I absolutely love the time of year when all of the new collections are being released. Both drugstore and high end brands put out their Spring collections around the same time and it's a makeup lover's dream, I swear. I like to peek around online and see what's going to be coming up, and it seems like every major blogger and Youtuber is featuring all of the new collections to whet my palette. I can't actually remember where I initially saw these palettes, although I suspect it was on Instagram, but I was instantly intrigued. Of course, when I saw them at my local Walmart and then were under $8, I had to give them a try. For research, right? A blogger needs content... Ahem. These are the things I tell myself when I shop.
Anyway, keep reading for a look at this palette along with my thoughts.
Hard Candy has recently released 3 of these tins. I picked up the
Natural Eyes palette, but they also have the Sassy Eyes and the Smokey
Eyes tins as well. Each palette includes 9 eyeshadows as well as a
miniature of their Eyes The Limit Eye Shadow Primer, and a minuature
Take Me Out Liner. For a cost of $7.98, I have to say I think this is an amazing value in the drugstore.
I think most beauty lovers will look at these tins and be reminded of
the Too Faced eye shadow palettes that are packaged very similarly. The
only real difference being the inclusion of the primer, liner, and
sponge tip applicator housed right in the tin. This packaging does contain a mirror, which I'm actually somewhat surprised and definitely impressed by, as well as a little booklet with sketches of some looks that you can achieve using this palette.
As far as the packaging is concerned, this is really on point. It's adorable, first of all, but it's also quite sturdy and practical. I actually tried to see if I could pull the plastic containing the shadows out of the tin and couldn't do it with my hands (probably could have with a tool of some kind, but I didn't think it was necessary to take the experiment to destructionville) and it stayed in place.
Now for the shadows themselves. Unfortunately, like most drugstore palettes, none of these shadows have names, which is something I'd actually really like to see change in the near future. This palette contains 4 matte shadows and 5 shimmery shadows. The matte shadows are the three on the right as well as the one in the top left. As far as shade selection, I think they did a pretty good job of making this a really easy to use palette with really straightforward and wearable shades.
For me, the real standouts in this palette are the mattes. While they don't have as much punch as, say, the Urban Decay Naked Basics shadows, they are pretty decently pigmented with a smooth, soft texture that I really liked. The first look I did with this palette was actually a simple contoured eye using only the matte shades and it turned out beautiful. The shimmery shades in this palette are a little hit and miss for me. They tend to be a little bit dry and powdery, with a lot of fall out, and a few of them really need to be built up for full opacity on the lid, but they are ultimately workable. My favorites of the shimmery shades are definitely the two in the middle at the top, a champagne shade as well as a sort of rose gold shade.
I want to touch briefly on the Eyes The Limit Eye Shadow Primer and the Take Me Out Liner that are included in this kit. I have to say I'm actually really surprised at how much I enjoy both of them. Eyes The Limit is a skintoned primer with a very soft texture that reminds me a lot of higher end eye primers that I've used, like the Urban Decay Shadow Insurance, and it did seem to prolong the wear of my eye look. I don't have many issues with creasing generally, but I didn't have any creasing when using this product either, and it did a really good job of cancelling out any veins and discoloration on the lid.
I didn't have particularly high expectations from the Take Me Out Liner, but I was actually incredibly impressed. This liner does definitely need warming up, so I like to tuck it between my thighs (I sit down to apply my makeup, this isn't weird, I swear!) for a few minutes before I'm ready to apply it, so that it's a little more creamy. This is definitely the kind of liner that I prefer to use along the outer half of the upper lash line and smudge out for a little bit of drama on that outer corner and it worked really well. I did have some smudging when I rubbed my eyes later in the afternoon... but I can't really be a hater if my makeup moves when I literally rub it, can I? Anyway, I'm impressed with this liner and think it will actually get some use.
My final thoughts on this product are that it is pretty perfect for a younger girl just starting out in makeup, because it's not so pigmented that you have to be really precise and it includes everything you would need for a day to day eye look at a really affordable price. For those of us who already have higher end neutral palettes, I think this is probably something you can pass on. There's nothing really outstanding about it and the quality is definitely a little bit hit and miss. I will say, though, that these are definitely some of my favorite matte shadows in the drugstore at the moment.
Hope you enjoyed this review! Check back next week for a couple of more procuct reviews from the new Hard Candy Spring 2015 launches!
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