Starlooks - December 2013

HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
    

And you thought the Holidays were over...haha, not quite! I still have a few more gorgeous Holiday items to show you! Here we have Starlook's December Starbox - Holiday Special! This was a bit of a highly anticipated box as they shared what exactly was going to be inside a couple of months back. Last December they had a very popular Starbox with only a single product inside...a 15 eyeshadow palette (different variations)! This year, probably because of the popularity, they decided to do the same! A 15 shade eyeshadow palette with brand new colors! 

I didn't write a Sneak Peek Starlooks post for the month of December, so we're jumping right into the review!....
    

This month's Looks Book was very elegant, chic, but still with a modern edge. A very romantic Holiday, slightly edgy vibe. 

Another thing included in this month's box is rewards card for their new loyalty rewards program! For every three months of continuous monthly subscription you earn $35 (on the third month) to spend on Starlook.com!

This is absolutely awesome because I have a few staple items that I use on a daily basis from Starlooks and it would be right about the time that I would need to repurchase refills, etc. Or I could just get a little sumthin' sumthin' purdy! ::wink, wink::

Ok, ok, I know you want to see the eyeshadow palette....heeeeeere it is!...

Oooooooo, aaaaaaaaaahhhh

  

It's a 15 shade palette ranging in mainly neutrals from light silver and nudes to browns, some olives, plum, and even dark pink and black, however mainly browns/neutrals, in shimmer, matte and satin finishes.

I've done some swatches for you, breaking it down into three rows - top, middle and bottom of five shadows each. Let's take a look!

Row #1 - Top

 (Click Image for larger view)

This is both my favorite and least favorite of the 15 shades. From left to right we have a shimmery silver, matte dark pink, soft shimmer medium green, matte dull dark brown (that comes across a little satiny), and matte black. 

The top row of swatches are done dry with just my fingertips, three generous swipes each. The bottom row was swiped over NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk as a primer. 

The silver I'm very happy with, it's pigmented enough with or without primer and it shows up well with no patchiness or chalky feeling. It spread evenly, too. The dark pink is a bit tricky dry, it is a bit patchy, even though it feels soft, but you don't get much pigmented unless you use a good primer. Over a primer is deepens significantly. The green is very pretty both with and without a primer, but again, it deepens significantly with one. It spreads evenly with no major patchiness. The dark brown is somewhat in the middle for me. I don't dislike it but I don't love it either. It does have decent pigmentation with or without primer but with primer it has a bit more oomf. It is a TEENSY bit patchy, but can still be blended well enough. The black is the major boo-boo for me. It's much too dry, with no pigmentation at all and way too patchy. I've always had a problem with their matte black shadow. I've tried them before and I never have success with it. The best way I've found to use it is for smudging over a liquid or pencil liner on a cat eye for a softer line effect (applied with an angled brush). 

As I said, the top row has both likes and dislikes for me. It's the most color in the palette though, with the pink, silver and green.

Row #2 - Middle

(Click Image for larger view)

The second row is probably my least favorite, but still some OK colors. From left to right we have a somewhat duochrome satiny pale pink and silver-nude (it's very hard to see the pink in photos), a pale shimmery silvery white, a matte warm brown, a shimmery satin auburn and a shimmery dark plum.

The duochrome pink/silver-nude is actually quite lovely, I'm so sorry it's not showing up well in the photos. It's very, very subtle but for a more natural daytime look it gorgeous. It shows up well both with or without primer. Over primer it really didn't make a huge difference. It's very soft and easy to blend and work with. The silvery white is OK, it's a great highlighter for the inner corners of the eyes and is somewhat pigmented so it can be used with or without primer. It's great for brightening. The matte warm brown was surprisingly pigmented and worked well both with and without primer. It was a TAD bit patchy without primer, though, but still blendable. The shimmery satin auburn is GORGEOUS, probably one of my favorite shades in the palette. It's very creamy and soft, spreads beautifully and seems to have a bit of pink-ish shimmer that's very subtle. The shimmery dark plum is also quite lovely but a bit too patchy without primer, in my opinion. It's still pigmented enough to be blended though, and over primer it deepens to a rich vampy shade.

This is my least favorite row because although I love the shimmers, especially over primer, it's just not that exciting HOWEVER that auburn brown takes the cake for me, I love it!

Row #3 - Bottom

 Row #3 is definitely my favorite hands down. I pretty much love all the shades!

Starting from the left we have a matte light to medium nude, then a satin ivory nude, a shimmery copper brown, a shimmery satin olive, and a shimmery dark brown with gold sparkles.

The nude I love because it works so well on my skin tone as a slight darkener if I want to give my eyelids a slightly discolored or shadowy look while still looking natural. It's pigmented enough on my fair fair skin without primer but with primer it deepens considerably, however on darker skin tones, it may not show up well. It is quite soft, though and easily blendable. The satin ivory is perfect for me as well as a soft natural highlighter, once again it shows up well enough without primer but with primer it's more pigmented and solid. The copper brown is gorgeous either with or without primer. With it, it looks more brown, without it, a bit more coppery. The shimmery satin olive is STUNNING with or without primer as well as the dark brown with gold sparkles. They both show up excellently without primer, very soft and creamy, easy to blend with good pigmentation, however WITH primer they deepen to these rich, decadent shades. The gold sparkle is very discreet, it only picks up in the light a bit. 

WORTH AND PURCHASE:

1) 15 Shadow Shadow Palette - $99

Total Paid for Box:  $17.68*  ($15 sub cost + shipping) 

Total Worth of Box:  $99

Haha, well that was an easy Worth and Purchase to figure! I'd say the product is worth welllllll over what I paid, although I'm not entirely sure I'd pay $100 for that palette. I don't think I've ever paid $100 for any palette...come to think of it. However, paying only $17.68 for it does me incredibly happy and I do feel that I got a good deal!

     

FINALE

Hooraaaaah makeup finale! It was very hard to choose which colors I wanted to use since I was really loving the browns and greens, especially from that bottom row, but my eye kept gravitating to the hot pink....so I went for a moody, romantic, feminine smoky eye!

Haha, I try so hard to pull away from doing a cat eye effect, but it sneaks in every time!

For this eye look I used no eyeliner whatsoever, I first primed my eyes with Urban Decay's Primer Potion (original), then I blended NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk over it. For the shadows, I started with the soft pink nude-silver duochrome and dusted it all along the bottom of my eyebrows to highlight, then I blended the hot pink into my crease and upwards towards my eyebrows. I then patted on the auburn brown (middle row, 4th color from the left) over my lid and blended it lightly onto the bottom of the hot pink, then I lightly blended a little bit of the matte warm brown (middle row, 3rd color from the left) on the outer edge of my eyes. I used an angled brush to swipe on the dark plum shade (middle row, far right) as an eyeliner effect both above my top lashes and below my bottom lashes.

I finished it all up with some dark brown mascara, a soft natural flushed blush and natural pink slightly matte lips for a natural girly look.

All in all I do like the palette, although I may have said this before but I MUCH prefer Starlook's shimmer/satin shadows compared to their mattes. The mattes are just too patchy majority of the time and with too little pigmentation. The shimmers tend to be very soft, creamy and blend so nicely. The shadows staying power is decent enough with a good setting spray, although they tend to crease a bit at the end of the day. The darker the shade, the easier it is to see the creasing. Although, if I blend it well enough, the creasing isn't too bad on me.

That's it for this month! We should be seeing the Sneak Peek Looks Book coming out soon, so stay tuned! I hope you enjoyed the review!

   

Happy Makeuping!