Smashbox Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss Set Summer 2012 Swatches and Review

Smashbox has just added a brand new gloss formula to their lineup: Reflection High Shine Lipgloss. The formula is supposed to be hydrating and plumping (thanks to the inclusion of hyaluronic acid and "plumping spheres") and have and ultra-shiny finish. To allow you to try out several shades of the new formula without making a full-size commitment, they've put together a kit of five minis as part of their Shades of Fame Summer 2012 collection.

Smashbox Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lipgloss Set

The set includes five mini (0.19 oz) tubes of the new Reflection High Shine gloss in the following shades:

Candy
Sheer, light warm pink with gold and pink pearl sparkle

Buff
Sheer golden bronze with gold sparkle

Hibiscus
Sheer cool red with gold and red sparkle

Papaya
Sheer orange-coral with iridescent pink and gold pearl shimmer

Star
Clear with silvery-white, gold and iridescent sparkle

What I liked:

• Tubes are a good size. 0.19 oz is pretty good for a mini.
  
• Nice slant-tip applicator.
• The formula is thick, smooth and cushy. It feels very balm like and pleasant.
  
• Wears for a good long while and stays comfortable, not drying or gritty-feeling.
  
• The colors all have a gorgeous sparkle to them.
• All shades have a light vanilla scent. It smells very good but it's pretty faint.
• The thick, cushy formula makes my lips look a little fuller.
• The set is the cheapest way to try these glosses. The full sized tubes are $19, this entire set only costs $29.
  

What I didn't like:

• The colors are more sheer than I thought they would be. Despite how bright they look in the tubes, they only add a tint to your lips, they're not full coverage. The sparkle shows up well, but the colors themselves are subtle.
• The formula is very thick and smooth (which I like), but it does have a gooey-stickiness to it that feels heavy on the lips.
  
• I didn't notice any true plumping when using these, just the visual plumping effect from the thick, glossy formula.
• The formula is very glossy, but I don't think it's really "high shine" or any more shiny than your average gloss.
• I wish the scent was stronger. I love vanilla scented gloss. I've been known to buy colors I don't even like just because they smell like vanilla.

The new formula is nice. I like it. I do prefer the less-gooey texture of the Lip Enhancing formula, but that one doesn't wear as long as the new Reflection formula. The Reflection High Shine gloss feels more hydrating than the average gloss, and it's also less sticky than a lot of my favorite glosses. It lasts a good amount of time on my lips so I don't have to touch it up every 20 minutes. The colors are all easy to wear and pretty, I like every single one.

The Smashbox Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lipgloss set is limited edition and retails for $29 at Sephora.

(This was sent for review.)

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.)

Smashbox Snap You're Fab Lip Gloss Set for Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

The Snap, You're Fab Lip Gloss Set is this year's Smashbox Holiday gloss set. They do a mini gloss set every year and that's one of the main things I look forward to from them. It's a little different this year as there's no special scents or different colored tubes like there have been in the past, but it's still a decent set. Take a look.


The Smashbox Snap, You're Fab Holiday 2011 set comes with two full-size glosses and four generously sized minis.


The shades are Pout (full size), Radiant (full size), Luster (mini), Pink Sugar (mini), Infamous (mini) and It Girl (mini).

They each have the standard fuzzy doe-foot lip gloss applicator.

Swatched with flash and without: Pout, Radiant, Luster, Pink Sugar, Infamous, It Girl.

One thing to note: Radiant is similar to Rose Quartz, the gloss I loved from the Glambox 9 set with the rainbow sparkles.

Smashbox glosses have a smooth, non-sticky texture. While the colors can be more sheer than other, stickier textured glosses, the comfortable wear of these is a good trade-off.

These are also borderline unscented. I smell a really faint cinnamon-like scent, but I'm not sure if it's fragrance or just the base smell of the gloss. It's not strong, you can't taste it, and it's not listed as being scented in the description of the set. Smashbox glosses usually smell faintly like vanilla or cinnamon to me, depending on the shade. Not all shades smell the same for some reason.

What I liked:

• Set includes two full size glosses.
• It's only $24 which is a really good value considering you get two full sized, good quality glosses among the minis.
• The formula is silky smooth, feels nice to wear and doesn't stick your lips together or leave weird tacky residue.
• Sleek looking tubes.
• Nice variety of colors.

What I didn't like:

• The colors this year aren't as interesting as in previous years. My favorite was the Rapture collection set from 2008, but the Wish collections from 2009 and 2010 were pretty good too.
• The name is really stupid. I felt embarrassed typing it. I get it, it's Smashbox studios, photography, camera, 'snap' a picture, it goes with the theme... but... ugh... Snap, You're Fab? Come on, guys.
  
• They're not scented enough. I always prefer scented glosses.
  
• Pout is really hard to wear. It's milky, super light pink and it looks like streaky chalky disaster on me.
• They don't wear very long due to the smooth, non-sticky texture.

Overall, though, good set, good value, good colors for the most part. One of the better values I've seen this year because for $6 more than one single Smashbox Lip Enhancing gloss, you get six, two of which are full size. Previous sets were more interesting, but there's nothing wrong with this set. It's a great way to try Smashbox glosses without spending a lot. My favorites in the set are Luster and Pink Sugar, but the only one I don't like is Pout because it doesn't work on my skintone.

The Smashbox Snap You're Fab set is limited edition and retails for $24 at Sephora.

(This was sent for review.)

Smashbox Holiday Flash Collection Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

Smashbox is doing more than just the usual blockbuster-style palette and mini gloss set for Holiday 2011. This year they've created Holiday Flash, a little three-part makeup collection perfectly suited for festive holiday looks.

It includes:

The Holiday Flash Eyelights Eyeshadow Quad ($39), the Holiday Flash Double-Ended Lip Enhancing Gloss in Siren/Star ($22) and two Holiday Flash Long-Wearing Liquid Liners in 14k and Chrome (not pictured), both $22 each.


The Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad contains four sparkly metallic shades: pearl (which is a white gold iridescent shade), gold (metallic yellow gold), silver (metallic light silver) and pewter (black with silver sparkle).


The Double-Ended Lip Enhancing Gloss features a clear with shimmer (Star) and a bright cherry red with shimmer and iridescent microglitter (Siren).


The Long Wear Liquid Liner in 14k is a bright, shiny, sparkly liquid gold which comes with a soft, pointed spongy/felt applicator very similar to the Stila Sparkle liner applicator.



Swatched over bare skin (no primer) in sunlight, with flash and indoors. Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad (pewter, silver, gold, pearl), Siren gloss, Star gloss, 14k Liquid Liner.


I have not seen it for myself, but based on the formula and texture of the 14k Liquid Liner, I'm thinking the Chrome Liquid Liner will be a molten silver sparkle just like Urban Decay Bobby Dazzle. 14k is really similar to Urban Decay El Dorado and Illamasqua Alchemy, so that's why I'm assuming they'll be similar.

Here's a look I did with the shadows and liner:


Please excuse the spidery lashes. I was trying out a new mascara that was really not cooperating with me.

This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop
Smashbox Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad - Pearl shade on lid
Smashbox Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad - Gold shade on mid-to-outer lid, blended with Pearl
Smashbox Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad - Pewter shade in crease and on lower lashline
Smashbox Holiday Flash Long Wear Liquid Liner in 14k

The shadows have a really odd texture. They're very creamy and a little sticky, so they adhere really, really well to the lids even without primer. They're very unusual feeling, sort of like a hybrid cream-powder shadow. The payoff is excellent, perhaps even a little too good because it applies really thick/densely and needs a little smoothing with a fingertip to thin it.

The glosses are your typical Smashbox gloss. Medium to thin texture, smooth and totally non-sticky, not very long wearing but very smooth. Faint vanilla scent, barely noticeable. Sheer formula lets the lips show through a bit, like a 'jelly' lipgloss. Shades layer well together, but be careful of mixing colors on the brush because Star will turn pink in the tube!

The liner is awesome. Extremely sparkly and shiny, like liquid gold. Applies very easily and dries quickly. Waterproof.

So...

What I liked:

• Every color is gorgeous and all compliment each other perfectly.
• Sparkles!
• Good formulas.
• Very festive.
• 14k liner is a good substitute for Illamasqua Alchemy, which is always sold out and hard to get in the US.
• Siren is a red that doesn't look ridiculous on me.
  

What I didn't like:

• The shadow quad is way overpriced at $39. I'd gladly pay $25 for it; it's a good quality and it's very pretty, but $39 seems too high for only four shades.
• Colors are dupe-able.
• 14k Liner must be shaken a lot before use to ensure even texture.

Overall, I think this is a really festive and pretty little collection for the holiday season. Perfect party makeup. The palette is great for some glimmering metallic smoky eye looks and the liner is really a showstopper. The gloss compliments all the colors in the palette; I especially love the combination of gold eyes and red lips! I think the palette should be priced a little more modestly, but that's really my only true complaint.

The Smashbox Holiday Flash collection will be available soon at Smashbox.com, Ulta and Nordstrom.

(This was sent to me for review.)

Smashbox Glam Box 9 - Luxe Metallics Kit Fall 2011

Smashbox has a new kit out for fall and it's so ridiculously pretty. The theme of the kit is Luxe Metallics, so each shade has a little bit of sparkle or metallic shine to it. I think the star of the show is the amazing looking Fusion Soft Lights, but I'll get to that in a minute. The name of the kit is Glam Box 9 Luxe Metallics and is limited edition.


The Luxe Metallics kit is really packed with stuff. Everything you need for a complete look, from shadow to liner to mascara, even an eyeliner brush to go along with the gel liner in the kit.

Full size Smashbox Eyelights Quad in Luxe.


Full size Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Luster. Can NOT get over how pretty this thing is. It is actually faceted like a gemstone!


Mini (4ml / .14 fl oz) Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara in Jet Black.

Full Size Smashbox Blush Rush in Surge.


Mini (4.2 ml / 0.14 fl oz) Lip Enhancing Glosses in Gilded Nude and Rose Quartz.


Full size Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Liner in Vamp, plus Smashbox Arced Liner Brush #21.


Swatches over bare skin (no primer):

Eyelights Quad in Luxe. A brassy gold metallic, a plum-bronze metallic, a pale rose gold metallic and a soft ivory satin.


Fusion Soft Lights in Luster. All shades blended together apply as a sheer golden wash.


Blush Rush in Surge (applied very heavily). A sheer hot pink matte with a hint of coral.


Lip Enhancing Gloss in Rose Quartz and Gilded Nude. Please enlarge these; Rose Quartz has the most unbelievable rainbow (possibly even holographic) shimmer in it, you have to see it!



Jet Set Waterproof Liner in Vamp. Vamp is a dusty greyed purple matte with tiny iridescent shimmer.

Here's a look I did using a few of the products:

This is:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Smashbox Luxe Eyelights Quad, rose gold shade on lid
Smashbox Luxe Eyelights Quad, plum bronze shade in crease and on lower lashline
Smashbox Luxe Eyelights Quad, ivory shade on browbone
Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Liner in Vamp applied with Smashbox #21 brush
Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara in Jet Black

If you look closely at the second (blurred) picture, you can see the little multicolored microshimmer in the Vamp eyeliner.

My thoughts?

I'm really impressed with the Eyelights shadow quad. It's absolutely nothing like that Smashbox Classifeyed palette I tried a while back.... They don't even seem like they're from the same planet, let alone the same brand. The Luxe Eyelights quad is nicely pigmented, goes on super smooth and shiny (love the metallic finish), blends well without becoming muddy, not a lot of fallout, wears well... I like pretty much everything about it. Maybe I really do like Smashbox eyeshadows.

The Fusion Soft Lights in Luster is amazing. It was painful for me to disturb that beautiful design to swatch it. It's so beautiful to look at, all that texture and sparkle. It's nice on the skin, too; it adds just a subtle warm glow without looking glittery or greasy. I've always liked the Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights, so no surprise there.

The two glosses, Rose Quartz and Gilded Nude are pretty nice. Rose Quartz is obviously my favorite of the two due to the fantastic rainbow sparkle. It's a sheer gloss, but that sparkle is just too awesome. Rose Quartz also seems to have a bit of a vanilla scent to it. Gilded Nude is nice, it too has some pretty sparkle, but Gilded Nude's sparkle is just gold, not rainbow. It has a faint cinnamon-like scent. I like the formula of both. Smashbox glosses are smooth and almost a little slippery, not thick or sticky at all.

The mascara was pretty good for me. I like that style of brush. It gave me pretty good volume and length and didn't flake on me. I believe it's supposed to have fibers in it like my favorite Urban Decay lash primer. It also contains all sorts of moisturizing ingredients like olive oil, panthenol (aka provitamin B5) and cholesterol (!). I like it enough to finish the tube, and I'd probably buy it in full size if it wasn't $19.

The blush I didn't really care for. I only tried using it once, but it was really powdery and sat on top of my skin instead on blending in like the Soft Lights do. I like the color and I like that it's sheer, but it's too talc-y / dusty. I'll have to try it again with a different brush.

The liner was good- very easy to apply, nice color, waterproof is just a bonus. It has a very firm texture, much firmer than a MAC Fluidline or Stila Smudgepot, but this is really good for doing winged liner cause it's so much harder to mess up with a stiff formula like this.

The brush wasn't the quality I had expected from Smashbox. Smashbox brushes have been some of my favorites ever since I bought my first brush from them. This #21 liner brush has scratchy bristles and isn't precise. The bristles aren't tight; they don't come to a point or taper. It just kinda poofs out at the end. It's fine for applying the Jet Set liner because it's so thick, but for applying a thinner texture liner, it's terrible. Since the bristles are rough and splayed out, the brush doesn't give a fine line and it can't draw a clean point. This one is made in China and doesn't resemble any of my other Smashbox brushes in terms of quality.

Overall, I really love the makeup items in the kit. The shadows are excellent, the glosses and Soft Lights are gorgeous and the liner is a unique color with an easy application. It's not pictured here, but this kit comes with instructions for creating two different looks using the products in the set. I haven't tried them yet, but they look really pretty on the models.

This kit is $68 ($190 value) and is available directly from Smashbox .

(This was sent to me for review.)