As a self-professed make-up addict, it’s of little surprise to most people who know me that I’ve invested in a new eyeshadow palette. With a collection of palettes which includes options from Tarte, Too Faced and Urban Decay, you’d be safe in saying that I didn’t need a new one. With that being said, most of my previously-purchased palettes mimic each other with their soft taupe, warm brown and natural shimmer shades; I’m a sucker for a honey-brown smoky eye. So, you can see why I needed to expand my coveted collection to include an array of shades that I wouldn’t usually opt for. Enter stage right: the Estée Lauder Smoky Nights Eyeshadow Palette.
The Smoky Nights palette from Estée Lauder features 14 highly-pigmented eyeshadows, which include seven shimmers, and seven pearly-matte finish shadows.
The palette features an intriguing composition of beautiful, bright jewel tones, bold and seductive navy and purple and a selection of lighter, highlighting shades. This palette promises to deliver a multitude of different make-up looks, from olive green smoky eyes, to pretty pink and brown neutrals, extravagant brights and delicate, natural shimmers. With such a diverse selection of colours, you can definitely experiment with different looks, making sure to juxtapose usually opposing colour combinations.
The palette comes with a guide to achieving different make-up looks, and their suggestions include combining the beautiful purple, lilac and violet shades for a delicate, on-trend vibe; the pink, brown and shimmery shades for an everyday, nautral smoky eye; the rich navy, sky blue and lilac shades – a beautiful combination for blondes; and the olive green, grey and light pink shades for an earthy look which would look divine on olive-to-medium-coloured skin tones.
The beautiful jewel-toned eyeshadows are intensely pigmented and pick up beautiful colour. They characterized by their silky feel and pearly finish, and the colours wears really well on the skin. An eyeshadow primer or make-up setting spray will help to ensure these bright colours don’t smudge though.
The palette retails for £44 and you can purchase it from Harrods or Debenhams, as well as from other department stores. For £44, you’re receiving 14 eyeshadows, with each eyeshadow working out at just over £3 each. Whilst the price initially seems steep (although not dissimilar to the price of other beauty brands’ palettes), £3 for an eyeshadow is an absolute steal. When you consider that just one eyeshadow from Estée Lauder retails for £20, the overall price is quite enticing – especially if you like the colours.
All in all, I’m really excited to play around with this eyeshadow palette more, and I definitely want to incorporate more colour in to my make-up looks. I’ve almost never worn blue or purple eyeshadow before, most notably because my colouring suits warmer colours, but I’m going to push myself out of my beauty comfort zone and go for a dark blue smoky eye on my next evening out with the girls. Watch this space.
As always, let me know your thoughts by commenting below and, if there’s an eyeshadow palette that you just can’t live without, then I’d love to hear about it.
The Style Intervention 