**There is a mirror behind the blue and white brochure, which includes general instructions for a daytime and evening look.
Products included:
64 Eyeshadows - ranging from neutral beiges, greys, and browns to vibrant yellow, orange, green, pink and blue
64 Eyeshadows - ranging from neutral beiges, greys, and browns to vibrant yellow, orange, green, pink and blue
8 Cream liners - including basic black and brown along with purple, green, blue and gold
6 Brow powders
1 brow wax
8 Lip glosses
2 Blushes
1 Complexion brightener
1 Bronzer
1 Highlighter
4 Brushes
6 Brow powders
1 brow wax
8 Lip glosses
2 Blushes
1 Complexion brightener
1 Bronzer
1 Highlighter
4 Brushes
Smashbox is one of my favourite brands for a few of the products they make that just have no equal, in my opinion. Their yearly palettes are one of the best deals I've come across. This one was last year's (2009) and I absolutely love it. The shadows are such a great range and, when applied with a primer, show up the colour you see in the pan an last quite well. I use their brow powders every day and love their highlighters. I don't tend to use lip glosses in palettes very often because of the issue posed by re-applying when you can't take the whole palette with you, but I do have one of their lip gloss palettes that I have found to be long lasting, highly pigmented for brighter colours and don't dry my lips out, which is really saying something since my lips tend to dry out no matter what I do.
As you can see from the photos, unfortunately the highlighter in this palette broke on its way to me, though it was in large pieces that I gathered up in a small container and have still been able to use - it's a lovely light pink irridescent colour. Other than that, everything that I've tried in this palette is wonderful - with the possible exception of the brushes. They're pretty flimsy and not as good quality as the Smashbox brushes that are sold individually. But that said, they're still better quality that the brushes that usually come with palettes and I never really count on brush quality as being a selling point with any of them since I've got brushes I like to use anyway.
Overall this was a great investment and cheap at the price. Definitely keep an eye on Smashbox kits and palettes because they come out with some that are amazing deals!
**Note: I've been going back and forth on whether to invest in this year's palette (2010). I've heard some mixed reviews about the product quality this year round and in comparing the images to the two palettes I already have (that are nowhere near hitting pan on any of the products included) it looks like I already have nearly all the shades included anyway. If you don't have any of their palettes and are willing to take a bit of a chance on the product quality this year that I can't vouch for, this might be worth checking out. I've found Smashbox to have excellent customer service, so if you buy directly from the website I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble with returns should you find it disappointing. They sell out pretty quickly though, so if you are interested in checking it out, better do it quick!
Ratings:
Packaging: 4/5 (one pan broke in shipping, which was a bit disappointing)
Product quality: 5/5
Worth the price? Definitely.
Would I purchase again? Yes!
