Smashbox ~ Master Class Palette: Lighting Theory | Sephora Exclusive

Smashbox Master Class Palette: Lighting Theory

First off, the packaging. OK, now I am a sucker for this sort of silver, metallic-y material, so if anything caught my eye, it was that. Secondly, I had originally passed over this palette multiple times, I'm not sure why. Probably because at the time I had little interest in color correcting or cream based cheek products. But as I got more into cosmetics and more into experimenting with formulas, this rose on my list and the glowing reviews on Sephora didn't help.

Now, while I don't think this product is necessarily for everyone I'm going to share with you why I bought it and what I think of each product itself. I will disclaim this by saying that I am not very familiar with cream based cheek products, contouring, or color correcting. This is, in fact, exactly why I bought this palette. My interest in these facets of cosmetics has grown and while I was online searching for contour items I was growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of items that really just gave me the contour shade, maybe an under eye highlighter shade, and that was it. I don't fancy buying a $44 palette that has 6 shades, 2 of which I will use while the other 4 just sit there, lonely and depressed. I saw the Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Kit online which peaked my interest, but the idea of being able to experiment and play around with 3 different areas of makeup all in one kit, plus get some other goodies I knew I would like for $65, THAT was worth it.

Smashbox Master Class Palette: Lighting Theory Full

Eyeshadows
While the quality isn't "holy wow these are the best eyeshadows to ever grace my delicate eyelids" quality, they are quite good. As is probably expected by most, the mattes are a bit powdery and the shimmer shades have a bit of glitter. Beware that all shades do have fallout, especially the shimmer ones which I find apply better with my finger than a brush, dry or wet. I love the color shade selection and appreciate that I can do some more natural looks yet have plenty of room to add a bit of "fun" into the mix if I choose. The color selection really is quite versatile.


Cheek Products
The middle blush (Carnation) is a nice pale pink with soft gold shimmer--it reminds me of Nars Orgasm but less satin-y and more powder-y. The other blush (on the left in the palette) is a more mauve-pink with cooler tones. I think both of these shades will work for pretty much anyone. The bronzer is decent; a light warm brown shade. The highlighters I am perfectly happy with as I think it's nice to sometimes just have a subtle glow instead of an intense strobe, but I can see where others would find them lackluster, especially if you're into the Becca or Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kits (which I adore by the way) you may find these to be lacking a bit. I like them because I would never consider buying a cream highlighter, I always buy pressed so it is nice to have  more options. I also find that the cream highlighters give me a nice dewy look and the shades are so light and subtle you can be more generous with how much you use. I think they work nicely with matte blushes to add a little "dew" to your look, but with a satin blush it might be a little too much.

L: Eyeshadows top 2 Rows
M: Eyeshadows bottom 2 rows
R: Blush and Highlighters

Contour Products
I don't have much to compare these to as I am just experimenting with contour products, but for a beginner, this should be a good intro into the contouring world.

Color Correcting
The same goes for the color correcting products. For myself, I probably won't ever need the red or the purple, though I may experiment with the purple just for kicks. The peach and green are good intro color correcting shades for me though, I just have to determine if the Smashbox products themselves are for me.

Two other nice things about this palette. One, it includes "How To" visual guides to assist you in the learning and experimenting process. Yes, you can look these up on YouTube or Pinterest or do a general "Google Images" search but I really appreciate when companies hand you the tools you need and don't expect you to rely on any third parties. That's just good business practice. Secondly, I believe you can buy the contour and color correcting products separately so if you decide these work great for you, you can buy them separately without having to repurchase the entire palette again. I do believe they come in a different form (pencils) but I am fairly certain it's the same formula (links below). Again, awesome business sense right there.

One additional nice little extra about this palette is that once you finish with the actual palette, you can take everything out and use it as a notebook to store makeup tips and other "how to create this look" papers. At least that's what I intend to do. #JustSaying


Step-By-Step Contour Kit

Color Correcting Sticks

Step-By-Step Contour Stick Trio