Sunday, August 4, 2013
Sigma Paris Palette: I loved it from the first time that I saw my favorite gurus talking about how they came up with the palette while in Paris. I bought this palette with my own money, so this review will be 100% honest and my own opinion. The story behind it seemed really interesting and definitely helped attract me to buy the palette. Now that I've gotten my palette, I thought it would be helpful to do an indepth review for everyone with some swatches of each of the colors. I'll also let you guys know what my thoughts are on the palette as a whole, and what I think of the individual colors. Let's get started!
Packaging:
The palette arrived well packed in bubble wrap from Sigma. Nothing was broken or damaged.
On the left I have shown what the outside sleeve for the palette looks like. The sleeve just covers the actual palette. I thought the design on the sleeve was super cute. It looks like a postcard and is pretty sturdy.
Here is what the actual palette looks like once you take off the sleeve. The palette is bulky. It's about the size of a small book or a journal.
First thoughts when I saw the actual palette:
The palette also comes with two brushes: The F40 Large Angled Contour and the E55 Eye Shading brush. They are both travel size. Part of the reason that I bought this palette was for the brushes.
Swatches:
The main thing that you are all probably wanting to see are swatches of the different colors. I took several pictures of the eyeshadows to find one that I thought looked as close to true color as possible. Here are what the eyeshadows look like without a primer or base. The colors are almost all glittery/shimmery. Louvre is the only matte color in the palette. If you only like mattes, this palette will not be for you.
I want to take an even closer look at the colors and write about my opinions on each color. I feel like the colors are very pigmented and beautiful. Here are side by side photos of the color in the box and the color the eyeshadow is when you actually swatch it.
This color is a glittery black. The sparkles have a few different colors. I can really see how the guru took the Eiffel Tower at night to create this color. It really reminds me of night time. This is probably the best black that I own. I prefer Eiffel over Creep from the original naked palette. This black would be absolutely stunning to do a smokey eye with or to just glam up a look. I've been searching for a glittery black for a very long time. I love this color!
Seine:
This color is a dark blue that also has glitter/shimmer to it. I also think this color would be gorgeous for a summery night event. You can really create a gorgeous smokey eye with this color. I don't own any colors that are even similar to Seine, so I was really excited to see this color! Louvre:
This is the only matte color in the entire palette. It's a very pretty teal color. It is also very pigmented and shows up beautifully when swatched. This photo is without a primer or white base. This is definitely one of my favorite colors in the palette. It reminds me of summertime. I expect that I will be wearing this color a lot. I think it would be beautiful with white shadows to create a pretty ocean-inspired beachy look.
This was the color that really attracted me to this palette. As soon as I saw Orsay, I knew that I had to have this palette. This color is a light blue/teal that is very shimmery. The shimmer has a gold tone to it, which I think is wonderful. This color definitely needs a white base to be as vibrant as it can be, so I would recommend investing in NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk or some other white base if you plan on using this eyeshadow a lot.
This color is sort of a brown/maroon color. It has a little bit of shimmer, but it is not overly glittery. This is one of my least favorite colors in the palette. I feel like the color is really dark for my skin tone, but I haven't tried a lot of looks with it yet. It might look better on me than I think, but that's just my first impression.
I feel like this color swatches a little different than it looks in the pan. It looks a little darker in the palette than what it swatches on me. It doesn't really matter because I still really love this color. It is a very shimmery color that is sort of purpley/brown. It reminds me of some of the colors from Urban Decay, so if you like those you will probably like this shade, too.
Here's another color that swatches a little different than it looks in the pan. The color has such an interesting tone to it that I keep looking at it. In the pan it looks much darker than it looks on me. On the skin, the color is a lot more brown and neutral. I think it could be worn as an everyday look if you wore another matte, neutral color with it. This shade also has some shimmer to it. Versailles:
This is the highlight color from the palette. It's very shimmery for a highlight. So, that might be a turn off for some people. I personally found the color to be really fun and beautiful on my brow bone. It's definitely not an "Everyday highlight" color though. It's very goldish, too. Overall, I think it's really pretty and I do like it.
The Blushes and Highlighter:
I also thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at the blush and highlighter from the palette to just see how they look on the skin vs. in the palette.
Here are swatches of the blushes and the highlighter is on the right. Overall, I thought they were really pigmented and easy to blend into the skin.
This highlighter has a pink shimmer to it. I am not very familiar with highlighters, so I will try to give you what I think of it with that in mind. I really liked how this looked on my skin. It really brightened up my cheek bones and made me feel like I looked more awake. I foresee that I will be using this daily.
Pêche:
First off, I am really excited that the gurus chose this color for the palette. I really, really love peach blushes. This color was very pigmented and very pretty. The color was easy to build up, so you can wear it darker or more sheer depending on what you like. I found that it was especially easy to apply using the brush that was included in the palette.
Rouge:
This blush is definitely darker than the other. It's more of a deeper pink color on me. I think it's a really pretty color that looks really good in the sunlight. I think that this will be a great blush that can just give you that nice pink glow when you are outside. This color was also easy to blend and work with.
Both brushes were easy to work with. This is my first time using Sigma brushes, and I think that I am hooked! The F40 Large Angled Contour brush was very soft and felt nice on my face. It picked up blush easily and really helped sculpt the area that I was applying the blush to. I really like the travel size version because I like to take my brushes with me to touch up makeup. I have very oily skin so I have to touch things up. The E55 Eye Shading brush is very firm and great for packing on color. It's pretty large for an eyeshadow brush, so not everyone is going to like that.
Final thoughts:
I think this palette is wonderful. The colors are really pretty and flattering on me. I think the palette was definitely worth the money, especially since you get two brushes with it. I think I will be using this palette a lot in the summer because the colors really remind me of summer. I would highly recommend this palette and would give it a 9/10since the packaging is sort of bulky and you need a white base to make Orsay show up the best. Overall, great product!
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