Review: Coastal Scents 42 Color Double Stack "Shimmer"

Just having a dig through my "ready to post" picture folder on my computer tonight and I've come to the conclusion that I need to retake most of them as I'm doing my photos differently now. These ones were good enough to keep though!


Today I'm reviewing the Coastal Scents 42 Double Stack Shimmer Palette, available from Coastal Scents for $24.95.

I've gathered a few of the Coastal Scents palettes now, and I'd say this is the one I use the most. The colours in this one are bright! This palette is not for you if you prefer your eye shadows to be more neutral or toned down. The first thing I noticed about the palette was its weight! When it's all wrapped up for shipping, this thing weighs a lot (nearly 2lbs as mentioned on the website) but it got to the UK without damage. This palette does come with applicators, I forget what kind as I don't bother saving them.

The palette is made of a very sturdy plastic, which I expect adds to the shipping weight. It doesn't feel as though it would break through normal wear and tear, but I would be weary of travelling with a palette this large. I expect it wouldn't take much for the hinge to be damaged during travel.

For a closer look at the two layers of the palette, click on the thumbnail below. The image is huge.



The Blushers:
Both of the palettes available (the matte and shimmer) contain the same 10 blushers. Three of the blushers are matte, the other seven contain shimmer. The ones with shimmer aren't actually too shimmery, it works to give a nice glow of colour. The darkest of the blushers are extremely pigmented - to the point where I just can't wear them on my pale skin. Those with a deeper skin tone than mine should get on with them a little better. The lighter shades aren't as pigmented, but still aren't too bad. They are a little powdery though and you need to be careful not to blend most of the colour away. I also have an issue with scratching the blushers with the top layer of the palette (as the blushers sit in the bottom layer). A couple of my blushers are looking a little beaten up now!

The Eye Shadows:
All 32 of the shadows in the top layer are shimmery. If you prefer matte shades, then a matte version of the palette is available. The shimmer ranges from very shimmery to metallic. There's nothing toned down about the shimmer in these eye shadows! There's a very good colour range. It goes from a very pale gold (which would make a good highlight), to golds, pinks, reds, purples, greens, blues, browns and black. So as long as you don't mind shimmer, you can create plenty of different looks. I've done a really bright look with the greens, something a little more subdued with the golds and browns, and smokey looks using the black.

These shadows are all really pigmented, even the black (some shimmery black shadows can be very sheer). They are also very soft. This softness combined with the pigmentation can make them a little tricky to apply. I know I'm always picking up too much shadow and I end up with a bit of fall out. Just make sure to only pick up a little at a time. I seem to be working through these shadows very quickly. Some shades are already forming a dip. I expect it's just due to the softness and the fact that it's so easy to pick up too much. They also have a very creamy texture which is quite interesting.

A little cosmetic chemistry here! The third ingredient listed on the site for the shadows is something called Phenyl Trimethicone. This is a derivative of silicone. We're all familiar with the "cones" aren't we? They're what give primers the smooth, slick feeling. This is probably what is causing the smooth, almost creamy texture to the shadows.

It really is fascinating to Google your cosmetic ingredients...

Anyway, what was I saying? Right, these shadows feel creamy but most of them blend together really well. There are one or two with a chunkier texture (almost like the more chunky MAC pigments) which take a little more work to apply and blend. I think you are going to need a base with these shadows. I always use something like Urban Decay Primer Potion or a MAC Paint Pot (not got round to trying these with Pixie Epoxy yet) as I expect these to crease very quickly on a bare lid due to the creamy texture of the shadows. Also, I found these just did not want to stick to my bare skin!


That purple is just delicious! These were swatched onto primer onto my arm. I probably went over each colour twice, about what I'd do for my lid. As you can probably imagine, that purple has been used a lot! And the fact my camera actually picked that purple up as true to colour justifies the £200 I spent on it.

So, overall if you like brights and want to expand your collection, or just have something fun to play with, then this palette is definitely for you. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm getting plenty of use out of mine!

This palette was received free for tutorial/review purposes. This has no effect on the review I give. As you can see, pretty much nothing gets a perfect review on this blog.