Despite the Smashbox Full Exposure Palette being a bit of a marmite product among the beauty community I’m one who personally really enjoys the 12-shadow, neutral offering. Sure the shimmers are a tad too much but I love the mattes and you can often find me wearing a mixture of three across my lid, crease and lash line in most of my videos. A combo of the silky textures makes for a subtle, yet defined eye that looks good with a bold or neutral lip alike.
Continuing on with another in-depth look at another Sephora purchase, this time round I thought I’d touch on my thoughts on the latest addition to the Smashbox palette line – Double Exposure. I’ve yet to spot it on the shelves over here, but it is available online and comes in at £37. Whereas the Full Exposure stuck to creams and browns, the Double Exposure branches out into colour and with warm and cool tones galore I dub this the ‘Neutral Lovers Colourful Eyeshadow Palette’…
THE PROS:
– This time round the palette hits the sweet spot texture-wise. The mattes are creamy and blendable and the shimmers are subtle and not gritty. The formula is pigmented, there’s not too much fall-out and with an eye primer there’s no creasing to be seen.
– I like the set-up. The squares of colour are nice and easy to swirl your brush in, the brush that comes with it is actually pretty good and there’s a nice big mirror inside.
– The colours! The palette can sort of be split into two. In the centre there’s a silver and black and to the right of there’s a warmer palette going on with a reddish copper, pinky bronze and warm matte brown (obviously this is my favourite side). But then on the left is where things get cooler and more colourful. There’s a shimmery royal blue and a quad of lilacs and purples. Now these aren’t shades which I’ll rock on a daily basis but in terms of when I do fancy donning colour a navy or a deep purple is what I feel comfortable with whether it be all over the lid, smudged underneath or used as a liner.
THE CONS:
– As with all palettes there are a few colours in there which I know I won’t get much, if any, use out of. The matte black is a great texture but I never use that shade and the two silver-y colours aren’t something I see myself dipping my brush into either.
– The mini mascara that comes with it might be a nice addition for some, but being a big fusspot when it comes to mascara is again something I’ll never use. I was always a big fan of the double-ended eyeliner that came with the original Urban Decay Naked Palette.
– It’s a bit of a cheat to say it’s 14 colours that become 28 when you just add water – most shadows can perform this function by amping up the pigment or shimmer when a touch of H20 comes into contact with them. But now I’m getting picking so I’ll move on…
Overall I think it’s a nice addition for a person whose palette collection is a little lacking in the colour department and that description most definitely includes me. Bring on the purple…
Comments