Last week I reviewed the Hard Candy "mod quad" in brownie points and concluded that it was a decent palette and worth buying. This week I'm doing the second part to that review and looking at the smoke and mirrors mod quad. This one, unlike brownie points, is a set of blacks and greys, though they're really more like silvers than greys. Before reading this review, I suggest you read the first part, which will be below this post. But just to refresh your brain, baked eyeshadows can be applied wet and dry, dry it's more like an ordinary shadow, but metallic. Wet, baked eyeshadows are much more vibrant and stunning in the sense that they have a foiled effect, taking the metallic looks to a new level.
I recently got to give these shadows the ultimate test, would they hold up or not? I wore three of the four colors here while I was volunteering as a waitress for a fundraising banquet. I would be running about all night in a room packed chalk full of people, meaning the place would get hot very quickly meanwhile I'd be running back and forth, getting drinks for people, carrying plates and trays, the works. I was surprised to find that all of them held up well.
Okay, I'll be honest, I'm not as impressed with the smoke and mirrors palette as I was with brownie points. Starting with the white, this one is a very cool toned white. The whole palette is pretty much all cool tones, but this one is a very cold, snow white. Overall, this is an extremely sheer eyeshadow. I find I have to apply it with my fingers for it to register, which I don't like doing because I have a tendency to drag on my skin a lot with my fingers. Dry, I definitely have to apply this color with my fingers. Wet, it shows up better, but it's still quite sheer so I do have to pack it on more than I would really like.
The second color I actually really like. This one is a silvery shade and decently pigmented. Dry, it's quite interesting, it looks sort of like silver dust, but I honestly prefer this one wet. It shows much better and I love the effect. It looks like silver leaf has been applied to my eyelids! While with brownie points I didn't particularly like the second shade, this one is for sure a favorite on this palette.
The next color is a little bit darker and more of a platinum. Dry, this one is a little bit more grungy than I really like if it's applied lightly, so I find I need to apply a little more than I usually would. Wet, this one is spectacular. It has a bluish undertone to it and again, has that lovely foil look I love so much. Again, another favorite. Fairly pigmented, interesting tones, good color. If you totally want to change up a smoky eye, apply just a bit of this damp as an accent and it could do very well as an eyeshadow transformer as well as being great on it's own.
The fourth and final color is a black, though it actually is more of a dark grey once applied. Sadly, this one is a bit on the sheer side, but that doesn't mean it isn't a cool color. Dry, I don't like it that much, it's kind of just like black and silver sparkles with a bit of a grey-black eyeshadow as a base, so unless you want that, definitely apply this one wet. Similar to the dark brown from brownie points, the base of this shadow isn't quite as metallic as the other colors, but it has a lot of sparkle to it, which means you do end up with an interesting effect, so while I wouldn't really wear this as the majority of a look, it does make a nice accent tone.
Again, this palette has quite simple snake skin print packaging (print meaning it isn't real snake skin. If it were, you wouldn't be paying six bucks for it). Rather than being brown though, this one is black. Again, not my personal style, but I'm sure some people really do like that. The case has a small mirror and four sponges inside.
While I admit smoke and mirrors didn't wow me as much as brownie points, I still like it for dramatic evening looks or just to add some pizazz to something simple. Hard Candy carries their mod quads in three other themes as well. A pink, a purple, and a green. While these themes wouldn't work on me due to my skin tone, and my eye color, these could do very well on someone else, it just depends on your skin tone and eye color.
The things it has going for it:
Interesting colors
affordable
okay pigmentation, with the exception of the white
cruelty free, they don't test on animals
attractive packaging (depending on your taste)
While I wasn't wowed by the smoke and mirrors palette, it's still a good one and worth getting. As always, there are new posts every Monday and if you want me to try out a product, let me know in the comments and I will try to test it!
(P.S. I started using a way better camera for my photos, so the picture quality should improve from now on :D)
I recently got to give these shadows the ultimate test, would they hold up or not? I wore three of the four colors here while I was volunteering as a waitress for a fundraising banquet. I would be running about all night in a room packed chalk full of people, meaning the place would get hot very quickly meanwhile I'd be running back and forth, getting drinks for people, carrying plates and trays, the works. I was surprised to find that all of them held up well.
Okay, I'll be honest, I'm not as impressed with the smoke and mirrors palette as I was with brownie points. Starting with the white, this one is a very cool toned white. The whole palette is pretty much all cool tones, but this one is a very cold, snow white. Overall, this is an extremely sheer eyeshadow. I find I have to apply it with my fingers for it to register, which I don't like doing because I have a tendency to drag on my skin a lot with my fingers. Dry, I definitely have to apply this color with my fingers. Wet, it shows up better, but it's still quite sheer so I do have to pack it on more than I would really like.
The second color I actually really like. This one is a silvery shade and decently pigmented. Dry, it's quite interesting, it looks sort of like silver dust, but I honestly prefer this one wet. It shows much better and I love the effect. It looks like silver leaf has been applied to my eyelids! While with brownie points I didn't particularly like the second shade, this one is for sure a favorite on this palette.
The next color is a little bit darker and more of a platinum. Dry, this one is a little bit more grungy than I really like if it's applied lightly, so I find I need to apply a little more than I usually would. Wet, this one is spectacular. It has a bluish undertone to it and again, has that lovely foil look I love so much. Again, another favorite. Fairly pigmented, interesting tones, good color. If you totally want to change up a smoky eye, apply just a bit of this damp as an accent and it could do very well as an eyeshadow transformer as well as being great on it's own.
The fourth and final color is a black, though it actually is more of a dark grey once applied. Sadly, this one is a bit on the sheer side, but that doesn't mean it isn't a cool color. Dry, I don't like it that much, it's kind of just like black and silver sparkles with a bit of a grey-black eyeshadow as a base, so unless you want that, definitely apply this one wet. Similar to the dark brown from brownie points, the base of this shadow isn't quite as metallic as the other colors, but it has a lot of sparkle to it, which means you do end up with an interesting effect, so while I wouldn't really wear this as the majority of a look, it does make a nice accent tone.
Again, this palette has quite simple snake skin print packaging (print meaning it isn't real snake skin. If it were, you wouldn't be paying six bucks for it). Rather than being brown though, this one is black. Again, not my personal style, but I'm sure some people really do like that. The case has a small mirror and four sponges inside.
While I admit smoke and mirrors didn't wow me as much as brownie points, I still like it for dramatic evening looks or just to add some pizazz to something simple. Hard Candy carries their mod quads in three other themes as well. A pink, a purple, and a green. While these themes wouldn't work on me due to my skin tone, and my eye color, these could do very well on someone else, it just depends on your skin tone and eye color.
The things it has going for it:
Interesting colors
affordable
okay pigmentation, with the exception of the white
cruelty free, they don't test on animals
attractive packaging (depending on your taste)
While I wasn't wowed by the smoke and mirrors palette, it's still a good one and worth getting. As always, there are new posts every Monday and if you want me to try out a product, let me know in the comments and I will try to test it!
(P.S. I started using a way better camera for my photos, so the picture quality should improve from now on :D)