First: I’ve been holding back showing this to you guys until I tested the heck out of them. I am indeed in love & I think a lot of you will be too. Let’s talk about my bargain new favorite palette shall we? I know I reviewed the new Too Faced Summer Eye Palette (& did an eye look here!) which I love & have also been loving my Lorac Glo Getter Palette (which I also did this awesome eye look for) but I have found a palette that trumps them. Crazy right? I mean it is spring…practically summer… & those two palettes are wonderful. Bright, fun, & new pretty much guarantees them into a favorites spot…so what beat them out recently? A matte neutral palette called Eye on Neutral from Sonia Kashuk.

I know right? A neutral palette taking the first spot? But do hear me out! If you’ve heard anything about a little brand called Urban Decay then you probably know all about the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. You get 6 shades & 5/6 are matte. I don’t own it to do a side by side because…I promised myself I wouldn’t buy it. Is the quality good? Definitely. How about the packaging? Nice. So Stephanie…why won’t you buy it? Because it is $27 & it didn’t blow my mind. I’m picky I guess because I’ve been wanting a matte palette that is smaller to use as an accompanying palette to some of my others. My Lorac Pro Palette (which I still need to review!) has some nice matte neutrals but I don’t want to kill them. I love my single in Brulee from Wet n Wild which is so cheap & my favorite base/blending shade but I needed more. & I like variety. 4 neutrals in the same family & a black just didn’t wow me. Sonia Kashuk did.

This palette itself has simple packaging in black with a clear front so I can see what I’m grabbing. All 12 shades (double the amount in the Urban Decay Basics) are matte. This compact is sturdy but also very thin. I also get a taupe (bonus points!), multiple light shades which is important since I hit those hard, a grey which I also appreciate, a peach which I find myself adoring, & a black to smoke out or set liner with perfectly. All matte, all pigmented, & all apply nicely.

Shades are swatched over ELF eyeshadow primer on the back of my hand. One swipe each.

Row #1: this shade is very similar to WnW Brulee & is a soft nude with a hint of peach, cool dark brown, & a black.

Row #2: soft cool toned nude that pretty much blended into my hand, peachy flesh shade, beautiful medium brown, & a medium gray.

Row #3: a fair bone shade, peach flesh toned color with slight orange tone, red toned brown, & a medium taupe.

I think this palette used to contain some sort of instructions which mine didn’t so it is thin. If yours does you might want to check & see if they have been repackaged. So although I can’t do a side by side with the Urban Decay Naked Basics I hope you can see why I think they’re similar. For me it is a “dupe” because of what I use it for. Except better because Sonia Kashuk gives me twice as many options! Cons? Some of the shades are definitely similar but that doesn’t bother me a bit. Actually…I prefer it because then I can hit those shades a bit harder without worrying about running out. I am so happy with this palette.

The Sonia Kashuk Eye on Neutral Palette can be purchased at Target for $19.99. Sonia Kashuk sometimes has coupons but I bought it full priced & don’t regret it one bit! Do you own the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette? I know so many people love it! What do you think of this palette from Sonia Kashuk?

STOP! LOOK! Seriously this palette is THAT important! The LORAC Glo Getter (GloGetter?) Palette is an ULTA exclusive & it is on sale for only $20! I posted about this awesome deal on my Facebook page yesterday & shame on you if you haven’t liked it yet! I immediately headed out with the hubby last night to pick it up & honestly, my mind is blown. The colors, quality, & price are out of this world. Keep reading to find out why this is a must have palette!

In this palette you get 10 eyeshadows altogether, 10 regular shades & 2 bases/highlighters. The highlighters are larger & located beneath the 8 regular shades. This palette is supposed to contain both matte & shimmer but I only spot one matte, the first brown shade on the left. This doesn’t bother me, I just wanted to point it out.

The shadows are housed in a brown plastic palette with a turquoise LORAC across the front & a gold frame. You get a large mirror inside & it closes securely. It is a nice thin palette but not so thin that I worry about it cracking.

I wanted to note that it seems as though you get two 5 shadow palettes if you look at the divide the palette between the highlighters. The will give a similar look to many high end summer palettes with the peachy coral, turquoise, & browns. The right sice will give a really rice, saturated look. Obviously all of these shades can be mixed & matched…just wanted to point this out in case it overwhelmed some of you with options!

I am so impressed with this palette that I’m getting this review up after only wearing the shadows for one day. I’ll do a tutorial if you would like but I wanted to point that out. Because this palette was nearly sold out in my ULTA (although you can check it out here online!) I wanted to give you my swatches & review immediately! LORAC shadows are lovely & always wear well on me. The swatches have been taken without any primer whatsoever. Yes, they are just that fabulous.

Here are the two highlighter/base shades. Left is a soft vanilla satin & right is a light beige shimmer. Gorgeous & great pigmentation on both of these.

Left to right- matte medium brown, cool toned brown shimmer, peach with a touch of coral shimmer, blue toned turquoise shimmer.

Left to right- periwinkle shimmer, soft brown/rose with subdued gold shimmer with purple/mauve tones when swatched, light mint shimmer with golden shimmer/sheen, a red toned medium purple with slight blue/purple sheen.

I love these shades, especially the periwinkle, mint, & the fact that they give you more of the highlight/base shades since I use those the most! I can’t wait to use this palette more, the colors are absolutely spot on for the upcoming sunshine! The LORAC GloGetter Palette is worth every penny & these shades are perfection! Head out to your ULTA asap & see for yourself!

NOTE: ULTA exclusive & LORAC just confirmed with me on Twitter that it is Limited Edition!

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing this review & I’d love to hear what you think in the comments! What are your favorite summer palettes & shades?

Affiliate links have been used.

When it comes to trying out new brands, I like to start off with a bang. I have quite a few products from City Color Cosmetics to show you over the next few weeks but I love mini palettes so this was easily scheduled as the first! This is the City Color Cosmetics Elegantly Bold Eye Shadow & Blush Pastels Palette & it is just adorable.

I love the range of shades & the option of 3 different blush shades without being bulky. I opted to swatch over the City Color Cosmetics Primer that I’m testing. This palette fits in my hand easily & has a nice sized mirror. I find a mirror to be absolutely necessary for products I’m considering taking with me on the go. You also receive 2 brushes, one a sponge tip & the other I assume meant to be a mini blush brush. I prefer to use a much larger brush for blush so I tend to use it as my highlight/blending brush in a pinch.

Again, I love having blush options! You can use these 3 individually as swatched or swirl them to create a blend all your own.In this palette you get a very soft pink, medium/bright pink, & a rosy mauve that has a bit of sheen but not too much.

I really like the modern vibe of these shades although I wouldn’t have necessarily called it a “pastel” palette. There are only 6 shades but it is enough to create a variety of looks especially with the addition of a black shade. On the go, you can use this as a liner as well. I swatched these shades over the primer but using them with the sponge tip is also a nice way to add some pigmentation. Preferably with the sponge a bit damp!

Left to right: shimmery white, shimmery light pink, bright turquoise.

Left to right: matte black, shimmering warm light violet with a bit of a pink flash, slightly darkened teal.

The City Color Cosmetics Elegantly Bold Eye Shadow & Blush Palettes retail for only $4.99 with three shade variations: Pastel (which I showed), Neutrals, & Darks. I really like the look of the other 2 palettes & definitely want to try them out! The neutral version has really pretty peach blush shades while the dark has pretty jewel tones. You can pick this palette (& the primer used) up from City Color Cosmetics.

What do you think of this palette? Are you a palette lover like me or do you work with more singles?

Well this review is long overdue. I picked these up before I left for IMATS LA 2013 & photographed them, used them, then left. Now I want to preface this by saying ULTA now has the Kourtney version of these palettes available & it has gotten much better reviews. In fact…the other two have been pulled off the site altogether. I don’t know if you can still find them in stores, if they’ve been reformulated, I honestly just don’t know. I also wanted to note I’ve heard some good things about the lashes although I haven’t tried them myself.

The exterior of this palette has been getting a lot of love or hate. Its a snakeskin/croc palette. I think it looks a bit cheesy but it honestly doesn’t bother me much. This palette is also plastic. I think people were expecting higher quality (like NARS) from the Kardashians however I can see why they didn’t. They tried to make these products more affordable, thus the plastic packaging.

The interior has a big mirror (for this size of palette) & the top contains 8 shadows while the pull out base contains a blush, highlighter, & bronzer. I actually like that they didn’t fool around with lipsticks or glosses as they tend to be poor quality in these palettes.

I’ve heard a lot of raves & a lot of rants for this line in particular. Where do I fall? I guess somewhere in the middle. I really liked some shades but I consider others throwaways. I’m absolutely addicted to mini palettes like these, I have loads from Stila to Sephora to drugstore. They make me happy. I honestly don’t use them much on the go but to know that I could…that’s how you know I’m a makeup addict I suppose.

 Eyes:

One of the main draws to this palette is the shades. I love me some good neutrals. With 4 matte shades & 4 borderline metallic shimmers, I was hopeful. Consider my hopes dashed. These swatches are without primer which I tend to do unless a palette comes with it specifically or I feel like it needs it like a loose powder. I don’t think a primer would even save the matte shades. & I went back & tried swatching them the next day with more pressure & nada. However, how gorgeous are those shimmers? I really like them & although they all lean warm golden I find them to be very pretty & useable.

Face:

 I think the best part of this palette is the face section. The blush is a gorgeous coral shade that really compliments my fair skin & although the bronzer contains a bit of reflective shimmer I don’t find it to translate it onto the cheek really. I don’t consider it shimmery. I can actually use this as a blush lightly for something more neutral & if you’re darker than me I think you definitely can. The star is the highlight. This was a harder press (I assumed it would need it after swatching the other shades) but holy pigment payoff! I love this shade! It makes a beautiful highlight on the face or eyes with a gorgeous gold tone.

So was this a fluke? Could the mattes REALLY be that bad? I think so. I bought the Kim version of this palette when it was on sale & it might even be worse in the matte department. So are these palettes worth $12.99? I can’t believe I’m saying this….but maybe. The shimmers (or practically metallics) are nice but the star for me is the face products. I love this highlighter, it is freaking gorgeous. The blush in this palette in particular is lovely on my skin & I really dig the color. Would I carry this in my bag? I might, for summer since these shades say summer to me. I probably won’t even bother with the mattes though. If you guys want to see an eye look with them to see pigmentation of primer just let me know!

So what do you think? Have you ever gotten a palette you like except for one part? Would you still be interested in picking this up?