Review: Models Prefer Sweet Shadows

Happy November everyone! Hope you all had a great Halloween. I've got a long review for you today so let's get started. Models Prefer released 2 new palettes and I am going to review one of them. Here's a quick look at the Sweet Shadows palette...

Before I begin, it is pretty obvious that this is a knock-off or inspired by the Too Faced Bon Bons Shadow palette. The packaging and colour scheme of the shadows resembles the Bon Bons to a large extent. It contains 12 eyeshadows, an eyeshadow primer and a mascara and brow gel duo and comes in a metal tin which you can recycle. This palette will set you back AU$15 and is available at Priceline.

Swatches according to arrangement in palette.

                        1st row:

                         2nd row:

                         3rd row:

The eyeshadows are not the best quality but they can still do the job. In my honest opinion, I do find they are pretty decent. When I swatched them with my finger, they are quite soft and have good pigmentation. With the lighter shades, I will definitely need to go back several times to pick up more product to build up the colour but the mid-tone browns and darker shades are rather easy to apply and blend.  My favourites are Angelic, Sweetened and Lovely.

The only shadow that didn't really work for me is Cute. This particular shade has a crazy amount of fallout and the powder would just get everywhere, whether I'm using my finger or a brush. After using the palette several times, you can already see a noticeable 'dent' in the pan and it looks like the eyeshadow just crumbled.

One particularly powdery eyeshadow.

Here's an overall view of all the 12 shades...

Left to right: Innocent, Lovely, Sweetened, Graceful, Kisses, Cute, Sugared, Luscious, Adorable, Angelic, Precious, Enchanting.

Just as an example of how the shadows perform, here are 2 eye looks that I wore using this palette. (Note that I was going for a natural look because I was going to uni and did not want to look too made up.)

1. Using Innocent all over the lid, Lovely in the crease, Adorable as transition shade, Angelic on the brow bone and inner corner. (more purplish)

2. Using Sweetened all over the lid, Sugared in the crease, Angelic on the brow bone and inner corner. (more neutral/browns)

Moving on to the accessories of this kit.

The eyeshadow primer comes in a squeeze tube. The product is a light skin-tone shade but when you blend it there isn't no colour on the lids. It does feel a little waxy when I applied it, as though it doesn't really sets. I don't really know how else to describe it but I find that once I apply my eyeshadows over it, all is fine.

The mascara and brow gel duo is a nice addition and I actually like it surprisingly.

Mascara on the left, brow gel on the right.

The clear brow gel is quite watery compared to the Essence lash & brow gel mascara but it still gets the job done and keeps my brows looking neat.

Standard brush.

The brush of the mascara is different to anything I've tried before. It has a side of longer bristles and much shorter ones on the opposite side. I start by combing with the shorter bristles to give my lashes a good coat of mascara and then go back in with the longer bristles to separate and comb out the lashes.

Rubber bristle mascara wand.

Closer look at the mascara wand.

I tried a more dramatic look over the weekend and also to showcase the mascara and brow gel in action as well. For this look, I used Adorable on the lids, Precious and Cute to darken the outer corners, Sugared in the crease and Sweetened as a transition colour. On my brow bone and inner corners are Angelic (again!) as a highlight and Enchanting on my upper lashline.

Mascara separates well and gives some length.

Overall, I do think this is a decent palette with pretty packaging. The eyeshadows had good pigmentation for most of them and apply well too, with the exception of Cute. Although I like this palette, I wouldn't say you need to rush out and get it. If you are like the colour selection and don't mind a few hits-and-misses, you might actually enjoy it too. Or you could just wait for it to go on sale (or use vouchers like in my case) to justify this purchase.

Hope this review helps! Let me know what you think about the Sweet Shadows if you're tried it.. xo