New Releases from Smashbox Cosmetics | First Impressions

Smashbox Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palettes and PrimersHELLO THERE, FOXY LADIES (and foxy men too). I was invited along to the new Smashbox store in the Bullring a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately because I haven’t tricked a rich man into marrying me yet and still have to work the 9-5, I wasn’t able to make it down. However, the lovely folk at Smashbox very kindly sent me a few of their new releases to try out – and what absolute beauties they are. I thought I’d put together this quick first impressions post so we can get get all loveheart-eye-emoji over the products together, and then you know what you need to rush out and buy immediately.

(Psst – I’ve also dug out these Smashbox discount codes if you fancy saving some £££ on your new products, hurray!)

Smashbox Photo Finish Primers ReviewSmashbox Gel Eyeliner

First up, we have the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primers* (£18.00 each) in the shades Light, Smoke and White. So far I’ve only used the shade Light, and it did a great job of evening out my eyelids’ skintone and making them smooth ready for eyeshadow.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m a bit of an eyeshadow rookie but I’ve never seen a black lid primer before, so I’m interested to try that next time I attempt a dark smokey eye (with ‘attempt’ being the important word there for this cackhanded idiot).

Next the Always On Gel Eye Liner* (£18.00) is a super-black, super-smooth gel eyeliner. I tend to use pen liners on my upper lids and a kohl pencil on my waterline, but this actually works really well on both. When you first apply it, it’s really blendable for a few seconds so you can smoke it out if you want; otherwise it dries and then doesn’t budge. And I mean like “I’ve just sweated all of the water in my body out during a body pump class and am ready to collapse but daaaaamn my eyeliner still looks good” doesn’t budge.

Smashbox Softlight Eyeshadow Palette Review Smashbox Softlight Eyeshadow Palette Smashbox Bold Eyeshadow Palette Smashbox Bold Eyeshadow PaletteNow we arguably have the two stars of the show – the new Smashbox Cover Shot Eye Palettes* (£24.00 each). These small but mighty palettes contain two base shades and six shadows, and there are seven different palettes in the range. I was very kindly given the very wearable, nude Softlight palette (above) and the electric, striking Bold palette (below). Now, as someone who is 90% of the time strictly monochrome, I was initially very scared of Bold. But I’ve recently got really into that smoked-out colour-under-the-eye look that the likes of Jamie Genevieve make look AMAZING, so I’m going to try. I really am guys. I’ll probably end up with badly-applied yellow that makes me look like I have some sort of terrible eye condition, but I’m really going to try.

These palettes are obviously gorgeous inside, but the packaging is really extra-specially stunning. So much so that I knew a photo wouldn’t do it justice, and so have included this wee Instagram video. JUST LOOK AT THAT. FIT FIT FIT.

A post shared by Vanity Claire (@vanity__claire) on

So overall I’m loving these new Smashbox releases, and am very happy indeed to have them as new additions in my catfish kit – I mean, makeup bag. If you’re interested in picking up some Smashbox products yourself then you can shop them online here or do what I intend to this weekend and pop into the brand new swanky Bullring store.

Have you tried any of these Smashbox products – or are there any others you think I should know about? Let me know in the comments!

5 Responses

  1. Alice March 23, 2017 / 7:50 pm

    Smashbox is a brand I’ve never really looked into that much, I’m not sure why, I always used their photo finish primer in my teenage years but I think that’s about it. Their new products look and sound fab.

    Alice | alicemaysnell

  2. Danielle March 25, 2017 / 12:22 pm

    I have never really tried much by Smashbox before other than their highlight and contouring stick that I love. I should really check more out by them!

    Danielle xx
    http://www.fashionbeautyblog.co.uk/

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