Hey guys! So today I want to talk to you about a palette I bought last Black Friday. I know, it's been a very long time and a lot of people probably don't care about it anymore. I've only had this blog for a short time, so let me just explain how I want to do things. when I write reviews of products I will probably make a post about my initial thoughts, but then make a longer more detailed post later on discussing how much I have used the product or if I regret purchasing it. The only way I can give my opinion with 100% certainty is by taking the time to really experiment with the product or see if I even use it often. Sometimes I buy these great products, but I end up hardly ever using them either because I change my mind about them or I have other products I like better. Anyway, enough rambling, let's get on with the review.
Okay so first of all the box the set comes in is absolutely gorgeous! I'm always a sucker for adorable packaging. The contents of the box include a small mascara, three small lip glosses, a portable eye shadow palette, 4 blushes, and 16 eye shadows. I paid $48 for the box, which is a steal considering how many different products I received.
Alright so this is one half of the inside of the box. You can see the three lip gloss colors, the mini mascara, and the portable eye shadow pallete. After extensively using these products I can tell you that the mascara is definitely not worth buying in a full size. Lights Camera Lashes had a lot of potential, I think the formula was very nice. But the applicator is not good. It made the mascara very clumpy. I still used up this product, but only underneath two coats of my favorite mascara. As for the three lip glosses the only color worth repurchasing in my opinion is the bottom one. I just really like the color of that one. Idk why but there aren't any names on them. The lip glosses themselves are okay. They're a bit stickier than I would like, but I really do like the color of the bottom one. I wish I knew the name of it though. I may buy that one in a full size but it depends on the price. I would only pay maybe 15 dollars for it at the most.
So this is the other side of the box, the eye shadows and blush. I apologize for the crappy picture taking but I'll be doing swatches of each quad. I love how large these quads are, and you really do get a lot of product for the price. I've been using these eye shadows for about 6 months now, so I have a pretty good idea about which ones I prefer and which ones I really don't use. I think this box is great for someone new at eye shadow, because there is so much variety! The first quad is matte neutrals, the second is shimmer golds, the bottom left is a silver nighttime look, and the last one is for a smokey eye. To be honest, I definitely use the top two quads more often than the bottom two.
Alright so here is my swatch of the first quad, the one on the top left. From left to right these colors are called private chateau, cafe for creme brulee, tea for two, and marvel at the Mona Lisa. These colors are very basic neutrals. I definitely have gotten a lot of use out of these, particularly private chateau and tea for two. I use private chateau as a highlighter right below my eyebrow every day. I think tea for two is a very basic brown, which is a staple for anyone. One thing to keep in mind though is that if you're a makeup connoisseur you probably don't need any of the colors from this quad. These colors are pretty basic and you could find them at the drugstore. I also love how these eye shadows feel, as they don't irritate my skin or eyes. They are definitely high quality eye shadows. I think the color looks a bit better with eye shadow primer, though these shadows will last all day with or without it.
Okay so here is quad two, the one on the top right. This is my favorite quad by far. These colors, from left to right, are macaroons for you, champagne and chocolat, kisses under the arc, and art in montmarte. As you can see from the swatch, these colors are absolutely beautiful. Some are a bit similar to the naked 3 pallete. I definitely use this quad the most. I just really enjoy these colors for an everyday makeup look. Since I started using this eye shadow quad I've really neglected all my other eye shadows. I love to use macaroons for you in my crease, and champagne and chocolat on my eyelid. I like champagne and chocolat because it's pretty gold, and that makes my hazel eyes pop. I do enjoy kisses under the arc on occasion too, but it's a bit more orange on my skin tone. I like these colors because they're subtle but still pigmented enough to make a big difference in my look.
Here are the bottom two quads. On the left the colors are champs-elysees shopping (I kid you not), stargazing on the seine, eiffel tower engagement, and secret soiree. I really haven't gotten much use out of this one to be totally honest. It's been months since I've had this box and I've worn these colors only once. As beautiful as they look in the box, on my hand and eyes they just don't do anything for me. I feel like they all look like a really bad bruise, especially on my eyes. I also prefer golds to silvers always. I think this quad would look a lot better on someone with blue eyes or someone tanner than me. I do use stargazing on the seine sometimes though. It's the a very metallic silver color and gives my eyelids some sparkle for nighttime. On the right the colors are snow angels in the parc, navigating the metro, midnight stroll, and liaison at the Louvre. I prefer this quad to the one next to it. The colors are a bit more dramatic, and I only use this quad for a nighttime look. I love the color midnight stroll the most out of the four, and I've gotten a lot of use out of snow angels in the parc as a highlighter. I enjoy the navigating the metro color because it has gold in it.
Last but not least these are the four blushes that came in the box. Each one corresponds to a quad. The colors from right to left are irresistible (goes with quad 1), envisioned (goes with quad 2), limitless (quad 3), and intrigue (quad 4). To be honest, I have a lot of blushes already that I love, so I didn't find myself reaching for these very often. My favorite of these is envisioned, which happens to be with my favorite quad. I love peach blushes, even though I'm extremely pale. I just think they give a lot of depth to my face. Though I do love pink blushes too, just not irresistible or intrigue. Irresistible is too much like a highlighter pink color. I can blend it out but I think it's just too pink for me. Intrigue is too dark for my skin tone, even when I blend it out I still look really flushed, like I just ran 5 miles. I think that on someone tanner than me intrigue would be amazing though. I'll probably pass it on to my olive-skinned mom to try.
One last little thing. Here is the portable pallete they give you, so you can take your favorite quad with you. It's very easy to remove a quad out of the box and then place it on the magnetic bottom of this container. One thing I wish was that it was easy to remove each individual color, so that you could make your own quad. I know tarte products are notoriously easy to depot but I still wish the box was made so that each individual color could be taken out. I wouldn't carry a blush with me in my purse, I just don't need it. If I could I would keep all the eye shadows from quad two but add the colors private chateau and tea for two from quad one in the place of the blush. My other concern is that this portable pallete seems cheaply made out of cardboard, and the color gets dirty very easily, even from just being kept in a purse.
Overall, I think the box was worth the $48, mainly because of the eye shadows. While I'm not crazy about every single color I have used most of them, and they're very high quality. The mascara is a bit of a miss for me, maybe other people might like it better. The lip glosses are also pretty good, even though they're a bit stickier than I would like, though I doubt I'll purchase them full size. The blushes are high quality and I think the colors are good, it just depends on your skin tone. If you're pale like me you'd probably like the first two, maybe even the first three, but if you're tan the second two would look a lot better.
Anyway I've rambled on enough for one day. Hope this review was helpful even though this box is so old!
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