Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad; Shade: Ice Queen, £63
We all know Tom Ford is known for luxury, and when the makeup range came along, every girl who is obsessed by cosmetics screams a little in delight (unless that’s just me?) This eye colour quad with its mix of shimmery and glitter filled shades perfect for a night out.
The packaging is stunning; the palette is protected by a chocolate brown, suede dust bag; yes a dust bag for four eye shadows, fancy! Inside the matching mirrored magnetic case with a gold end; no more faffing around wondering how to snap open a case. This bad boy opens in a smooth, fault-free movement to reveal the shades inside. The compact contains four different eye shadows; a highlighter, two colours and a pure glitter eye shadow as well as two applicators and a mirror.
The product feels so soft against the skin and just a small amount brings out the most pigmented colour, meaning if used wisely will last a long time – hopefully making that price tag seem a little less scary.
Including a glitter shade seems to be popular with a lot of palettes, because it makes them wearable for everyday as well as for a night out. Although the other colours are shimmers, they still work well for a daytime look. They all have a smokey tone to them and they have been chosen to blend well together.
After wearing the eye shadow all day, it still looks as it did when applied, even without a primer, so fading doesn’t need to be a worry either.
I think it’s obvious I’m a fan of the product, but at £63 it is definitely a luxury buy which some people just wouldn’t want to fork out on. You’re definitely paying as much for the brand as you are the product, but for me, it’s worth it.
Can be found at most major department stores and on the Tom Ford online store.
Urban Decay Naked Smokey Palette, £38
Everyone knows that the Naked palettes are the go-to essential for anyone obsessed with smokey eye shadows; and yes, the latest edition to the Naked collection is the Smokey palette.
Despite being in most beauty bloggers bags at the moment, is it worth it? Packaged in the a grey acrylic case with black smoke wave pattern across it, inside are twelve shimmery shades ranging from pale nudes, brown crease shades, shimmering silvers, deep purples and a statement black, it does the classic evening makeup look in a different way.
When it comes to applying the shadows, they do have a lot excess fallout, so you may need to tap off any excess or sweep off any shadow from under your eye with a fluffy brush. The pigment is strong and feels so soft on the eyelid. Not as glittery as other palettes out there, but the Naked palettes are a staple at the minute and with the range of colours and bold colours, it isn’t difficult to see why.
Bourjois Smoky Stories Quad Palette, Shade: Grey-z In Love, £7.99
Bourjois Paris have added to their eye shadow palettes with the Smoky Stories quad. Although found on the high street, Bourjois pegs itself among the more luxurious of the high street brands.
The palette comes in eight different shades with three larger colours and a glitter shadow in the middle. I tried ‘Grey-z In love’ to see how the glitter shade works with the other muted tones.
For a high-street brand, the packaging was very sleek and clean, with the compact, transparent casing; perfect for fitting into your clutch on a night out!
As for the actual shadows, there is a highlighter, a gold shimmer colour and a darker colour, alongside a light grey and a smokey grey to go from day-to-night; with the high pigmented iridescent silver glitter in the centre.
However, the glitter shadow is way too small, and would be used up quite quickly, but that depends how much glitter you like. The pigmentation was good, but you needed quite a lot on the brush to make the most of the colours. The glitter in the centre is not the bright silver colour it looks in the palette, but comes out as just a like a subtle shimmer; again, it depends what you want from the product.
Overall, at £7.99 for a quad palette, you can’t go wrong. The colours can be taken from day to night with the adding of the darker shade and glitter is of course.
Can be found in Boots, Superdrug and Tesco nationwide, as well as online at Asos.
Overall Verdict: The Urban Decay Smokey Palette, you get loads of high quality pigmented eyeshadows for your money so that you can create a variety of smokey looks.
