Saturday, January 21, 2012

Smashbox Be Discovered Eyeshadow Palette Spring 2012 Swatches and Review

Springtime. Pastels. For some reason, you just can't seem to separate the two. You can't have Spring without a bunch of pastel cosmetics collections, and you can't have pastel makeup or nails without thinking of Spring. I own my fair share of pastels, and I'll admit... I do feel compelled to wear them in the Spring. It's true, I just can't help equating pastel colors with Springtime. And, to keep the tradition alive, there are plenty of pastel releases this year, including the brand new Be Discovered palette from Smashbox.


Front of the palette. At first glance, I thought this was a floral pattern... Then I looked closer and realized it was light reflectors in a photo studio!


Back of the palette. Features a QR code that you can scan with your smartphone to bring up a tutorial video. I haven't seen the video.


Ingredients. Click to enlarge.


The palette features a full mirror and plastic housing around the shadows.


The shadows, with flash and without. Bliss (matte beige), Rosewater (pink sheen), Opal (opalescent sheen), Mist (shimmering silver mauve), Adobe (matte warm light brown), Champagne (shimmering peach beige), Pebble (matte neutral brown), Lilac (soft lilac sheen). Note: The shade names are not listed on the palette (only on the edge of the outer box); descriptions are taken from Sephora.com.


Swatched heavily over bare skin (no primer), top row: Bliss, Rosewater, Opal and Mist.



Bottom row: Adobe, Champagne, Pebble and Lilac.


The colors look really pretty and promising, but after using them a few times, I'm sad to say that I didn't have much luck with them.

What I liked:
  • Sturdy palette construction. I like that the piece that houses the shadows is solid plastic and not cardboard. Easier to clean that way, too.
  • The colors are very soft and pretty.
  • The QR code on the back is a neat idea.
  • The Champagne shade has more pigment than the others and applies fairly smooth and opaque.

What I didn't like:

  • The shadows are very poorly pigmented.
  • The shadows have a powdery texture that doesn't apply evenly.
  • The shadows fade and change colors quickly even when used over primer.
  • The shadows don't all apply true to pan color.

I had really high hopes for this palette since the one they did for the holiday collection was so amazing, but I was very disappointed by this. The Holiday Flash palette was intensely pigmented, almost too pigmented, really. This palette is the exact opposite. The shadows are very powdery, have very little pigment to them and they don't adhere to the lids correctly. I've tried these over three different primers (Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop and LORAC Behind The Scenes Eye Primer), and they were powdery and sheer over all three. I tried using Pebble and Opal wet, and that helped slightly, but the texture wasn't really right and they were patchy going on.

I don't know why the textures of the shadow palettes vary so much. I've loved some of their shadows and found them to be well pigmented and easy to apply, and I've hated others because they were powdery, patchy, sheer and hard to blend. Be Discovered is definitely one of the sheerer and less pigmented palettes I've tried from Smashbox. I can't get this palette to work for me, but you may like it if you're looking for some office-appropriate sheer, conservative shadows. I know that some people do like to wear a very light, sheer neutral eye, and, unfortunately, that's all this palette is good for.

The Smashbox Be Discovered palette is available from Sephora, $44. It is limited edition.

(This was sent for review.)


13 comments:

  1. This looks like a great palette, but after reading your dislikes, doesn't sound too good. The colors are beautiful though! Thanks!!

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  2. I find that Smashbox is sooooo hit or miss when it comes to their shadows. I have a palette from I think 3-4 years ago (I would look at it, but its buried in a closet) that I got from Ulta that sucks big time. Shadows were difficult to deal with, and not good color payoff. Then my bf got me the Be Discovered Holiday Palette from Ulta this year and I find it AMAZING. I use it every day. It really sucks that they are so hit or miss.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly Angie. I loved them for years, then had to take a break due to poor color pay off.

      But Smashbox has won me over with their waterproof shadows and a jumbo huge palette called the Mega photo op on qvc. They revamped their trios with this new forumula and the kit is to die for!
      78 shadows
      8 cream eyeliners
      all brow tech colors
      2 blushes
      3 highlighters
      4 or 6 glosses

      It is kinda pricy (around 100.00 w/ s/h + tax) but totally fantab. This palette is the smashbox I know and love and highly reccomend it to anyone looking for a good palette.

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  3. Cute packaging, but pastels aren't really my thing. Thanks for the swatches!

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  4. That looks really poorly pigmented :( I always wonder how smashbox is still in business because most of their products are really subpar, especially for the overinflated price.

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  5. The colors look great in the palette (Lilac especially), but the swatches are disappointing.

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  6. What a pity. Smashbox used to have really good shadows. I haven't bought any in years. Looks like I'm not going to start again. That's really dreadful to put out such awful shadows. Better to go buy some WetnWild.

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  7. Thanks for your review, especially since I purchased their Holiday Palette and loved. The colors in this new spring palette are way too light for me personally. I will not be trying this one :-(

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  8. Awesome review thanks! Honestly, I think the palette(eyeshadows specifically) is pretty crappy. There are zillions of other better palettes out there imo. :)

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  9. ahhh I had a bad feeling about this one. so glad I didnt order it without reading reviews first. I would LOVE a great pastel palette that had good pigmentation!
    JoElla is right about the qvc photo op mega palette. BEST PALETTE EVER. it has Everything you need to make several full face looks. I LOVE that palette! especially the blushes...

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  10. ahhh I had a bad feeling about this one. so glad I didnt order it without reading reviews first. I would LOVE a great pastel palette that had good pigmentation!
    JoElla is right about the qvc photo op mega palette. BEST PALETTE EVER. it has Everything you need to make several full face looks. I LOVE that palette! especially the blushes...

    ReplyDelete

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