An actual all matte look with the Smashbox Desert Palette. This is not really a creative or very involved look and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to share it because of that. I did this because I wanted to use the two deeper matte shades over a larger part of the lid to see how they worked. It’s hard to tell what a shadow is like when you only use it on a tiny portion of a look. Shades like the ones I used on the upper lid, I very commonly use in small amounts to add depth, usually in the outer crease.

I’ve had this palette for more than a year and it took me until now to realize I don’t like the shade Saguaro because I never tried using it as an all-over-lid shade until now. I included pics of both eyes to show how it adheres over primer vs over just bare lids. On the eye with no primer, I was only able to get a very thin layer of color applied before I could no longer build it up. I tried switching to different types of brushes and it didn’t help a whole lot.  More packing did not result in more color payoff. On the eye with primer, I was able to mostly use one brush (Morphe M506) to get the shade applied and blended. It can be patchy and on this day I didn’t have the patience to mess with it to make it look better. It can be made to look even but it’s just not one of the easiest to use or best quality. Baked Clay goes on a little more evenly than Saguaro, I think, but I haven’t used it over as large of an area in a look yet to know for sure. Also not sure how it creases over time. Saguaro creases (or maybe fades in the crease) before I’m even done applying my makeup. Primer slows it down a little but not by much.

I didn’t use a transition because I wanted to see how both of the deepest shades would blend out on their own. Both blend nicely without too much effort.

Eyes:

• Alter Ego Eyeshadow Primer
• Ulta Coconut Eyeshadow Single – Inner corner, brow bone
• Baked Clay – Outer lid/crease
• Saguaro – Most of the lid/crease
• Suede – Lower lashline
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pen
• Viseart Brow Palette
• Covergirl Lash Exact Mascara

Base:

• Avance Mattifying Emulsion Primer
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Makeup
• Bobbi Brown Corrector
• Loreal Infallible Full Wear Concealer
• Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder

I picked out an old primer I think I got in a subscription box. Just applying this without even putting foundation over it, I can see how it mattifies and not in the way a silicone primer mattifies. It is a gel formula and the first three ingredients are water, corn flour and xanthan gum (kind of like corn starch). It “pilled” up when spreading it over the skin as it was drying down and when I applied foundation over it, there were some areas that looked sort of patchy. I was able to fix those areas by picking off the bits of foundation/primer that stuck together and then reapplying a tiny bit of foundation there. The finished result did look nice though, while my face was still matte. It gave the skin a slightly smoother look.

Cheeks:

• The Balm Desert Bronzer
• Milani Baked Blush in Bellissimo Bronze

Really didn’t need the bronzer with the bronze blush. The blush was much more warm and orangey on me than the bronzer. It was more pigmented and went on more heavily than I expected compared to the other shades I have in the same line. I had to spend a lot of time blending it out to look normal on me. It has a bit of shimmer but it’s very subtle. I wouldn’t even say it gives my skin a sheen. I can just see the shiny particles if I look at it up close.

The bronzer has more of a reddish tone to it that resembles a sunburn that is starting to fade into a tan. It has some shimmer in it as well but far less. On the face, I don’t see any kind of shimmer from this at all but I do see it in a swatch.

Lips:

• Milani Color Statement Lipstick in 61 Matte Naked

Don’t think this shade is available anymore. I like the color and finish but not paired with the other products I used here. It is a comfortable matte, not thick or sticky. Doesn’t feel drying either but it does make my my lips look dehydrated.

Another look with the Smashbox Desert Palette. In the first look I only used the matte green shade as liner and I wanted to use it again in a way that required blending to see how it would perform. It took me a long time to get it to look evenly applied and faded in the crease during application. Everything else worked nicely.

I placed the shimmer on the lid off center (more toward the outer half of the lid) and it looks goofy in the face photos because you don’t really see it on both eyes at the same time.

Shades Used:

• Suede – transition, lower lashline
• Saguaro – most of lid, crease
• Stargazing – layered over Saguaro
• Prickly Pear – inner lid
• Go West – lower inner lashline

Rest of My Makeup:

• Loreal Magic Lumi Primer
• Too Faced Peach Perfect Foundation in Snow
• Revlon Skin Lights Bronzer
• Essence Matt Touch Blush in Peach Me Up

I decided to pull out my Smashbox Desert Palette and use it to create this mostly matte, warm eyeshadow look. I’ve only used it a handful of times and whenever I think about using it, I tend to want to use the same combination of shades. For this look I used two shades I wouldn’t normally put together (the light rosy brown, and the matte yellow) because they don’t contrast enough with each other. The point was just to see how well I could tell them apart once they were applied. The final result doesn’t show this because I ended up placing the deep brown between them but I included a pic of it on the last slide.

Shades Used:

• Suede – All over lid
• Casita – Transition, lower lashline
• Baked Clay – Crease, lower lashline
• Saguaro – Eyeliner
• Stargazing – Inner corner

Suede and Casita are a little thin-feeling and kind of sheer but they show up and are buildable. Baked Clay blended well, had enough pigmentation to not require much building and had very minimal fallout. Saguaro was also nicely pigmented so that I could easily use it as a liner. Stargazing has small, uniform particles and an almost creamy, thick texture that adheres well to the skin. Not much shimmer fallout from this shade.

Rest Of My Makeup:

• Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer
• Too Faced Peach Perfect Foundation in Snow (left side of face)
• Loreal Infallible Fresh Wear Foundation in 405 Porcelain (right side of face)
• Maybelline City Bronzer
• Dior Rosy Glow Blush in Coral

When I did this look, I was also trying out a couple of older foundations I have to see if I still like them. Loreal Fresh Wear was smoother, looked more natural, and was easier to apply with a brush. Too Faced caught on texture more easily and was harder to fix if an area didn’t blend out as well as I wanted. The shades of these foundations is a near perfect match for each other. The primer I used played well with both foundations.