Monday, April 26, 2010

Review - Smashbox Halo Eyeshadow

Smashbox's Halo Eyeshadow Duo is a revolutionary perfecting eye shadow duo that dramatically minimizes the signs of aging:

Ok, so you all know me; I love Smashbox! I love how innovative they are with beauty products, how they tend towards inexpensive though high quality, and how fabulously scrumptious their colors usually are.
Unfortunately, I just didn't feel the love with this odd newcomer to the pack. It is moisturizing and firming eyeshadow. eh. I feel tepid about that idea, I mean isn't that what your eye cream is for??? Don't get me wrong if some people really need A LOT of support in the eye wrinkle area, I understand, and please give it a try. For this 25 year old face I didn't notice enough difference for the $36 price tag to really be worth it. The colors are nice and neutral, but neither the base or the darker color meant for the crease was really dark enough to be noticeable or anything like their normal va-va-voom loveliness. They looked drab, and very matte on my super pale and pink complexion. I (as you all might know) am not a makeup artist like many of my colleagues on this site, so I brought it to work where there are plenty of makeup artists just waiting to critique something new. We all agreed that the packaging is a bit difficult. It is basically a shaver so when you run out of powder you sort of turn the dial and more is shaved off. Unlike me everyone loved it! We all agree it would be best for a woman who doesn't want too much variance in their shadow color (wants to almost look like they aren't wearing color) and has a lot of trouble with wrinkles. All in all I really hope someone else from this site has another one so they can give you more imput. I would say I'm up in the air, but again props to Smashbox. I for one had never thought of the concept of firming eyeshadow before! I can't wait to see what they think of next.

Malikah says: I tried this in Pewter/Smoke and I have to say I love this as an eyeshadow, but didn't really think it lived up to its anti-aging claims. Yes, it blends easily and deposits smooth, crease-free color that wears beautifully for hours. The shades are a bit matte, but I guess that just helps them wear longer since shimmery hues tend to fade faster. Granted I'm only 24, so I don't have many wrinkles to speak of, but I didn't really notice any smoothing or firming after using it for a few days. This may be one of those products that you have to use daily for an extended period of time to really see results, but like many women, I don't wear the same shadow everyday. And the packaging was a bit weird in that its hard to control how much product you get, and it reminded a bit of birth control. Overall I'd say buy this if you want a great long-wearing shadow that will make for an easy, subdued smoky eye, but don't expect it to be a miracle powder for your eyelids.

Trish says: I actually really adore this eyeshadow by Smashbox! At first, it was tricky for me to figure out how to get to the shadow, but once I managed that small project, I could really appreciate how much this shadow goes the distance as far as smoothening out fine lines, little wrinkles and tiny creases. I tried it in the Soft Peach/Cocoa duo and feel that it's just the perfect shade for warmer skin tones. I didn't expect it to actually work in minimizing slight signs of aging - but it really did in my case!! Yikes, I am getting older. Best results for me was when I used just a light amount as a soft base - the peach truly matches the natural skin tone really nicely - and built my eyeshadow on top of it...and true to its claims, I got a really clear and smooth canvas to work with, and my eyeshadow and eye make-up looked a lot better and silkier than usual. My only warning is that when I used too much shadow, it did end up looking cakey - but a soft touch worked wonders for me! In my case, it definitely worked. If you're thinking you may need that little extra eye care (like me) - then this is just the right shadow to complement and upgrade your beauty and eye-makeup routine. I truly love it!

Sultana says: I agree with Trish! I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get this open! I actually gave up and was giving it back to Hillary. Ironically enough, I was turning it in the wrong direction. OOPS! (Thanks Hillary). After the whole debacle of not being able to open it, I finally was able to try it. I have the shade Buff/Ivy. The colors blend well with my complexion, a little too well. I guess the shade is meant to be more on the subtler side.
So I am approaching my 30's, and I am much more aware of wrinkles. But wrinkles on my eyelids? I don't understand that part. It does make your eyelids smoother. I love Smashbox but this eyeshadow product and shade didn't cut it for me.

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