Smashbox Photo Op Eye Enhancing Palettes for Blue, Brown & Hazel Eyes

There seems to be a rash of products out there in the beautysphere at the moment tailored to enhance eye colour (check L'Oreal Paris' cute Luminizer collection for some other recent fabulosity) and Smashbox's Photo Op Eye Enhancing Palettes for Blue, Brown and Hazel Eyes, €39, are flippin' FAB.

And I do not use those caps lightly.

Oh no, no I do not.

Smashbox was bought by Estee Lauder last year and that's marked a repositioning for it; there are loads of new and fab products launching including limited editions and lots of solid core products like a new foundation launch and a repackage for the whole primer range.  The shadow singles are gone, trios have been reformulated and in fact, the shadows are now stellar. I always liked them anyway but I'm not kidding - I was blown away by how high-performance they are now.

This trio of shade-matched palettes will be permanent and they're really very good - and incredibly well priced too I reckon. For your €39 (£33STG in the UK - if Smashbox can do it, they ALL can do it), you get six butter-soft, highly-pigmented shadows in a neat case with a large mirror in the lid. I call that good value - my maths skillz works that out at €6.50 a shadow. No brush, but hey, I don't mind that personally.

For Brown Eyes.

For Blue Eyes.

For Hazel Eyes.

Handily, because I have brown eyes, I found the sextuplet for my peepers to be the one I liked the most. I've got flecks of green in 'em too so am also pleased to report a fondness for the Hazel Eyes kit. The Blue Eyes palette is the one that's the most sedate out of the three, but it is still very pretty. However, if you did already indulge in summer's Softbox palette, then skip this as it has a few of the same shades by my reckoning.

Lets take a look at swatches.

For Brown Eyes

For Blue Eyes

For Hazel Eyes.

Pigmentation is great, shadows are soft (yes, some are a little prone to kick up) and creamy and there's a really nice mix of mattes, satins, shimmers and finely-milled glitters in these palettes. They apply, blend and wear excellently. And lest you be worried that you can only buy the one to suit your colouring, don't be.

The Shadow Gestapo aren't going to demand to see your papers when you step up to the Smashbox counter and deport you back to the Two Euro Shop for some Constance Carroll if you don't comply with the rules. These kinds of naming conventions are helpful if you're a bit unsure about what colours go with particular eye tones, but hey - there are no real rules. If YOU like the colours in the sets, then buy them, even if they don't match your irises.

Other products used: Mac Matchmaster SPF15 foundation mixed with a little Nars Sheer Glow (which I'd had on all day so it looks a bit crap), Sleek Pout Paint in Milkshake on lips, a Body Shop baked to last blusher and YSL False Lash Effect Shocking mascara from the New Blacks lineup plus Avon supershock gel liner on the waterline and to tightline. Pic taken with flash.

So, needless to say, I had a go of the Brown Eyes set. I'm really loving those two browns on the top right and the navy on the bottom right. They created a really quick smokey eye which had to be done in mere minutes as I was late for a friend's birthday. And look - the picture. I don't know what happened there. I was trying to put my shoes on and take a pic and get the shadow in and, clearly, pose like a fish supper, as the Beaut.ie Mammy would say. Forgive. Still, the eyeshadow looks nice, wha?