MUA Smokin' Palette



After the disappointment with the MUA Ever After Matte Palette - review link I didn't have high hopes for the MUA Smokin' Palette as it does feature a few matte shades which seem to be problematic for the brand. However if you can look past the four matte pans (the black hue is not a total dud either) you do have a rather great evening appropriate palette for a reasonable price no less!

MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette

Much like all of the MUA eyeshadow palettes I have bought in the past the MUA Ever Smokin' Palette comes presented within a shiny plastic palette style casing which is well sized albeit a little flimsy in terms of structure. It comes complete with 10 well sized eyeshadow pans. I should also mention that this time around MUA have named each eyeshadow shade - the names can be found on the back of the palette. Although it does look and feel a little on the cheap side (hey it was only £6 something has to give!) I have yet to experience any problems with this packaging style i.e the case or the shadows shattering. As you may or may not know this particular palette comes with a full sized eye liner which oddly doesn't have a cap. I hate to nit pick but for hygiene reasons I would have liked to have seen the pencil come with a lid of some sort.

MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette

So yes the MUA Smokin' Palette contains four matte shades all of which are a little dry in texture and not all that great in terms of blendability : a chalky neutral ivory, a light neutral brown which isn't brilliantly pigmented but not as chalky as the ivory, a rich cool toned brown that is moderately pigmented and a typical black hue that is not as strong as I would like it to be. Like I said mattes are not MUA's strong point but they do a mean metallic formulation six of which have made it into the Smokin' Palette - I think some of the shades that are in the palette have or are MUA Solo Eyeshadow shades but as I don't own any I can't be sure. The six shimmer shades are as follows: a green tinged brown that is similar to MAC Club, a rich golden chocolate brown, a red based purple that is somewhat similar to MAC Beauty Marked, a deep cobalt blue, a rich bottle green and a deep pewter grey. The metallic shades have a butter soft texture which is a little prone to fall out but they do glide on the lids beautifully, offer great pigmentation and wear well with or without primer.

MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette
MUA Smokin' Palette

There is also of course the pencil eye liner which in my opinion is a fairly bog standard matte black pencil liner. It doesn't exactly tug at the eyes but it doesn't glide on with ease either. It is a great black shade but it is prone to smudging and doesn't wear well on the waterline at all. However you can use it as a base blended all over the lid before applying the eyeshadows on top to help prolong wear and add colour intensity.

For £6 this is a decent palette not to mention it is a somewhat dupe of Urban Decay's Smoked Palette for a fraction of the price.

You can find the MUA Smokin' Palette £6 via MUA - link and Superdrug - link