December 28, 2009

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eyes Palette Review

Hey chicks!

I got my hands on the new Bourjois Paris Smoky Eyes Palettes thanks to a good friend in the UK. She literally ran around trying to locate these little guys as it was a tough one to find. I’m still missing two of the palettes, one of which is the green, that’s the one I really wanted, but I do have a ton of the others to review for you today, good times.

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 1001

Jump!

Remember the Bourjois Paris Trios they had a while ago? These were pressed shadows in a trio of contrasting shades, in my opinion, these new smoky palettes are basically the same concept except they come in the standard Bourjois Paris baked formula.

They are lovely but they have their downfalls.

First off, these are a baked formula so it’s kinda like getting three shades of shadow from the Bourjois line in one palette, kinda cool when you think about it. As with most baked formulas you’ll have to work hard to get color pay off with these. They are best used with a sponge applicator as it picks up color and packs it on very well creating better color pay off. In my opinion it’s simply an epic fail trying to apply using brushes. This could sway people from wanting to purchase but I do urge you to give them a try because they are honestly beautiful if you put in a little elbow grease to get them on your eye.

The formula is silky and blends decently but as I said a bit difficult to get good color pay off if you aren’t working on piling it on. Some of the shades are a bit better in terms of creating a look simply because the shades included are sometimes so similar it’s difficult to contrast with them. For example the aqua/teal trio is stunning but it’s very difficult to create any contrast using the shades because they are so much alike.

I love the variety they put out with these. They are available in a total of eight different shade selections so it pretty much covers any and all smoky eyes you’d want to create. My personal favs are the browns, the rose, and the black.

Now although I simply adore the browns it deserves to be mentioned that the two versions are very similar and if you’re indulging you can probably get one or the other but not both. The only real difference is Mordore Chic is a lighter chocolate shade selection and Nude Ingenu is a deeper chocolate. That’s about the extent of it but for the most part they swatch the same and create practically the same look.

The other shades I got were Violet Romantic which is made up of purples, Gris Dandy which is the classic black smoky, Bleu Rock which is a dramatic aqua smoky look, and Rose Vintage which is made up of pinks.

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 15

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 14

Bourjois Paris 1

Bourjois Paris 2

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 13

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 12

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 11

Bourjois Paris 6

Bourjois Paris 5

Bourjois Paris Smoky Eye Palette 1002

Bourjois Paris 7

Bourjois Paris 8

I’m highly debating if I’d call these a great way of creating a smoky eye. Unquestionable they create some very nice, fancy eye looks but I’ve created better smoky looks with other palettes I own.

Overall, I like these alot and I’m very glad I hauled them. I look forward to purchasing the green and gold which are the two shades I am missing. If you love Bourjois Paris I think you’ll likely want to get your hands on these. They aren’t wow aspiring by any means but they are nice to have for creating quickie flattering eye looks without going through a ton of trouble to create the look. Sadly, they aren’t yet available within the US so I do suggest asking a friend abroad to snag them for you or check E-bay.

Anyone try these yet?

Do share!

On a side note I did not swatch these as they don’t swatch so well on my arm.

Disclosure: The following item was purchased by me for review purposes (and because I like flinging my money at makeup products of any kind) on Musings of a Muse. For further information please see my FTC Guidelines or my Disclosure/Disclaimer posts.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • shontay

    Muse, I am drunk with envy!!! I love Bourjois and I wept when Sephora stopped carrying it. These shadows are so beautiful :'(

    • the Muse

      oh me too shontay! I cried! I LOVED the line and hated that Sephora stopped carrying it. BP’s website now even removed the US portal sob!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep checking ASOS as they are updating slowly 🙂 and they ship worldwide!

  • M.A.C.nunu

    Oh Musey, they sell the entire Bourjois line on my side and I’ve seen the green palette. Do u want me to send it your way? along with any other Bourjois bits that you wanna try out. You know where I am, just drop me a line.

    • the Muse

      oh nunu thank you thank you dearest. It’s quite ok as I’m having someone look for me but if it falls through I will def e-mail if you don’t mind 🙂

      Hugssssssss!

  • Lynn

    Oh gosh, they’re nice! Love the blue on you! I’ve been looking for these forever. I live in the US and haven’t been able to buy online anywhere. I especially want the blue and green ones. I do have a friend in the UK. Time to write her a note-lol. Would you know where in the UK your friend found yours? Thanks, Lynn.

    • the Muse

      aw thanks lynn! 😀 I know it’s a tough one online sigh. I’d def write your friend hun! 🙂 She found them in Boots I believe but she had to do a bit of craziness to get….I think she had ordered online and had them shipped to the store? or something like that but boots or harvey nics is the way to go. Also ASOS is slowly updating so check there they ship worldwide.

      Hope this helps dear!

    • the Muse

      iris I like the blue too 😀 I wish I could work with a bit better, it doesn’t contrast as well as I’d like 🙂

  • Marcy

    The blue looks gorgeous on you Muse!! Envious!
    Looking forward to the green one… so you better get it quick 😀

  • robyn

    do they do the same colours in their single pot range? because the bleu rock the lid colour is so pretty i fell in love but i dont like the other 2 so much i will probably check it out in boots next time im their but last time i looked they didnt have that one

    and i just noticed and looked back posts to check wow you always match your top/hairband to the makeup im impressed 🙂

    • the Muse

      hey robyn sorry for the delayed reply. some yes some no in single pots 😀 that blue yes they have something similar 🙂 I hear they were selling fast at boots!

      I do indeed match up alot hahahaha!

  • Gabriela

    I like Bourjois but some eyeshadows of this brand aren`t well pigmented…
    These trios liked me but I haven`t tried them.

    • the Muse

      gabreila yup very true. Sponge applicator needed to pack color on 🙂

  • Cherie

    Hi Muse,

    Actually most of the Bourjois’ eyeshadows can apply it in wet or what other called foiled it, the color pay-off will be much better. I hope this can help you love this brand more.

    Happy New Year!

    • the Muse

      her cherie yup you sure can, I normally don’t do wet though, too messy, leaves the palette in disarray 🙂

      Happy New Year!

  • Mayumi

    great review on these! i really wanna try them, specially the purple 🙂 but what totally sucks is the ones you’ve photographed above are the only ones to be sold in the UK, or so i am aware of. I haven’t seen the green or gold in store or on site :'(!

    • the Muse

      ha may thanks for that word as a friend and myself have been trying to figure out what the heck was going on with the green/gold version!

  • Tessy B

    Hi girls,

    I work over at Bourjois in the UK and I’m so glad to see you love the Smoky Eye trios! I’m happy to tell you that the new Vert Trendy (green) and Or Baroque (gold) shades will be coming on to UK stands in Boots on the 27th Jan so only a couple of weeks to go! Sorry it’s taken so long but until now, we simply haven’t had space on the stands to fit them on!

    Anyway, I hope you enjoy them. I’m a big fan of the golds and they work really nicely with my hazel eyes.

    x

    • the Muse

      hey tessy. so awesome to hear from you, thanks for the good word on green and gold. I’ve had a friend trying to track these down for AGES and we wondering where the gold/green was! Do by chance have any scoop on what’s happening to Bourjois US? We get none of the updates lately sad sigh!

      I’ll def be on it when the two release on the 27th! thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Terri

    So, I just visited the new drugstore near my work, and guess what? They carry the entire Bourjois Paris line!! and quite a few other good brands (including DuWop and Benefit). We don’t have quite the selection that the same stores carry in the bigger cities like Toronto (I live waaaay up in northern Ontario), but that’s still pretty exciting:)
    I’ll be buying a few items on the weekend, and I can’t wait! And yes, I will be relying on your reviews to help me pick 🙂

  • Fuk

    Hi Muse~!
    I live in Hong Kong, and they have all eight palettes selling here.
    I’ve already got 4 of these, including the two palettes you’re missing!
    The gold one is quite special, though the contrast is not very obvious. The color is a bit greenish…like the color of a bronze statue.
    And the green one is absolutely stunning!!!

    Bourjois also launched the new Effect Smokey Eye Liner recently.
    If you pair the smoky eye palette with these eye liners up and use them together, they create really good smoky eyes in seconds!

    • the Muse

      fuk awesome! How great 😀 I have to say some of them aren’t so great when contrasting sadly 🙁 but the colors are so pretty and look so lovely on! 😀 I really NEED that gree one! I haven’t tried the smokey eye liner as of yet since I stink with liquid liner but it sounds lovely :-D!

  • Jessica

    I have the Bleu Jeans one and I love it! I really want some of the other ones!! I have blue eyes with a hint of grey and green and some yellow near the iris (i know, weird.), and i have pale skinand light brown hair, what colour would you reccomend?