Monday, February 4, 2013

Sonia Kashuk 'Shimmering Sands' Eye Shadow Quad: Swatches + Review!


When it comes to drugstore makeup, it seems Sonia Kashuk is often seen as queen (sorry Latifah).
That said, I've actually never purchased a product of hers since, while I always hear wonderful things about the brand, I actually don't really hear too much about individual products and their performance. 

Cut scene to the other day at Target: I was walking through the makeup isles with absolutely no intention of purchasing anything (and honestly, I get a gold star for the month of January when it comes to curbing my spending). Now pan camera to Sonia Kashuk's 'Shimmering Sands' palette; cue pounding of my heart and close-up of the drool running down my chin.

A beautiful and relatable scene, am I right?
Right.

Take the jump for the verdict; is this documentary an uplifting rom-com or tear inducing tragedy?


I'm a sucker for neutral eye shadows, as I'm sure you all know. 
So I'm fairly confident in saying that I own just about every neutral shadow created needed. However, I can't say I've EVER seen a shadow quite like the one residing in the top right pan of this palette.

My fingers shook as I went to swatch these... 
was 'Shimmering Sands' about to become my new everyday palette?
Was I going to look like the prettiest princess of them all!??!?!


SON OF A B****.
(I'm not even going to label the swatches to correlate with the pans because who f***ing cares)

Secret's out, folks!! 
No one talks about this palette (and I'm assuming the others) BECAUSE IT'S ABSOLUTE UTTER CRAP.
Ughhhhhhhhhhhh for upwards of $14 I would save your dollars and get a palette that actually shows up on your skin and doesn't feel like chalk (yet has less pigmentation than such).
I honestly think those swatches took a good twenty seconds of me rubbing my finger around in the shadow and even then they are barely pigmented and essentially all end up looking the same. 

Thankfully, though the same texture as the others, the dazzling upper left pan (swatched last on my hand) is actually quite pretty as a pumped up accent highlight. 




You'd never guess but the above look was using all four of the shadows in Sonia Kashuk's 'Shimmering Sands' palette (you can laugh, I did too).
You also have to keep in mind that a lot of the pigmentation on my lids came from my primer (Maybelline's Color Tattoo in 'Barely Branded'; expect a review soon!)... actually, now that I think about it, that's probably where ALL of the pigmentation came from.

But, like said, I think the inner corner/brow-bone highlight is pretty so I guess I can look forward to that. 
The rest of this palette though? 
An absolute throwaway.

Have you tried any palettes from Sonia Kasuk?
 Love 'em (bless your soul)? Hate 'em?
What has been the biggest letdown of an eyeshadow palette for you?
Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie

25 comments:

  1. beautiful! I can't wait till they sell Sonia Kashuk in Canada! :)

    Steph // fun size beauty

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    Replies
    1. Noooooo avoid this like the plague!!!!! Don't waste your money D:

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  2. That shadow looks lovely on you! Gold shimmer eye shadow is one of my favourites, so versatile!


    XO J

    SHAPEWEAR GIVEAWAY ON MY BLOG

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    1. Thank you but like said it pretty much had nothing to do with this palette!! I do adore gold shimmer shadows though :)

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  3. That's so ANNOYING. I HATE when that happens. I do love Barely Branded though, it works well for me! I definitely will steer clear from this eyeshadow on my upcoming trip to the US :(

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    1. Isn't it just the pits!??!? And I agree; I've actually never gotten on with an Eye Tattoo before but I actually really fancy Barely Branded! Glad I could save you your precious pennies... there really are so many other great (and cheaper!!) drugstore makeup products that you could invest in and love :)

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  4. As soon as I saw the swatch on your hand - I knew that this palette wasn't worth a dime. I do have two of SK larger palettes (eye on dazzling color - 03 and the eye on neutral - 02) and although a bit chalky .. both have good pigmentation.

    Monica
    www.pear-shaped-gal.com

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    Replies
    1. Haha I know Monica the hand swatches usually tell all. Sad to hear that Sonia Kashuk makes nothing but chalky shadows when she's supposed to be a higher-end drugstore brand... I am, however, glad that you experienced better pigmentation than this palette provided!!

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  5. i read this review because i saw the colors and i was like OMG. but then i was sad, probably just like you are. i've had better experiences with wet n wild.

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    1. I know, right???? The colors in this palette absolutely dazzled me but they really are probably the worst shadows I've ever had the displeasure of using. And like you said, I'd rather buy four or five Wet n Wild palettes for the price and be able to enjoy their buttery pigmentation.

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  6. Such a shame that the pigmentation was so tragic because the colours looked SO promising in the pan! What a fail :( The highlight is still really pretty on your lids though.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, this was a big fail unfortunately :( But thank you!! I figured I had to work it for the post haha.

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  7. Woah, they basically completely disappeared. What crap, lol. :/

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  8. Wow, how disappointing! I've always held out hope for drugstore brands like these because I mean, they are pretty expensive so maybe theres something to them, but I'm glad I never picked this up! The maybelline ones (which are half the price) are far superior to this!

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    1. I know, right??? I completely agree with you and I'm glad you never picked this one up; save your pennies and buy yourself something much prettier!! :)

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  9. Aw, it's such a shame the palette wasn't any good because it seriously looks gorgeous! I laughed out loud at your comment under the swatch picture - it really is a shame. I've never tried anything by Sonia Kashuk - probably because I've never actually seen any of the products in store. I wonder if it's actually not available where I am. Hmm. I'll have to look into that. Or maybe not. Because that eyeshadow quad sucks.

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    1. I know, right???? I was SO bummed (obviously lol) when I went to swatch it; I had such high hopes and they were dashed in a millisecond T__T I can't say I recommend Sonia Kashuk in general; I'm trying out another product of theirs/hers and I'm not at all impressed. So no worries that you can't get your hands on it haha! Spend your hard earned money elsewhere and get something worthy of being on your pretty face :D

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  10. I bought the same quad thinking that they were going to be the perfect colors. Wrong! I was so disappointed that the pigment was non existent. I considered taking it back and buying another 10-15 ELF products for the cost. Major bummer. Glad I ran across your post though, I'm going to try the layering to see what happens.

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    1. Ughhhhh nooooo we were both duped!!! I wish taking it back was an option but there's no way Target would have given money back for open makeup :( Good luck trying to make this palette work… I've long given up on it haha.

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  11. I bought 3 Kashuk singles years ago when Target first brought them out (I'm old, remember). They were crap then, though not chalky (yes, yes, they're still in the back of my drawer, nearly untouched), but little to no pigmentation. I've always wondered how they've lasted so long, but never been tempted try again (since I'm a Tar-gét boycott-er, it's not hard).

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    1. Old-shmold, we're all human and that's all that matters :) And UGH seriously these shadows were the worst I'm sorry you've experienced their horror as well.

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  12. I think it looks beautiful on you! You look beautiful too! There's not a lot of color (pigment) or shimmer which I personally was hoping for (for me). I just like wearing that stuff! Lol I really enjoyed reading your blog...I love the way you think! ;) Have you ever tried "Showstopper" quad by Sonia Kashuk? It's like a glittery white, gold, bronze, and black..

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