Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

Hey all,

It's been a busy few weeks for me and I am currently on a hen weekend - at this point it is likely I am in a haze of bronzer and hairspray to make sure I'm looking as glamorous as everyone else there!

I've had this palette for a few weeks now and I've been dabbling around with it for work and weekends, I am of course talking about the Smashbox Full Exposure palette:

This palette contains 14 neutral shades, 7 shimmer and 7 matte, from nudes to blacks. It also includes a double ended eyeshadow brush and a mini mascara, and a booklet to tell you how to apply eyeshadow for different eye shapes.

The packaging is alright, I always have a bit of a dislike for cardboard/paper packaging like this. The Naked palette is the same but at least UD learned their lesson and brought out metal casings for the rest. I think most other brands would do well to do the same as however pretty the packaging is it's rubbish if it only lasts a few weeks after purchase! Mine of this has already got a good few dents and the corners are rounding off.

It also disappoints me that the shades aren't named, some people may think it's a petty thing to pick up on but why on earth are Urban Decay so good at what they do? Naming these eyeshadows S or M for shimmer or matte and then assigning them a number seems like a really half assed attempt, why bother at all naming them something so uninspiring!

That said, the colours themselves do make up for it:

I love the layout of the palette, it's lovely and symmetrical for an OCD person like myself. I LOVE that there are seven shades and a matte and shimmer version of both of them, it makes creating eyeshadow looks extremely easy.

There are both warm and cool toned neutrals to balance out the shade range giving you way more options than other palettes.

You can see the warmer toned eyeshadows above, the shimmers are unbelievably shimmery and I mostly can't stop looking at them. The golds will be perfect for the summer nights with a golden tan to match, I can imagine getting a lot of wear from these for some subtle shimmer for nights out.

The cool toned eyeshadows are something that I've been wearing a lot more, both matte and shimmer. The cool mattes are the ones that I've been leaning towards for work and the cool shimmers are great for Saturday nights out. The darkest shimmer that matches the matte black is the sparkliest shadow I think I own, it's beautiful!

As for the brush I can't make up my mind about it. I do like it, it does blend well and the double ends allow you to apply different finishes from either end of the cool/warm spectrum and not worry too much about the colours mixing together. However I do feel sometimes that the eyeshadow doesn't pick up very well from the pan and it just falls off the brush, which normally means that it ends up all over my cheeks instead of my eyelids - not a good look!

I'm afraid my photos of swatches seem to have gone walkabout - courtesy of my laptop getting the blue screen of death and I am currently unable to get hold of anything that's on there eek!

So instead I will direct you to this link, where Fleur de Force of course has some fabulous swatches to show the shades, finishes and colour pay off very easily.

I do have some photos of the look that I normally create from this palette - this is using the cool toned matte shadows:

I then also just apply some of the shimmer shades on top so that I can go straight from day to night with minimal effort. Just add some lighter shimmer to the inner corner of your eye, a medium shimmer to the centre and the darker shimmer to the outer corners and you're good to go!


The Smashbox Full Exposure palette is a worthy contender to the Urban Decay Naked family. It costs similar at £37, comes with a double ended brush, mirror and a freebie (mini mascara compared to UD's mini Primer Potion).
I love the balance of the cool and warm tones, and the shimmer and matte finishes. For me, the cool toned mattes are the best of the bunch and I've been wearing them a lot. All of the shimmers are beautiful, so the only shades that may not get used as much are the warmer toned mattes - I just never seem to reach for them.

I'd say this palette is a great starter kit for those that don't have any other palettes as it gives you the best variety of tones and finishes in one place with mirror and brush for ease.
I do feel that they could have done a bit more with their packaging and shade names though.....

What do you think of the Smashbox Full Exposure palette? Do you have it in your collection?

Will you be snapping it up for summer holidays? What's your thoughts on naming the eyeshadows or leaving them numbered?

L xxx