The Smashbox Master Class 3 Palette is my Favorite!
I’ve made a major error & I need to apologize. I’m so sorry I’ve fallen in love with a palette that has already sold out online except for Amazon. I tend to try & review items for longer than most apparently & not I’ve waited too long for this rave review. Trust me when I say you need to get your hands on this palette.
The Smashbox Master Class 3 Palette is limited edition & the first in the series I’ve picked up. The other palettes were pretty but just not what I was looking for. They weren’t as pretty as this one from what I can remember & something about the packaging just wasn’t right. They weren’t as travel-friendly which is important to me for when I actually travel. This palette contains 32 eyeshadows & 6 face products…& they’re gorgeous! Keep reading to check them out!
So what makes this packaging better? Well it closes quite securely for one! It fits together like a book then has a handy strap that goes over top to secure it all together. Inside you have 2 sides- one more neutral & one more colorful. You can see they each have a plastic flap which I adore- less mess & not a flimsy flap like in most palettes. Notice the names are also printed below the shades as well! Each side completely comes out of the booklet- perfect to work on clients or use separately. I’ve found this to be really handy as I tend to have an absolute mess on my makeup table.
The neutral side contains 16 eyeshadows in varying finishes, a matte contour powder, a matte bronzer, & a barely satin highlighting powder.
These swatches over primer from left to right are Naked, Drizzle, Topaz, Royal.
Row 2 is Nectar, Ambient, Sienna, & Blackout.
These swatches over primer from left to right are Flirt, Pebble, Cinder, & Smoke.
Row 2 is Vanilla, Golden Orchid, Nude, & Sumatra.
For the more neutral side I have to really give this snaps. The shade variation, textures, & composition is so perfect. The tones here are rich & the texture across the board is so smooth & easy to blend. Naked, Nectar, Vanilla, Drizzle, Pebble, Nude, Royal, Blackout, Smoke, & Sumatra are all matte- that’s more than half! This really helps compensate for the lack of mattes on the more colorful side. Some of my favorites are Drizzle & Royal which I tend to combine with Pebble for a gorgeous, matte, purple eye. Some other shades I use on their own are Cinder, Topaz, & Golden Orchid which is a soft pink with golden sheen. Nectar is an awesome blending color & so is Nude.
The colorful side contains 16 eyeshadows in varying finishes, shimmering pink blush, matte neutral blush, & rose blush with shimmer.
These swatches over primer from left to right are Oyster, Zoom, Ivy, & Serpent.
Row 2 is Sky, Steel, Cerulean, & Nocturnal.
These swatches over primer from left to right are Lavender, Lilac, Violet, & Blacktop.
Row 2 is Snow, Rose Petal, Papaya, & Peony.
The more colorful side is definitely a mixed bag. The green row is extremely impressive- Zoom, Ivy, & Serpent are gorgeous but also quite different. Nice green variety. Steel is as close as you will get to a silver in this palette which is an interesting change- I’m used to silvers & golds being in almost every palette these days. Nocturnal is an amazing blackened navy while Cerulean is a beautiful vibrant pop. The purples are gorgeous & Violet is mostly matte- along with Snow they’re the only mattes on this side. The pink rose is a nice surprise- Papaya is something really special I can see myself reaching for this spring & summer.
The blushes are lovely- Rosey is a soft rose with fine silver shimmer that doesn’t show up much on the skin, Flush is a matte neutral shade that goes with everything, & Carnation is your usual light pink with lots of gold shimmer. The Highlight is a bit yellow for me but looks quite natural on the skin. Bronze is a warmer bronzer than Contour & I’ve actually used it as an eyeshadow as well. The Contour shade is pretty perfect- even on my super fair skin it will blend out beautifully.
I wanted to share my go-to neutral look lately- it is easy to pull off anytime. It has a smokiness that I can amp up or tone down. It is neutral enough that I can pull out my bold blushes or lip colors out but flashy enough that I can go neutral.
For this look I primed my eyelid then used Cinder as my base across my lid. I add Royal to my outter crease to darken it up & add some drama. Naked is what I use to blend out. Naked is below my browbone very lightly & Flirt is added into my inner corner for the shine & lightness.
You can’t purchase the Smashbox Master Class 3 Palette from Sephora online anymore- but you CAN see if it is in a store near you by calling. Other than that, Amazon looks to be the only option…even though the price is ridiculous. What is your favorite Smashbox palette? Have you gotten your hands on this palette? Any shades especially catch your eye?
