Review: No7 Christmas Palettes

beauty, Christmas, makeup, New Year, review, winter

I realised a few months ago that I have been buying makeup WAY faster than I've been using it & that - however much I love buying makeup - something had to change. There was no way I was going to be able to use my makeup any faster so I probably had to stop buying.
You would be really proud of me, I had managed more than a month, almost two!.....and then the Christmas collections came out & I lost all sense.

I think the problem is that Christmas is when all the best palettes & sets come out & they are my true weakness. I have probably 20 palettes or gift sets that I keep looking at as if my staring at them will suddenly make them appear in my makeup collection...and yes I know that is crazy ^^
But in reality I don't know what I would do with all that makeup so I limited myself to one palette...and somehow ended up with two.

I actually sent my mum into town to get the big palette but they were only just putting out the No7 Christmas stuff in boots so she couldn't find it & came home with the little one ^^

I kind of had my heart set on the big one so got that one too & now I can do a compare & contrast ^^

Obviously the two palettes are different sizes & different prices (the small one is £10 & the big one is £20) and the shade ranges are different...they're clearly not supposed to be two sizes of the same palette but it's hard not to compare them when you look at the packaging.

The little palette has 8 shadows (making them around £1.25 a piece), 4 of which are deep blackened greys with different shades of glitter. The palette would really work for the kind of black glitter-y smokey eyes people wear around new year & that make me look old & kind of weird. Sadly the glitter in the shadows - even in the second palest grey which is 90% glitter - doesn't transfer very well, it's slightly better when you use your fingers. The pigmentation is also not great with the darker shadows which is probably good when you are wanting to use them for a blended out smokey eye but not so good if, like me, you only ever use black shades for liner.
The top row is slightly more my taste; the taupe is a pretty much perfect 'satin taupe' kind of colour - a little warmer & paler than the original - the tan has a wonderfully neutral grey base making it an amazing blending out colour & the shell colour makes a lovely highlight. The white is frosted, glittery & not at all to my taste but then I am super fussy for a totally makeup nutter. ^^

I can imagine that for the right person this palette would be a great quality bargain but I am not that person unfortunately.

Oh yeah & the brush is a waste of space but you don't expect anything more from the brushes that are in palettes do you?

The big palette is however EXACLY to my taste! There is a blue toned row that I will possibly never use (although it'd be fun to experiment with) & a few of the black glitter-y shadows from the little palette. My favourites are the coppery shadow on the second row & the khaki shade next to it. Generally speaking I LOVE that row, and the two pale columns are pretty awesome too....

The quality of the shadow isn't Dior, or even Urban Decay level, but did you really expect it to be? The shadows work out £1 each - & so are very much in 'drugstore'/'high-street' makeup territory - & it kind of shows but not in a bad way, they are WAY better than any 'high-street' eyeshadows I've ever used before.

Verdict

If, like me, you are only getting one palette this Christmas, this is a GREAT option. They are affordable, the shadows are interesting colours & they are generally good quality.

Wheelingalong24