Review: ES Brand 120 Double Stack Eyeshadow Palette (Pic Heavy) By iknowallthewords

Review: ES Brand 120 Double Stack Eyeshadow Palette (Pic Heavy)

A while ago, KK Center HK sent me this ES Brand eyeshadow palette. I have to say, when they told me what they were sending me, I was a bit nervous because I've always avoided those types of shadow. When I first got into blogs there was the trend of the Costal Scents palettes and I had heard so many mixed reviews (more negative really) I decided I'd steer clear of them all together. That said, I gave this palette a try, and I have to say my opinion has definitely been changed.

 bubble wrapped for protection

closed palette

The palette came wrapped really well in about three pounds of bubble wrap. The photo just shows the last layer, but they really did wrap it well. In the second photo you can see the closed palette, even though this has two layers inside, it isn't bulky or overly thick. I like that it is just plain black and that it has a ribbon to separate the layers from each other. 

size comparison

I like that when you have the palette open you can easily lay one half in the lid giving you full access to all the shades without having to switch the trays around. I thought that it was a bit odd that not all colours from the same family are together, so it is nice to be able to see everything when you are working with it. The eyeshadows themselves aren't huge, a bit bigger than the size of a dime. In the photo above you can see the size compared to a MAC shadow.

Of course, eyeshadow reviews just aren't complete without swatches. At first I was just going to swatch a few random colours, but one sleepless night with nothing better to do, I swatched them all. So, here we go, starting with the top tray:

 Click any image for full size

Bottom tray

I have to say that overall the shadow quality is great. Most of the swatches above are just one sweep with my finger (some of the matte shades are two) on non-primed skin. I contemplated priming, since you do on your eye, but in the end I thought that I'd let them speak for themselves. The metallic, shimmery, satin shades had the beast payoff. They are soft and buttery, and really great to apply and blend. The mattes on the other hand, were a little less amazing. Some of them were great, but the majority were a bit firmer and less pigmented. The palette has (obviously) 120 shades, but it is heavy in the blue and green department, and does not include a lot of neutrals. I don't tend to wear blues, but I might have to play around with them a bit more.

If you read my blog often, you'll know I don't usually post eyeshadow looks. I have tried so many times, but my camera doesn't have a macro setting and tends to wash out the detail of shadows, so while it looks great in real life, it looks like a mess in photos. I was able to get these photos to look not bad, but the colours are much more vivid in person. You'll just have to trust me. I used a combo of blues and greens in way that I would never normally do (I'm a lot more neutral in my day to day) but I thought I'd go a bit wild. The shadows are easy to work with and blend really easily. For $22.39 this is a great palette to have on hand. Since I got it I have been using the copper and neutral shades and the purples quite a lot, and I can see myself getting some use out of the bright shades on girls nights or special events (ie Halloween.)

I also got some criss cross lashes, so I'll have a review of those soon! Have you tried any of the 120 palettes? What did you think of them?

P.S I was just browsing the KK Center website and they have water decals now. They look pretty interesting. Anyone ever try them?

Thank you, iknowallthewords
Check out iknowallthewords blog
http://iknowallthewords.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-es-brand-120-double-stack.html