Monday, February 23, 2015

Smashbox Double Exposure Review + Swatches
















Price: $52 USD

Includes:
-Double Exposure Palette
-Double Ended Brush
-Full Exposure Mascara Deluxe Sample
+Eye Look Instructions
+Shadow Name Sheet







I had been eyeing Smashbox’s Full Exposure heavily when the brand announced a Double Exposure Giveaway. When I say heavily, I mean I had been visiting websites daily just to put it in my cart and then spend the next half hour trying to talk myself in and then eventually out of purchasing it, so of course I had to enter to win part 2 of the series! I entered the photo contest and within about a week, I received an email that I won the palette! Ahhh, my wallet was saved after all. Fortunately, I got to try a similar palette completely free….Unfortunately, compared to reviews of Full Exposure, I got the dud of the series.




While the Full Exposure Palette offers a variety of nudes in shimmers + mattes, the Double Exposure Palette offers more colors than true nudes and has 7 shimmers, 4 satins and 3 mattes.

The gimmick here is that the 14 shadows will turn into 28 shadows when wet. I do feel gimmick is the right word because most shadows will do that, and while they claim to transform into new shadows, I've found they mostly just improve and deepen, which is to be expected in any shadow made wet. It was good marketing though, It grabbed my attention!

Swatching these shadows dry with a primer was a little depressing. They were too soft to the point of excess fallout and the color was blotchy in spots when I glided on the shadows. When I switched techniques and began packing them, the blocthiness problem went away. Definitely pack these on!

Swatching them wet was a much easier experience, I could glide or pack them on easily.

The only major differences in the wet transformation comes from Midnight (The Navy Shimmer) which looks almost black dry but turns more true to color when wet and Blanc (Silver Shimmer) which was intensely amplified when wet. 

The duds of the bunch were Veiled (Last On The Top) which was unspectacular both wet and dry, though improved when wet and was difficult to swatch with a somewhat sheer pigmentation, and Noir (The Matte Black) which dragged when both wet and dry and was difficult to blend out.


The stand outs are Silver (Top First) which was a beautiful silver/blue buttery duochrome that improved when wet and Blanc (Top Middle) which, although standard when dry, amplified considerably when wet and was easy to apply in both the wet and dry technique.


SWATCHES:
Top Row (L,R): Silver (Shimmer), Mauve (Satin), Peony (Shimmer), Blanc (Shimmer), Quartz (Shimmer), Flushed (Shimmer), Veiled (Satin), Bottom Row (L,R): Midnight (Satin), Temper (Satin), Haze (Shimmer), Noir (Matte), Copper (Shimmer), Fig (Matte), Espresso (Matte)

Top Row (L,R): Silver (Turn Metallic), Mauve (Turn Metallic), Peony (Turn Metallic), Blanc (Turn Metallic), Quartz (Amps Up Vibrancy), Flushed (Gets Deeper), Veiled (Amps Up Vibrancy), Bottom Row (L,R): Midnight (Adds Sparkle), Temper (Adds Sparkle), Haze (Gets Deeper), Noir (Gets Deeper), Copper (Turns Metallic), Fig (Gets Deeper), Espresso (Gets Deeper)

Eye Look Using (Wet) Peony on the Lid and (Wet + Dry) Haze in the Crease, Full Exposure Mascara & Both sides of the dual ended brush.

The mascara included is a Full Exposure Mascara in a deluxe size, which I've gotten for free several times in the past & have used often. The brush itself is large with groups of bristles distributed evenly throughout. 

It produces slightly voluminous lashes that looks more like your natural pair, just "amped up" a step. 

The positives are that it's nearly impossible to clump this formula and It removes remarkably well with makeup wipes.





The palette includes a dual ended brush.

The angled brush is too small and stiff to be a blending brush, but I used it to shape the outer corner and before I blended it out with a Sonia Kashuk blending brush, the outer "V" was very crisp.

The flat brush is pretty dense and worked well with packing on color, which is good because this palette sort of demands that technique.





Pro's:
-Comes with an array of Colors & Nudes
-Has Shimmers, Satins and Mattes
-Deluxe Sized Mascara
-Dual Ended Brush
-Eye Look Pamphlet Organized According To Eye Shape
-Pretty Packaging/Looks Nice On Vanity

Con's:
-Gimmicky
-Hit & Miss With Pigmentation
-Must Pack On, Drags When Glided & Dry
-A Bit Expensive For Most ($52 USD)

The verdict is for you to decide. Personally, I'm glad to have won it but If I lost it or hit pan, I would probably not repurchase. $52 is too much to spend on a palette I feel lukewarm about.


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