Baby Blues

I had a pretty big online shop at Boots the other week, and one of things I found and just wouldn’t let go of was a £2.99 blue eyeshadow palette by Collection.

Note the “1”, “2” and “3”s, to try make building up a look easier.

I was pretty skeptical of the quality, particularly the pigmentation, but figured I didnt have all that much to lose by trying it out. I have a couple eyeshadow palettes and they’re all neutrals and nudes, so I felt like it was about time to branch out. Plus, I hadn’t worn blue make up since year 8 (Helen’s 60s party, I remember it vividly ..unfortunately), and I would like to think that my application technique has improved somewhat.

I investigate the palette and it’s brush, blend the colours, and create a couple different looks below. Keep reading!

(Or if you don’t want to keep reading: the palette’s worth its low price, and the variety of shades means you can have a variety of looks, as well as putting a coloured spin on a smokey eye. And if you’re after a solid silver-based highlighter but don’t want to invest in a more expensive or bigger palette, this is a good call! Does need a primer or fixing spray though, as its comes off quite easily, and the brush is rubbish so chuck it!)

Before we even begin: chuck out the brush. It’s just bad. It’s cheap and painful, gives little to no coverage, and does not want to help you blend. Also, resign yourself to not using their proposed highlighter. It has the consistency of eyebrow wax.

Okay! What I started by doing was taking a good look at the colours and pigmentation by putting primer on the back of my hand and then using a soft eyeshadow brush to test out the colours. Initially I was actually really disappointed, finding the “1”s (the base colours) to be all incredibly similar, the pale blue to lack any real pigmentation, and for the darkest navy to actually just be a weak black. Below on the right is the back of my hand, full palette on it, and I could only really see four unique colours outside of the attempts at blending.

I did like the silver, but I already have two silvers going strong from my W7 palettes, and I’d really been after the blue tones. I decided to give it a try on the eyelids (no primer on) before writing the set off. The result is the photo on the left!

Whilst I wasn’t totally blown away: I was impressed. On my eyelids, whether it’s the smoothness of them (though I wasn’t using primer) or the colours looking better next to my blue eyes, it just seemed to work. The looks also seemed to be a little more purple, and the softness and subtlety of the colours was actually a positive.

(Apologies for poor skin! For first testing these looks, I only filled in my brows a little and did my lashes – hence the spots in the T-Zone. Sad skin is sad!)

Using the darkest navy and your own eyeliner, creating a smokey eye is pretty simple. What doesn’t work, unfortunately, is doing a bright coloured halo, as the pale blue is too weak to really be noticed. Also, the colours do not build or layer very well together — which is a bit silly, considering the back of the palette’s instructions to create a smokey-eyed look, are by layering the “1”, “2” and then “3” colours. Weird. They all kind of blend into a dark blue shiny mess if you try this. I had to build around one colour, and rely on blending for it to work out.

I tried out some different looks: a silver based one (the silver “1” actually makes for a great highlighter in the inside corner of your eye, and the “1” with the pearl sheen works well just below your brow), and then a smokier one. I tried out two different wing styles, too, just for the sake of experimentation!

Wings (using Soap & Glory’s Supercat) and a blue-based then silver-based lid

For the look I had today (as seen in the first photo of the post), I used the bright silver as the highlighter, for both the brow arch and inside corner of my eye, and used the navy to dust my low lash line for a smokey effect. I have quite deep-set eyes, so I probably could have benefited from spreading the colour out a bit further towards my eyebrows, rather than having such a heavy lid. I’m an absolute magpie, so really like the just how shiny and glittery my eyes and eyelids were! It was definitely a very flattering look for my blue eyes. I kept the rest of my face matte and simple, keeping attention on the eyes.

So, overall, I was really pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed playing with the palette (..after ditching the brush and discovering the consistency of the highlighter), creating multiple looks, and then finishing up my whole face with the focus entirely on the eyes. Again, for the price, you really don’t have much to lose.

I was excited to be bold and play with colour, pleased by the results, and would definitely do similar looks again! What do you think? A good look, or nah? Any experience using Collection Cosmetics before? Let me know! xx