It wasn’t too long since I first expressed interest in eye shadows. The popular choice then was the Urban Decay Naked palette, but having to shell out Php3,200.00 on one palette just didn’t sit well with me. I was just as horrified at the idea of purchasing fake make-up, be it Class A, AA, AAA or whatever, mainly because of the dangerous levels of Arscenic.
I was considering Smashbox Heat Wave, was wanting Clarins The Essentials, and was way too close to buying Laura Mercier Holiday 2013. Then I just realized how much of an eye shadow beginner I am, and that using pricey make-up improperly was just plain impractical. Thankfully, there’s ELF.
I had just received my ELF Eyeshadow Palette today. I was quite lucky that it came in the mail today, just as I’m on Wellness Leave.
The reason why I chose ELF is that it’s an established brand, but at the same time, it isn’t so expensive that I’d feel bad if I were to make mistakes in application. It isn’t so cheap either that I’d be thinking about child laborers and arscenic with every stroke of a makeup brush. I also like that this is baked, which gives excellent color payoff.
So we get ten colors in a palette. This one’s in California. You see a lot of neutrals, and few dark colors, perfect for day and night. There’s another palette, New York, which is moatly dominated by darker colors, more appropriate for evening looks. Frankly, I didn’t give it a second look.. and no, I’m not just being prejudiced because I lived in California at some point in my life. Haha.
SWATCHES: I did the swatching by taking the fleshy part of my fingers and drawing circles on the pans while counting to 5. For information.:)
The shades on top, I would say, are pinky bronzy beigey. These are more appropriate for a very minimal look. You have your highlighting and base colors there. I can see myself using these quite often.
The shades at the bottom are a bit more kick-ass, being the darker ones. I’d most probably use this for a night out or something. I imagine the shades second from the left hand side, slightly comparable to Laura Mercier’s African Violet.
Oh, I have favorite shades, by the way. They don’t have names, so I’m not quite sure what I should call them, though if it were up to me, I’d call them Laura, Golden Girl, and Royce.
PACKAGING.
I don’t have many complaints about he packaging. It’s not as hin as those I’ve seen from Nars, but I can live with that. I’ve watched a few reviews expressing how the package is prety much a fingerprint-magnet–
..but I can live with that.:)
I’ve also heard how the glitter falls everywhere when you use brushes so I tried it out. I’ve experienced that with both a fluffy brush and a stiff brush when used dry. It’s nothing major though as it’s minimal. It won’t make a mess on your table, because the palette itself is rimmed.
The two palettes, California and New York lock in together, by the way, but being that I don’t exactly need the New York palette, I’m cool with having my one palette that doesn’t need to be locked into anything.
STARS.
Do I really need to give stars, hearts, or whatever grading system there is for reviewing stuff? I like the palette, that should be enough, right?:)
Panna Ciorrina 