I have been wanting to show you this palette for a week or two now so I am so excited to finally post this review and makeup look. Neutral eyeshadows are totally my thing and I feel like the Smashbox Full Exposure palette hasn’t gotten the fair amount of attention that it deserves. This palette has 14 eyeshadows: 7 matte and 7 shimmers. It is a neutral palette lover’s DREAM.
I love how in the Smashbox Full Exposure palette warm shades are concentrated on the right side of the palette and the cool shades are on the left. Grouping them together in this fashion actually make it dummy-proof. I also love how they placed the two perfect highlights, shimmer and matte, right in the center and both are very neutral in tone. Perfect compliment to either side of the palette. Ingenious placement, for sure.
Sort of GORGEOUS, right? Well get ready for all of the swatch pictures of the Smashbox Full Exposure palette now!
The first two pictures are the first row of shimmer shades. There are 7 shadows so I had to break it up into 2 pictures because I only have 4 fingers (not including the thumb ;P).
The 2nd row consists of the matte shades. So pigmented and creamy for being matte shades. I am so impressed by these shades because matte eyeshadows are known for being powdery, chalky and less pigmented than shimmery. The mattes in the Smashbox Full Exposure palette definitely isn’t any of those things.
I included to different shots of arm swatches. The first one was taken in direct sunlight to pick up the shimmer bits. LOOK at how saturated the color is.
The 2nd photo was taken in the shade. And you can see that the darker shimmer shades just wont quit. Amazing.
So this palette is also accompanied by a sample of their Full Exposure mascara. I used it in the makeup look I show below. I think it is really good. I only did one coat and I was super impressed with just one coat. I love big, bristle-y brushes. They are my favorite for volume.
The Smashbox Full Exposure palette also comes with a dual ended brush. One side is meant for mattes and one side is meant for shimmer. If you are like me you don’t really pay attention to the actual uses of brushes and use what you think they would be good for. The “matte side” really reminds me of a MAC 217, which I LOVE and have 3 of… I use this kind of brush in virtually every eyeshadow look I do. it is perfect for applying color to the crease, applying lid color. You can use the tip of the brush to run shadow along the lower lash line. It is a huge work horse.
This brush is interesting. It is for “shimmer” but it is dual sided. There was a whole collection of dual sided makeup brushes from MAC and I actually reviewed some dual sided brushes from Japonesque. It is a nice brush. Good for packing shadow onto the lid.
And the rest of the pictures are me wearing a few of the warmer shades.
I am totally in love with the Smashbox Full Exposure eyeshadow palette. I love every single one of the eyeshadows and that mascara is a winner too! I think that the selection of shades are the best compilation for neutral eyeshadow lovers. There are many other high end neutral palettes on the market but none that really got me excited like this one. The entire bottom row reduces your need for the Naked basics palette, the entire top row reduces your need for Naked 1 and 2 palettes. The only thing you would be missing is colorful shades, which isn’t the point of this palette anyway. I recommend this palette to everyone because these shades are so versatile. The mattes could be added into just about any makeup look and who doesn’t love a little shimmer?
Anyway, this palette retails for $49 and you can find it at Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Smashbox.com.
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