Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette

After waiting for so many months, I finally have my grubby hands on this palette, the Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette. Well, I've had this with me since the end of September but wasn't able to play with it enough until recently.

top: no flash
bottom: with flash

If you will notice in a lot of my FOTDs/EOTDs, I lean towards more browns and bronze-y hues because these colors look very flattering on all skin tones. So if you have an inexplicable love affair with browns and bronze-y hues like I do, this palette is for you. It has a great selection of eyeshadows that will surely suit your skin tone, whether you be warm or cool-skinned. Now you can boldly wear silver eye makeup the way Kim Kardashian does!

Yay!

• Price. 88 gorgeously pigmented eyeshadows for $25? That's a steal, baby!
  
• Color Variety. With 88 colors to mix and match, you'll surely never run out of ideas for your eye makeup.
• Variety of finishes. This palette has everything from matte, to satin, to shimmery to glittery.
• Color Payoff. The eyeshadows in this palette have a very gorgeous pigmentation with or without a primer or an eyeshadow base. Not convinced? See the swatches below.

Pretty, aren't they? All colors were swatched dry, without a base.

• Pan Size.
• Staying Power. I have to say, impressive. The colors did not fade nor crease on my eyes for an entire 12hours.
  
• Compact. A palette as thin as Macbook Air can surely fit in your purse.
  

Nay!

• Too many highlight shades.
  
• Fragile. Both the case and the eyeshadows can easily break. In fact, if you click on the palette's photos above, you can easily tell that one of the eyeshadows broke in transit and was restored upon arrival. Curious to know which one it is? Go to the third row from the bottom, then count five to the right.
  
• Texture. Some eyeshadows are a bit too powdery.

My Verdict
I say, go grab yourself one if you're looking for colors to suit your warm skin tone or if you simply want to expand your makeup collection. This is also great for a novice who tends to gravitate more toward plums and browns/bronzes which almost always go well with most skin tones. With this very versatile palette, you can do neutral everyday makeup and bridal makeup and even create dramatic smokey eyes. All that for only 25bucks.

So what do you think, yay or nay?

In the Spotlight: NYX Runway Collection in Champagne and Caviar

NYX is one of those brands that I'm hooked on at this moment. I haven't tried all of their products but with what I have used, I can say that NYX is a very promising brand. Their lipsticks are creamy, highly pigmented and come in such a wide array of formulas and colors. Their lip glosses just like their lipsticks come in tons of colors and formulations. Most importantly, they have just the right tackiness to them. Aside from being highly pigmented, some of their blushes are multipurpose: some can be used to contour and highlight. Their eyeshadows are smooth, blendable, buildable, and offer an incredible color pay off.

To tell you more about NYX and their eyeshadows, I'll be doing a review about one of their newly released products: The Runway Collection. This collection was released a few months back along with the Caribbean Collection and some new single eyeshadow shades, I believe. I was very interested with all the palettes in the Runway Collection and all the new single eyeshadow shades, but of course, I had to be practical with my spending. Such led me to pick up Champagne and Caviar, since I'm a neutrals type of gal. While I wear bright and playful colors and even smokey eyes every once in a while, I feel safer and more at home with neutrals.

The sleek packaging. (Pardon the scratches)

The colors. Very neutral eh? (Taken with flash)

Here's a different angle so you can see the differences in the shades on the first row. (Taken with flash)

Can you spot which ones are shimmery, satin and matte? (Taken without flash)

Yay!

• The price. This palette is sold for $9 at the NYX website and $8 at Cherry Culture. I bought mine at $12.50 from a local reseller. Not bad.
  
• Packaging. First of all, the glossy case makes the palette look really classy (the NYX label on the cover may make it look kinda cheapy though). Second, the case won't ever look dirty (since it's not rubbery as compared to NARS' packaging); dust and dirt can easily be wiped away. Lastly, its sleek package makes it easy and ideal to tote around in your purse. Just be wary though, it can be so easily scratched because of its glossy finish (yes, having a glossy finish has a downside to it, too).
  
• Coordinated color combination. Colors in each palette can easily and perfectly be mixed and matched to create a variety of looks.
  
• Pan size. The size of each eyeshadow is just right. Unless this is the only eyeshadow palette that you own and use everyday, you probably won't hit pan.
• Color payoff. Despite having more highlight and/or all over lid base hues, the color payoff is still impressive. (see swatches below)
  
• Variety of finishes. With each palette, you get some really pigmented matte ones, some shimmery, and even some satin ones.
• Texture. Very soft and smooth. A little powdery but definitely not chalky.
  
• Lasting power. They wear all day without fading (unless you're in a crying spree), and creasing (provided you have a good primer). Also, colors don't rub off on your hands just in case you touch your lids.

Nay!

• Inconsistent pigmentation. While some hues are rich, some are also quite sheer.
• Color Variety. A lot of the shades in this palette are good for highlight or all over lid base (if you're into doing the light lid base-dark crease-defined outer V type of thing, you'll probably go gaga over this palette).
• Unnamed hues. I want my eyeshadows to be named coz it somehow makes it easier for me to identify the colors that I use. This is just my preference, though. Not so much of a biggie.
• Not readily available. Since we don't have a NYX stall in the metro (unlike in Cebu), you'll have to check with ebay and multiply once in a while. However, sellers don't have all the palettes in NYX's collections, plus, you'd have to pay a bit more than you would if you order from NYX or Cherry Culture. The thing is, neither NYX nor Cherry Culture ships to the Philippines. Bummer!
  

My verdict
Champagne and Caviar is a good everyday palette especially if you're the type of girl who loves to look glam without having to look over-the-top. This can even get you from day to night just by making your crease and outer V more defined.

For the swatches, please do note that the ones above the line were swatched with a base (ELF Mineral Primer), and the ones below the line were swatched dry.

Top Row (first photo was taken without flash, the last three were taken with flash)

Here's an attempt of describing each hue. (L-R: Pearly off-white (similar to NYX Cream Cheese), Shimmery pale taupe, skin tone (matte), shimmery off white, light brown)

Bottom Row (first photo was taken with flash, the last three were taken without flash)

(L-R: pale white (matte), shimmery champagne, medium taupey-brown (satin), baby pink (satin), black (satin)

By the way, I'm also selling this palette along with Super Model, Secret World, Strike A Pose (all from the Runway Collection) and I Dream of Barbados, I Dream of St. Lucia, I Dream of Antigua (all from the Caribbean Collection). For inquiries, message me or email me at practicalvanity@gmail.com.