Beauty Product Reviews

Matte shades are lovely but powdery. Review of 102, 107, 115, 124

For reference, I am medium-tan (approx. NC30) with warm yellow undertones. I have normal-dry eyelids. Swatches were without primer.

My biggest gripe with these is that the pure matte ones (102, 107, 115) kick up a lot of powder in the pan. 124 does not, presumably because it contains more binder to keep the glitter in the shadow. You basically have to dip your brush into the pan and NOT MOVE IT at all or else you get eyeshadow everywhere. The shadows are so soft, softer than the matte shades by a certain other mid-range brand known for buttery mattes.

However, I only deducted half a star because everything else about these is phenomenal! The benefit of being so soft is that they are not patchy on the eyelids and blend like a dream. They are true to pan for the most part, with the darker shades needing to be built up a bit. Here are my thoughts on each individual pan:

102: The lightest shade works as an orangey transition shade for me for very very warm looks. The middle shade is true orange, the darkest shade is more of a burnt brownish orange. All 3 are very pigmented, swatch well, blend well. This one is my favorite of the 4 that I got.

107: Medium neutral browns. The lightest shade almost matches my skin tone (I am too yellow so it looks pinkish on me). Middle shade is a great crease shade. Darkest brown needs to be built up but is still smooth, not chalky.

115: Lovely purples! The darkest one does not swatch well (as you can see) and looks patchy on my arm. It applies much better with a brush. Great shade for deepening the crease.

124: This one has silver sparkles throughout the entire pan. I was hoping the darkest shade would be a vampy blood red but it's more of a dark reddish brown. All 3 shades had great color payoff but most of the glitter was lost after blending. The glitter sticks much better over a primer or sticky cream base.

Beautiful pigmentation, HUGE pans! Review for 153, 407, 405

Preface: I am medium toned with warm yellow undertones, approx NC30, with normal-dry eyelids.

I picked up 3 of these shadows, 153 (Shine) 407 and 405 (both Pearl). They are all incredibly pigmented - my swatches are 1 finger swipe over bare skin. They are so smooth and buttery, they basically blend themselves. For the price, you get a ton of product! Way more affordable than most other single-pan eyeshadows out there.

From the site swatch, I was expecting 153 to be a warm silvery taupe. On my arm it looks like that, but most of the brown is lost on my eyelid, so it just translates as a warm silver. Fine by me, it's still gorgeous. 407 is a beautiful coral with a gold duochrome. It looks the same on my eye as on my arm. 405 is true copper, not the most exciting shade, but gorgeous nonetheless. I would have to say that the Shine finish is my favorite. It's very metallic, no glitter, it almost looks foiled.

Love it but wish it lasted longer!

I like my brows defined but natural-looking (no Instagram brows for me!) This pencil has a very thin tip making it a breeze to draw in individual hairs so your brow doesn't look blocky. The range of shades is fantastic. The lasting power is also great, I don't have to worry about accidentally smearing my brow when I touch my face. However, I deducted a star because for the price, this product should last longer than it does. Several years ago, I bought a brow pencil from another mid-tier department store brand for the same price as the Brow Wiz. It lasted me YEARS! I apply my brow products with a very light hand. Anastasia's Brow Wiz didn't even last 2 months.

Nice shadows, but hard to create a complete look

Note: This review is for the 2013 version of this palette (with the silver/skull cover)

I love the variety of shades in this palette. Great for making spring/summer looks. Oil Slick might as well be a matte black, the sparkles disappear when you blend it. Polyester Bride is the only miss - bit too sheer and chalky and glittery for me. I took off a star because of the lack of matte shades, making it hard to make a complete look with only this palette. One of the Naked Basics palettes will complement this one well. The shades are SO pigmented, very blendable (they almost blend themselves), so buttery, and so sparkly! Very fun palette.