Review: Studio Gear Cosmetics Holiday Smokey Eye Palette

Fear not, I am still around! With the holidays and all, it's been a little bonkers for me.

Enough intro, onward to the review!

Up on the review block is Studio Gear Cosmetics Holiday Smokey Eye Palette.

Be radiant on any occasion with this sultry, shimmery palette of dramatic shades – perfect for creating a classic smoky eye look, with a hint of unexpected golden glimmer. This collection of four complimentary eye shadows with matching blush deliver several day to night options that are both seductive and wearable. With pure color, pigment-rich formulations, you’ll be sure to smolder all night!

via Studio Gear Website

Packaging: The palette itself comes in a slip cover that slides off. It's a brilliant and eye catching array of yellows and purples. The palette itself is a chic black and grey color scheme, which I think works well with the slip cover. Inside the palette you find the SG insignia design covering the palette. On the underside of the cover, is a step by step guide (not pictured), opposite that is the actual palette, four eyeshadows and one blush.

Frost

Position: Top Left

This is the lightest shade of the four eyeshadows. A frosty, shimmery white. Perfect for the inner color highlight and below the brow.

Thoughts: Not terribly pigmented, I had to work with this one a bit, it's definitely the sheerest of the four.

Platinum

Position: Bottom Left

Second darkest shade. This one is basically a silver with grey mixed. I actually like to use this all over the eye, sometimes alone or smoking it out.

Thoughts: I'm not normally one for silver toned eye shadows, but I do like this one. The pigmentation on it is better than Frost, easy to work with.

Glimmer

Position: Bottom Right

Hard to describe. It isn't quite gold, but it isn't really bronze either. I'd actually like to say it falls between the two. A happy medium, which to me makes this color unique to the palette. 

Thoughts: Definitely the oddity of the four colors, but I like it. It adds to the smokiness, whether you follow the guide and use this as the blending color, or use it as the base color, or even alone.

Coal

Position: Top Right

A charcoal grey, not a true black, with hints of silver added in.

Thoughts: While a matte black, I think would have worked perfectly for a palette of shimmers, this works as well. It isn't terribly harsh, which a matte black can be, it's soft, but makes the point of the smokey eye.

Snowy Glow - Blush

Position: Center

A soft coral-rose pink blusher with the slightest shimmer. 

Thoughts: I love this blush, at first I was iffy, but this is a blush that is buildable. It's sheer, but you can get a lovely flush for your cheeks as you would during the cold months. 

(L-R) Frost, Glimmer, Platinum, Coal, Snowy Glow

Overall Verdict: I definitely do like this palette, although it has its faults (this is my own personal preference at that), namely the sheerness of Frost. Other than that, it's wonderful. The smokey look that you can get from this varies to the degree of darkness you want at the corner, but I do think this is a palette that you can go from a day look to a night look with no issue. On top of that, Snowy Glow is the perfect compliment to the four shadows. It ties everything together.

Price: $40; receive 10% off your purchase using the coupon code SGHOLIDAY

Availability: Studio Gear Cosmetics and select ulta.com stores

The product featured in this post had been sent to me by Studio Gear Cosmetics via the Brand Backer campaign. What appears in this post is my 100% honest opinion on the product, and it is in no way influenced.

Review: Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation

Review time! Just for the record, photos, save for one, were taken with a Nikon L810 that I'm borrowing right now, and I can say, now I know why Nikon is so awesome.

Anyway, up for review is Rimmel London's Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation. Now, I've used Rimmel concealer before, but never one of their foundations, let alone a mousse foundation. I was both excited and a tad apprehensive due to the fact that when I would try to color match to any of the Rimmel foundations before, the lightest shade would still be too dark for my skin tone.

So, onward to the review!

A feather light, oil free formula with an airy mousse texture that won’t feel heavy or greasy. Delivers all day shine control and blends flawlessly for a natural looking matte finish. Minimizes the appearance of pores. The weight is over – finally, shine has met its matte.

via Rimmel London

Packaging: What you get is a white tube that holds 1 fl. oz of product in it. From the center going towards the cap is what appears to be a close color match to what the actual foundation tone is. The twist cap, along with the text and accents is purple, not an over the top purple, but definitely eye catching.

Ingredients: CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DICAPRYLYL ETHER, AQUA/WATER/EAU, ISODODECANE, TALC, TRIHYDROXYSTEARIN, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, SILICA DIMETHYL SILYLATE, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, POLYGLYCERYL-3 BEESWAX, SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, KAOLIN, TRIBEHENIN, ALUMINUM STARCH OCTENYLSUCCINATE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, PEG-10 DIMETHICONE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, POLYPROPYLENE, PHENOXYETHANOL, METHYL METHACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, SODIUM CHLORIDE, DIMETHICONOL, LAURETH-4, BHT, TOCOPHEROL.

[May Contain/Peut Contenir/+/-: TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499)]

Texture/Formula: Smooth, with a lightness to it. Definitely a mousse feel. It is a little thick, but can be sheered out to a medium coverage.

Shades: There are a total of 8 shades available right now. Light Ivory (091), Ivory (100), Soft Beige (200), Sand (300), Light Porcelain (010), True Ivory (103), Classic Beige (201), True Beige (203)

How to Apply: The site suggests that you can use either your fingertips or a brush to apply the foundation, however the best technique for me has been applying it with [clean] fingers then buffing the foundation in with a brush. And just to be clear, you only need a small amount.

Overall Verdict: I was definitely iffy at first when I got this in the mail from Influenster. Normally the lightest shade that Rimmel has to offer tends to be a shade or two off from my skin tone. I received Light Ivory (091), and while I was on the fence, the tone isn't that far off from my own. I really didn't have high hopes though, first application I used my regular foundation brush, applying it as I normally would. For me, bad idea. Too much went on, and I felt like I had a mask on. I didn't go back to it right away, but when I did, I tried it with my fingers instead. MUCH BETTER. Coupled with a simple buffing with my foundation brush made the foundation work perfectly. It is a light-weight formula. While I normally steer clear of Matte foundations during the cold/winter months simply because I have dry skin, and this foundation will pick up on any dry areas. I've noticed though if I put enough moisturizer on and couple it with a primer, it is not that bad then.

Taken 12/4/13 with my Samsung Galaxy S3. No Filter

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The biggest plus with this foundation is that it can double as a concealer. When I wear this foundation, I normally top my under eye concealer off with this foundation for extra coverage.

Price: Between $4.99 to $7.99; I haven't seen the foundation in store yet, so I'm basing the price on the other foundations that Rimmel offers.

Availability: Wherever Rimmel London is sold.

Disclaimer: Products mentioned in this post were sent to me for testing purposes from Influenster.