April 19, 2010

Sonia Kashuk Eye Shadow Quad Purple Haze Review and Swatches

I had to walk a thousand miles just to find the Sonia Kashuk Eye Shadow Quad in Purple Haze. Ok, well it wasn’t a thousand miles but it felt like it. Lord, this thing is like the bloody holy grail! I didn’t even think it existed for a while there!

But it does and I found it.

Jump!

What is it?

Its a quad of some intensely shimmering shade of purple eyeshadow! Like OMG shimmery! If you loved the Stila Jewel Eye Palette, it’s a guarantee you’ll love Purple Haze.

The Good…..

The palette is made up of two shades of contrasting purple, one true purple and one lilac plus a shimmering white and grayish shade. The price is a mere $10.99 so it’s actually incredibly cheaper when compared to the Stila Jewel Palette so if by chance you’ve been lemming that palette you can easily dish out for this and save yourself some extra cash. The formula is packed hard with crazy shimmer so if you’re a lover of shimmery shades of shadow this will appeal in a major way. The shades are true to their colors and have a nice color pay off with all that sparkle. They apply fairly easily and have a nice texture.

The Bad….

Fall out city my friends. The palette is an absolute nightmare to work with and is best applied with sponge applicators to avoid major fall out and large flakes of shadow on cheeks and face. The shades sadly don’t work well together as its difficult to blend them out without creating a mess. If by some chance you are successful with your blending skills you’ll still end up with pretty much the same shades of shadow as they all meld together to create one single shade of purple. The formula feels like a loosely packed pigment and carries a similar texture as MAC Kitschmas, translated as quite chunky, quite flaky.

Who might like it?

  • Shimmer and sparkle eyeshadow fans!

Who might not like it?

  • Anyone who hates fall out!
  • Anyone who hates the MAC Kitschmas formula.
  • Anyone who can’t STAND discoball-like eyeshadows.

Final Thoughts….

Alot of woe comes with owning the palette but I think its rather beautiful. If I use the shades separately I can create some very pretty, sparkly looks with a little care and patience. Its price tag rivals that of Stila’s palette plus you get more product for the price. Although the shades aren’t easily a dupe for the ones in the Jewel Palette, they are still very pretty and identical in formula. I thought the purples were extra pretty for Spring.

If you’re willing to cope with a bit of fall out and absolutely adore sparkle with your shadows, the Sonia Kashuk Purple Haze Eye Shadow Quad comes with my recommendation.

Quite like it, fall out and all!

Anyone pick it up?

Loves it?

Leaves it?

What do you think?

Share it!

Available from www.target.com

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

  • JoElla

    The other day when I was cruzin the makeup isles at Target (ooh that sounds dirrrrty) and something shiny caught my eyes! As I reached for it, I thought ‘ooh pretty!” but the closer it came towards me, that thought changed quickly to ‘ooh SPARKLE CITY!” and I promptly put it back.

    This quad should be pretty, but after reading your review and seeing the swatches, I really wonder what Sonia was thinking with this one 🙁

    • the Muse

      joella DEF sparkle city. OMG lots of sparkle 😀 haha! It’s really a pretty palette but it takes a little patience for application 😀

  • donna

    i would totally buy this. seems great for a really glam look for night time.

      • dina

        very glittery, kinda wish the actual color payoff was better? very pretty though. all that fallout – no wonder most of the palettes were so broken up!

        • the Muse

          color wasn’t too bad dina if you packed it on you could get a nice little bit of purple but damn fall out city! 😀 your sponge touches it and it turns to dust 🙁

  • Kristin

    Would you say the texture, pigment, and overall look are the same as the Stila Jewel palette? The reason I ask, is because I LOVE the Jewel palette when I apply the shadows with a sponge-tipped applicator, so if this is like that palette, I may be making my first foray into Sonia Kashuk!

    • the Muse

      kristin exact dupe as far as I’m concerned. Aside from the colors being different these are pretty much the same pigment and texture. Flaky, bit chunky, and loosely packed just like the jewel palette and half the cost 😀 they also have this available in a smoky eye palette as well which contains black silver, and two other shades 😀

      • Kristin

        Awesome! Thanks so much Muse! My trick to using the Jewel palette to avoid fallout is to kind of rub/press the sponge-tipped applicator into the shadow and then press/dab the shadow into my primed lids. When I do this, I have minimal to no fallout.

        Speaking of Stila, do you know if the new items on Sephora’s site are going to be the extent of the summer collection? I hope not, as I was expecting something more fun!

        • the Muse

          kristin sounds like a good trick to me 😀 will try! I find sponge applicators are best for application that are a little tiny bit damp 😀 I believe that’s the extent but I imagine come June or July they might do a little surprise or two…but I can’t verify that completely, I’m just assuming 🙂 I like the primer blusher thingy!

  • Beauty addict

    When I saw the 1st pic I thought it would be an awesome product but after reading your review and swatches… hmm, I don’t think so any more 😀

    • the Muse

      beauty addict worth the drama if you don’t mind fall out and LOTS of sparkle 😀

  • Gina G

    I would totally buy this if I could find it. I went to both of the Targets in my town and neither had it, boo!

  • Kirstie

    This reminds me of her Holiday 2009 palette which was wonderful!!!

    How does this and the Stila palette compare to Urban Decay’s new glitter shadows? I have both in the mail right now from UD’s friends and family and the Sephora sale, yet I cannot wait!!! 😉

    • the Muse

      hi kirstie yup I got that palette it was fab 😀 totally different formulas for UD and Stila. UD is a finer glitter/shimmer and Stila is more chunky/flaky like this one. Enjoy!!!!!!! have fun with ’em 😀

  • shannon

    if you apply a thin layer of something sticky to your lids, like vaseline (or you could even try a MAC paint), then sort of push the shadows on with a synthetic brush or sponge applicator, there will be less fallout and the colours will be truer. i have this in ‘showstoppers’.

    • the Muse

      hi shannon def not up for apply vaseline on my lids lol 😀 but primer is great and they apply fine with a sponge tip applicator for sure sadly though fallout is about the same its just the type of shadow :0D

      showstoppers is a great color selection I have that one too!

  • shannon

    haha, oh well. i prefer it, personally. i like the wet look. 🙂 i REALLY like showstoppers. the black is great!

  • michelley

    musey, i just bought this the other day (targets got them on sale for 8.99) cause i love shiny, but i hate this! its basically a cream shadow (which, for my grease pit face, is one thing i wont touch), my brushes wouldnt pick up anything off the surface but the bigger pieces of glitter, so i had to use my fingers. the pink and purple are pretty but once on my eyes they look almost the same color. it basically looks like pastel foiled shadow. youd think with light brown eyes, brown would look good on me, but it just makes me look like i have pink eye, its really weird, and this brown wasnt any different. AND, the glitter doesnt freakin wash off. i tried out the brown again last night and (yeah, i dont wash my face before bed unless its summer and/or im wearing foundation, which i rarely do) just washed my face and i still have glitter all around my eyes and in my lashes. bah.
    i had heard that sonias eye shadows were amazing, and so i decided to try her out with this one, but 9 bucks for what amounts to cream glitter? if i even liked cream eyeshadow id rather go with wet n wild or something much cheaper but im a powder girl all the way. im totally returning this 🙁

    • the Muse

      sorry to hear it michelley. Sounds like a bust. That stinks!

  • theRothstanator

    Loved it. Got the one with browns and greys and it is awesome too. I feel like it is a bit more chunky than the Stila palette and also has a little it more fall out, but it’s whatevs. I am so glad someone else is going to be using these kinds of formulations!

  • Lucy King

    I wore this for homecoming. It went really well with my Tarte eyeliner in Deep Amethyst (and my dress, which happened to be really sparkly 🙂 My grandma was cleaning out her makeup drawer and gave this to me. Love it!