Smashbox Beauty To Go Palette

I bought this in a duty free a few weeks ago on a whim. Part boredom and part curiosity about the brand drove me to the purchase. Smashbox seems to be disappearing a bit. I notice it’s no longer on the Debenhams website although I have spotted this palette on Amazon. I think I paid around £30 and you get 12 shadows, 4 cream liners and a little mini bottle of Photo Finish Lid Primer.

 

Despite it being a little bulky I do like the packaging. The black leather look case is quite sleek although the packaging is cardboard and therefore may be prone to wear and tear if your travel with it. It comes with an ‘Eye Wish Look Book’ which is ok. You get 14 ideas of ways to use the shadows and I may try a few out.

There are a good range of shadows in here with a good mix of neutrals, brights and finishes ranging from matte, satin and shimmer. Shade 2, the Stila Kitten look alike is particularly pretty as is 11 , a fuchsia with a slight purple pearl to it. The quality of the shadows is pretty middle of the road. The pigmentation is good. Not excellent but definitely good and better with a primer. The texture tends to be a little dry and prone to fallout so it is essential to tap any extra off the brush with these shadows. I haven’t noticed any fading with these, they wear pretty well.

The liners are the bottom row (shades 13,14,15 and 16). You get a plum shade, a shimmery bronze, matte black and shimmery navy blue. All are pretty well pigmented although the blue needs a couple of swipes to get a truly opaque line. I’ve photographed them here as big swatches to show the colour and with liner brushes to show how they appear on the eye.

The wear on these is ok. They will smudge if you rub your eyes but ordinarily they last all day on me.

I haven’t tried the primer yet as I don’t want to open it until I’ve used some more of my other primers up. I will review it separately in a while.

Overall? I think it’s a very useful palette and whilst not cheap I think you get a good range for your money. The quality is not mind blowing. It’s nice and perfectly functional but not the best I’ve ever seen. I’d be curious to know if anyone has heard anything about the lack of availability of Smashbox in the UK now?  X