My idea of Heaven involves glittery unicorns and kittens doing insanely adorable things.  I have three cats and I've never met a unicorn (I'm still crossing my fingers on that), so glitter is one of my weaknesses.  I may have been a disco ball in a past life.

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So, when I saw that Urban Decay was releasing the Moondust palette, my inner survivor instinct kicked in.  You know, the one where they say that the reason humans like sparkly things is because water in the distance sparkled and it's how we survived back in the day of caves and fire bad.  Again, I can talk myself into anything.  My conversation was quite simple, "Shiny!"

Urban Decay

Oh yeah.  Are you experiencing this nebulatastic star packaging?  It's gorgeous.  The Urban Decay Moondust Palette is $49.00 for eight 0.7 g shadows.  It was made in Canada and is made without phthlalates, parabens, and sulfates.

The back of the package alludes to the shadows within and has a moon rock appearance.

Moondust

Mmmm.  I love this packaging.  It is glittery but not in a way that everything you own will be covered in its glittery fun time. It's set into it, but you can feel the gritty texture. The brand is in raised lettering and the product name is in relief with a mirrored base.  So, while I waiting for this, ReadySetGlamour did this Metallic Blue look that made me itch for this even more!  I swear, that woman could slather mashed potatoes and relish (eww on the combo) on her face and make it gorgeous.  Maybe it's because she's that pretty.  I dunno.

The back of the package is pretty basic.

Queue the dramatic music.  Do you see the bright, glittery fun?  I am way too excited about this whole thing.  But I looooooooove glitter.  I will be 80 and rocking a freaking Christmas ornament of sparkly goodness on my eyeballs.  I like that the color names are printed on the package by the actual color.  For some reason it slightly annoys me when companies don't do that, especially if they're expensive.

Left side quad

Let's work from the left and made a little quad.  Because it's easy to take a picture of the palette that way.

Specter is a semi sheer warm pale pink glitter with golden tones.  It is the least pigmented of the shades.  The texture is soft and creamy, especially for what is essentially a pressed glitter.




Element is warm reddish orange glitter.  This one surprised me with how much I love it.  It makes my green eyes pop.  It has a creamy texture but you can feel some of the grittiness of the finely milled glitter.  It has good pigment.

Granite is a glittery tungsten color that has silver glitter flecks.  It has good pigmentation and similar texture to Element.  Doing a blackout smokey eye with this in the center is...well it's pretty awesome.



Lithium is a glittery bronzed brown with multicolored glitter.  It has good pigmentation and a slightly more chunky texture than the previous three.

Right side quad

So this is the right side quad.  It has a little more of the unusual shadows.

Magnetic is a slightly sheer medium purple with blue and pink micro glitter.  This is the second least pigmented shade and the one I had been most excited about.  I had imagined slathering myself in purple glitter and riding my unicorn into a sunset under a rainbow or something.  Because of that, I was disappointed this didn't pack the punch I had wanted.

Lightyear is a semi opaque glittery grass green with silver and blue/green glitter (I think).  The texture on this one is closesest to Lithium.  The glitter on this can look a little flat if too much is packed on but it does sit well on the skin.



Vega is a semi sheer glittery sapphire blue.  It has the most patchy application of the shadows and may need to be applied in layers to achieve a good opacity.  The texture is creamy with a faint feel of some fine grit.



Galaxy is an opaque deep pewter with gold and green glitter.  This probably has the most pigmentation of any of the pressed glitters and has a creamy texture.  This is my other favorite glitter of the bunch and is wonderful when used in a black smokey eye.




With these you really have to think of them as a pressed glitter and not as an eyeshadow.  If you think of these as an eyeshadow you will feel that they aren't as pigmented as you want and you will be bemoan the fallout.  They are glitters, there will be fallout.  Especially if you apply them dry with a brush.

My happy place

If you apply them with a damp brush there will be less fall out.  The way I like to apply them the best is to do my transition colors, my crease colors, pat in a little Too Faced Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue (just a tiny, tiny bit), and then with my finger, press in the Moondust glitter of my dreams.  It is actually a pretty quick makeup look when I do it that way.  It also lasts 8 or more hours.

If you don't like glitter, don't bother with this.  You will definitely hate it.  If you are mostly into neutral, this probably won't be for you.  It won't be for everyone, but I do really like this.  You shouldn't skip out on groceries to have this, it's not a necessity.  But if you love glitter, it is something fun to have.  If you don't use a primer or glitter glue, the glitter won't last long.  It may be best to apply your eye makeup first, so you don't have a mess with fall out.

Halloween 2016

It's hard to see, but I did use Element on my eyes and lips for being The Morrigan (I seem to like costumes I have to explain) on Halloween.  My roommate, Taylor, was the Joker.  I enjoy playing with this palette.

* I took myself to the moon with this palette and bought it myself.

We all know we probably don't need another matte palette, but it doesn't change the fact we'll somehow talk ourselves into purchasing one.  I think my conversation went, "Purple!"  Yeah.  I have issues.

Front of outer packaging

The Smashbox Matte Exposure Palette is $49.00 for 49 oz of product.  There are 12 .035 oz matte wet/dry shadows and 2 .07 base shadows.

Back of outer packaging

The back shows the items that are included.

The guide

There is also a card that shows tips for different eye shapes.

The package is nice looking.  It's a matte black with raised lettering in glossy black.  It is on the thick side.

The back lists the colors included, unfortunately, they are not listed on the inside.  The shadows were made in Italy, while the brush was made in China.

The included brush is red with double ended black ferrules.  One end is good for packing in eyeshadow on the lid.  It is dense and fairly soft.  The other side says its for eyeliner/brows.  It is thick and dense, I'm not sure it would be too good for liner, but I don't often use shadow for liner, so I could be wrong.  It's not a horrible brush.

This has two sides, the left six shadows are warm and the right six are cool.  The center shades are both base shades with the left one being little warmer and the right a little cooler.

Warm Side

So, let's start on the left side.

Spice is a matte burnt sienna.  The pigmentation is fairly good and it blends okay.





Desert is a matte light neutral leaning camel brown.  It has okay pigmentation and blends well.





Tonal is a matte soft peach.  It has okay pigmentation and blends well.






Blackberry is deep matte blackberry/brown color.  It has good pigmentation but can be patchy.  It blends okay.





Sumatra is a matte chocolate brown.  It has good pigmentation, can be patchy, and blends okay.





Suede is a warm matte brown with red orange undertones.  This and Spice are two of the best quality shades in the palette.

Cool side

Buff is there, I promise.  It's a matte pink nude that just blends right into my skin tone.  It has okay pigmentation and blends well.





Drizzle is a soft matte lavender.  It has okay pigmentation and blends decently.  I like this color, so this is one that I use the most out of the bunch.




Truffle is a pale matte grey.  It is really lacking in pigmentation and blends okay.





Grounded is a soft cool buff brown.  It has okay pigmentation and blends well.  I like this one as a transition color.





Black Plum is a deep matte plum.  It has good pigmentation, blends okay, but can be patchy.  I use this shade quite a bit simply because I like the color.




Blackout is a matte black.  It is all around, okay.

Middle Ground

Lastly, the two base colors in the middle.

 Wheat is a soft matte warm brown.  It isn't very pigmented but blends well.





Vanilla is a pale matte beige.  It barely shows up on my skin but has light pigmentation and blends decently.






This isn't a palette that will blow your socks off, to be fair, that's not really the point of a neutral matte palette.  However, that is acceptable if a certain quality is met.

Left: KVD Succubus and SB Spice

Kat Von D has her Shade and Light Eye Palette and that is another basic matte palette.  If that's the stick you measure this by, Smashbox doesn't come up smelling roses.  It lacks the pigmentation and blend-ability that makes a good matte palette.  I also fear that on deep skin tones this will look powdery or ashy.  It isn't worth $49.00 and to be honest I don't want mattes that I have to wet to use.  If it were $29.00, I would think it was worth the price.

However, this may be good for those of you who don't want a pigmented palette.  If a subtle wash of color is your jam, behold, the jelly.

I use it because I have it, but if I had a time machine, I wouldn't buy it again.

* I purchased my own matte exposure.

This month will be the first that Ipsy and Birchbox don't battle it out, because I cancelled my Birchbox.  I just wasn't happy with the samples lately.  Ipsy isn't on my naughty list though and I have continued to subscribe.

 Ipsy is a $10.00 per month subscription bag.  You do earn points be reviewing the products and getting your friends to join, this is my referral code if you ever want to use it.

Cute Bag!!!!

This month had a cute bag that was blue with a soft texture and had silver cosmetic constellations.  The zipper even had a little star.  It is a keeper. The theme was Ipsy Rockstarlet.

Doucce

I'm getting more into blush, so I was happy I got a blush.  This is from Doucce, the full size is $28.00.  The Doucce blushes are supposed to be good on all skin tones, but this is in Zen Orange and isn't a shade I can wear without looking like I've started the zombie apocalypse.  These are supposed to be long wearing, have a silky texture, and blend well.  I'll probably give this away, because it would look much prettier on someone that isn't me.  This is made in China.

 I really was disappointed to get another red lipstick, but after I swatched it, I got over that feeling.  This is from Absolute New York and is in the shade Dark Red.  This was a full size and sells for $5.99.  I love how the top displays the color inside, it should be something more companies do as it would make it easy to store products right side up and see what color it is.  What I didn't like is the top, because it's a firmer formula and has a big top, it can be harder to get a precise application.  I would definitely use a lip brush with this, which I did not do in the pic.  However, I sometimes don't wear foundation in lip swatches, doesn't the Marc Jacobs Remarcable foundation make it look way better?  This is also made in China and smells deliciously synthetic fruity.

Nuxe

We have received Nuxe products before and I have enjoyed them, so I was excited by this.  The Nuxe Nuxellence Detox Detoxifying and Youth Revealing Anti-Aging Care is a night serum that is normally $75.00 for the full size 1.5 oz pump bottle.  Right now they have it on sale for $39.00.  Skin doesn't really detox, so I'm taking that claim with a grain of salt.  It is supposed to revive your complexion while you sleep.  Again, a product I am excited to try.  This is made in France.

Benefit

Who doesn't like receiving Benefit products?  Well, there may be those people out there, but I am not one of them!  The Benefit POREfessional is a YouTube Vlogger favorite and I'm excited to try it.  It comes in several sizes at Sephora, you can get a travel sized .25 oz for $12.00, the middle ground .75 oz for $31.00, or the jumbo 1.5 oz for $44.00.  It contains vitamin E, has a silky formula, and is supposed to help prolong your makeup and reduce the look of pores.  I have heard that this isn't wonderful on dry skin, but winter dry hasn't hit me yet, so I still get to be excited.  This was made in the USA.

I have received the Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in a previous box, I want to say Birchbox.  It has a felt tip and it does create a nice, black line.  It is $18.00 for the improved (it says "new" but this isn't a new product, so I'm deducting the "new") 2 gram eye liner.  I didn't open this one to create the swatch, so this is the previous one I had, going strong.  It has been stored upside down.  This brand is against animal testing.  It is supposed to have a smudge proof finish and dry fast.  I don't remember why I wasn't completely thrilled with this, but it may be the tip?  I know the Kat Von D is still my favorite.





I was very happy with this bag.  Seriously, Ipsy, good job.

* I pay for my own subscription bags.  No one knows who I am, nor cares to send me free stuff and things.