Smashbox Master Class Eyeshadow Quad in Hazel: Review, Photos, & Swatches

What it is:
A beautiful palette of four earth-toned eye shadows.

What it does:
Handpicked by Smashbox pros to play up brown beauties, these flattering shades can also work with any eye color to create everything from naturally pretty to high-glam smoky looks.

 Where to Buy: Sephora.com, $10.00

 Smashbox Master Class Eyeshadow Quad in Hazel ($10.00 for 0.273 oz.) is a limited edition online exclusive palette that consists of a matte baby pink,  a matte deep purple, a shimmery taupe, and a dark grey with multicolored shimmer.

Texture:

 I've never used Smashbox shadows before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but each one of these including the mattes are so buttery smooth! I was surprised that the matte baby pink shade didn't even look chalky when applied (which those lighter matte colors are known to do). The only shade I had an issue with when applying to the lid was the dark purple. It comes off a bit patchy and really looses its vibrancy when you blend out, so you need to reapply. With that said, each shade blends wonderfully and with ease. The dark grey with multicolored shimmer did cause a bit of fallout, but nothing extreme that couldn't easily be cleaned up. Now these shadows are soft, but not annoyingly so that when you dip a brush into them they leave a crumbly mess in the pan.

 Pigmentation:

The matte baby pink, shimmery taupe, dark grey with multicolored shimmer are all fantastically pigmentated, you won't need to dip your brush in multiple times to get the beautiful colors you see in the pan. But again I had issues with the matte dark purple. Its nice and vibrant when swatched, but when you use a brush it comes off as more of a washed out blue color, not that beautiful dark eggplant in the pan.

Staying Power:

I tried all of these colors with and without a primer, and they surprisingly did great in both tests! I usually don't last an hour without creasing when I don't use a primer, but I was able to get away with 3 before the shadows significantly started fading. With a primer, I can get away with 8 hours before things start to look dull and crease. The dark purple was the little trouble maker yet again, all over the lid it had the least amount of staying power out of the four shadows, it creased after 2 hours without a primer and 6 with a primer. Another thing to note is this particular color seems to migrate a bit during wear, I had some under my lash line (over a primer) and it still ended up making a mess under my eye after an hour and a half that looked like I had a black eye!

Packaging:

The Master Class Eyeshadow Quad comes in a circle rubberized container with a see-through lid that twists off. I've never actually touched anything form NARS so I cant tell you if its like their packaging, but I would assume so and now I understand why everyone complains about it! I've only had this quad on my vanity for a few days and its already covered in all sorts of gunk, the rubber collects absolutely everything it comes in contact with! I do enjoy that you can see through the lid so you can easily identify what colors are in the quad, but the twist off top gets irritating after a while. When you're in a rush its just so much easier to flip open a palette instead of twist off, and I'm always worried I'll drop it while trying to twist the top on/off. Probably the best thing about the way this Smashbox Quad is packaged is that its very minimalist, no extra unneeded parts, its simply a round palette with shadows that fill the entire thing, no extra space! 

Final Verdict:

 My first experience with Smashbox eyeshadows has been a great one! I've noticed with both this quad and the other Master Class quad in brown that the darker matte colors cause a lot of issues, but even with that the quads are still worth picking up because the other shades are outstanding in terms of their smoothness, longevity on the eye, and fantastic pigmentation. My only complaint is that this palette isn't necessarily one you can do an all-in-one look with, the combination of colors is a little odd. Honestly I'm surprised the Smashbox Master Class Eyeshadow Quads aren't already sold out on the Sephora website, they're an absolute steal at $10.00, so if you want them, make an order quickly because they are limited edition!