: sapphire, smoke, aqua, luster, silver, sandstone)

Right off the bat, you can see that the color payout on this palette is much more pigmented! It might also be just because these are darker colors in general, but either way, I think these colors are quite nice. The last color, sandstone, looks almost like an invisible chalky color, but this is a great highlight color as well as silver. I'd like to think the two mixed together would make a really nice highlighter. My favorite colors on this one is definitely Sapphire and Aqua. They are so so so pretty in person!

Here's another look at Sapphire. YES. It is a black color with specs of blue-ish purple micro glitters! It's so beautiful in person!

This palette still has the same formula as FLASH though, so you'll expect some fall outs either way. But in terms of being a palette that I'd use, I see myself grabbing this one quite often! I love the neutrals that are in this as well and think they compliment my skin tone much better than the pink one. It's also quite versatile in itself. I can just look at this and think of all the Day to Night looks I could create with just this little palette. Plus it's compact!

Lastly, as mentioned, these each do come with a Smashbox Full Exposure mascara in Jet Black and Limitless eyeliner in Onyx.

I have yet to use this on my actual eyes, so I can't really say much about it besides the fact that it's not waterproof and the bristles seem dense and short, which would be ideal for my sparse lashes. I'm not a fan of non waterproof mascara though, so who knows.

The liner is also a non waterproof crayon liner.

I did a little a sample of it here.

In conclusion, I think they are pretty decent considering they're only $25. I mean, the palette itself should be worth that price. So the fact that you get two extra items is a great deal! I checked Sephora and the mascara itself is $19! So is the pencil. So that's $40 worth of product for free already. Like I said, I haven't tested the mascara and eyeliner, but how bad could they possibly be for a $20 product? lol. Knocking on wood.
Considering most drug store palettes aren't that great and the better ones are around $10-$15, this is totally a legit option for all you makeup lovers out there. Interested? You can grab these HERE.

I'll eventually do some looks with all these shadows! So stay tuned.


*This is a non sponsored product review. All products mentioned were purchased first hand.

New make-up! My pre-game thoughts.

So when it comes to make-up, I'm more of a casual person. I wear my daily make-up and then on the occasion, I do something different. But for the most part, I don't wear that much make-up.
HOWEVER, when I see a product that I really like, I get pretty excited to try it out! I think that goes for any girl that's remotely into beauty products :P but isn't it a giddy feeling to get new make-up? I think so.
One of the main issues I have with buying make-up though, is that I go the expensive route more often than not. I used a lot of drug store brands throughout high school which actually made me break out more than look good. So I realized, my skin is sensitive. Not that Sephora or high end brands can't make me break out, I just generally have a better experience with the higher end ones. I guess in short, you get what you paid for most of the time.

Anyway, I have been into eye makeup lately! I generally try to not wear eye makeup and just foundation out because I think that eye make-up, especially eyeliner can be kinda harsh on my eyes after a while. But since I got new glasses, I'm definitely trying to complement my looks more! Being Asian, you know......small eyes do not bring out any other feature in you. It's sad but true! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't wear glasses but since I do, I've been trying to work with it more. And since my hair is champaign blonde, it's even more of a challenge to bring out my features! Anyway, on to the products!

SUGARPILL COSMETICS $12 each

Got two of the pressed eyeshadows from Sugarpill. The black is called bulletproof and the yellow is called Buttercupcake. I've been looking for a bright YELLOW eyeshadow forever!! I think yellow is a really fun color and it's one of the harder colors to come by with eye make-up. So I was pretty stoked to see it on their website. I don't have a swatch of Bulletproof because it's just black. I mean, it's really black so I'm happy for that. My only complaint is that buttercupcake is not as pigmented as it looks. One swipe with my brush is not enough. In fact, I usually have to use some kind of primer plus wet the brush a little with the primer to get it YELLOW as the picture on my eye. I have no complaints for bulletproof though! It's very pigmented and has a little bit of an iridescent sparkle to it. Overall, I think $12 for these each is a reasonable price. Plus the company is still pretty new and their package designing is super cute! I am a HUGE sucker for package design. In fact, that's probably one reason why I opted for them instead of finding a yellow or black at MAC or some other higher end store for around the same price.

SMASHBOX PHOTOSET FINISHING POWDER $29

Okay so I admit, I am an avid Michelle Phan viewer. I think most of us are to some degree lol or have at least seen her vids right? Anyway, she always uses some kind of setting powder or finishing loose powder (her infamous Laura Mercier loose powder) in her videos and to be honest, I never even knew of its existence until I saw her use it. For a good year I didn't buy into it though. I thought, my foundation is pretty good the way it is. I think these kinds of things are just another unnecessary excuse in the make-up world to waste your money (not that most make-up isn't....but that's not the point lol). But then I started realizing that at the end of the day, my make-up would disappear! I don't notice it usually because my skin is actually not TOO bad. But I recently have been noticing that in pictures, my face looks really red and make-up less. So I thought, well I'll invest into one of these "loose powders".

When I'm at Sephora, I shop around. I'm not quick to buy something just because a guru has it or anything even if it does wonders for them because everyone's skin is totally different. So I do my research a bit before I purchase. There are plenty of these loose powders to choose from but I eventually went with Smashbox's finishing powder because I like that they use SPF 15! Perf. I love any make-up that has some kind of sun blocking capability so I was pretty happy about this. It's $29 as opposed to Michelle's favorite Laura Mercier loose powder which is about $34. The trade off, however, is that LaMer has double the amount as this one. 0.40oz as opposed to 0.17, but loose powders are very sheer and a little goes a long way! So in retrospect, yes, this one would be more expensive but I'm willing to settle for less for the SPF 15.

But a lot of SPF products don't even work! Right? 

I think so too but I feel like it's worth giving it a try. The one thing I love about Smashbox is that they are known for photography make-up. Before, none of their products were sold to the public and the only way you could obtain the products was if you bought from the company directly or worked with a company that used the products. So, that makes me feel they actually would put in the effort to make this resistent to light because photographic make-up is all about trying not to expose the skin to any redness and unevenness. So if you like taking a lot of photographs, I recommend looking into the Smashbox line! As most of their products are catered to just that.

LANCOME COLOR DESIGN EYE PALETTE - AMETHYST GLAM $48

Okay first of all, this was a total impulse purchase by the way. I know we all have those! I never thought I'd spend that much for a freaking eye shadow palette but I fell in love with it in the store the moment I saw it. I guess this is a new line from Lancome. Anyway, I apologize for the shitastic photos with my dinky 5mp camera because the photos do not do these colors justice! But I'll post some quality photos once I use the product and test it out.

I absolutely LOVE this palette though. The colors are really pigmented and go on smooth and each color  has a gorgeous shimmer to it. I thought this was perfect for an every day thing because I have pinkish purplish glasses. I really don't wear a lot of eyeshadow but I was wearing this bronze palette for a while. I still like it but it's a little too mellow for my spunky hair and cute glasses so I'm excited to have a more bolder look to work with.

The only thing I don't like about this is that it's $48. That's a stretch for some eye make-up but then again, I'm sure dedicated make-up lovers will think it's typical. What irks me more is that brushes cost so much! What is up with that? And cheap brushes have issues with the hairs coming out and sticking to my face so it's like.......the make-up world knows I have to purchase these expensive brushes and entice me to do so! GRRR. Cosmetics are the devil. I swear.

Anyway, I haven't actually used the last two products yet although I've used the Sugarpill ones a couple times already. I'll post a look soon using all three of the products to give you a look at how they look on my skin and I'll update on how they react to my sensitive skin as well!

As always, if you're interested in more info on a product I post or want me to demonstrate, shoot me a comment! I am NOT a make-up guru nor do I inspire to be lol. In fact, I'm pretty bad at make-up believe it or not, hence why I don't wear it often. But I do like experimenting and using new products and if any of you guys happen to be interested I'll be more than happy to address the requests. :)

+Lo+