I woke up this morning thinking I’d get a ton of stuff done today, but I’ve been feeling like a spazzy hyperactive chihuahua all afternoon and haven’t been able to focus at all, gah! Maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me to lay off the caffeinated tea…
The only thing that’s kept my attention for any length of time is the new Smashbox Softbox Eye Shadow Palette ($48).
Pretty, yeah?
I guess what they say is true — makeup really does soothe the savage beast. 🙂
The new eye palette, brimming with sweet neutrals, hails from Smashbox’s summer Softbox collection, and the products, like a real soft box a photographer might use, are designed to diffuse the light and soften any shadows falling on a subject’s face. With the palette, you get nine powder eyeshadows, two cream liners, a double-sided brush, a mini-Photo Finish Lid primer and a fold-out Get-the-Look Guide with step-by-step directions for three different looks.
With iPhone for scale
Swatches from the left: Nectar, Lucky Penny and Sienna
Vanilla, Sugar and Nude
Eye Shadows in Flirt, Stone and Truffle; Liners in Bronze and Taupe
Swatches with the flash…
…without the flash
Urban Decay Naked Palette swatches for comparison
Wearing eyeshadows in Nectar, Lucky Penny and Sienna Eyeshadows; liner in Bronze
If you’re wondering how much the palette has in common with the Urban Decay Naked Palette, I think there’s some overlap, but I wouldn’t call it a dupe. Softbox has a few warm bronzes and lighter colors absent in Naked, and its pigments are generally sheerer than Naked’s overall.
Urban Decay Naked Palette for comparison
My luck with Smashbox shadows has been hit or miss, but I think these are on the better end of the spectrum. They’re easy to blend and layer, but I do observe a little fallout here. Not nearly as much as I saw with the Style Files shadows, but still.
PRICE: $48
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Sephora stores and smashbox.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
What do you think? Thumbs up for Softbox, or do you crave more color?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I don’t think I would buy that because I would only use the 4 taupe side colours because warm colours don’t suit me. Maybe a warm and a cool pallette would have been better. Least with Naked it is so big you don’t mind. The cool colours are lovely just not unusual enough for me to spend out knowing the other half would go to complete waste 😀
Stacie xoxox
I think for someone who doesn’t own a lot of makeup, this is a great buy. Looking at the swatches, I have dupes for pretty much all of these colours. I still think it’s a pretty great palette, though. 🙂
Hmm, after ALL the hype I haven’t really craved Naked until I saw your comparison here. At the same price the pigmentation of Urban Decay’s shadows look infinitely better. I also worry about the eyeliners. It seems like they would dry out pretty quickly in the palette like that. Ugh, I can’t believe that I’ve resisted Naked this long just to fall for it now!
Just wanted to say thanks for adding the iPhone in your posts for scale. It’s super helpful!
I’ll have to get out my InBloom palette for comparison. I think between that and Naked I might be covered.
I’m not crazy about the packaging of Softbox. I think it’s the rectangle shades with space in between. I like the round colors in InBloom and the vertical shades in Naked better. Strange. I didn’t think I’d ever understand how people used packaging to determine a purchase. But I think I finally have enough palettes I’m getting picky. 😉
When I saw the swatches I immediately thought ‘NAKED!’ but then I saw the actual naked palette below. You’re definitely right. Other than Gunmetal and that one liner, I wouldn’t call any of the shades dupes at all, even though some are similar. Since those are different products entirely, those wouldn’t really be ‘dupes’ either.
that is a pretty good price considering its smashbox and you get a bunch of stuff.
i <3 the taupe color in your swatches!
i don’t have either palettes but i’d still choose the naked palette because it’s more pigmented (i’m not a big fan of sheers). but seriously, that taupe liner in the smashbox palette is just too gorgeous!
hey Kare-Kare! what were you wearing on your lips in these pics?
The colours are lovely!
I adore the packaging! Its so prettyy!
But I’d still get NAKED )=P) if I got the chance!
Hmmm looks good in the pan but swatched not very pigmented. I do like the idea of some warm light neutrals like Nectar. As much as I love neutrals, these palettes are all starting to look alike…I’ve been more into quads lately….4 colors that go perfectly together.
The blush you’re wearing in these pictures looks great, by the way!
Looks lovely, especially the more pigmented colours in there.
Never mind the makeup – James and i think you look cute in your hoodies!!!! x
I love-love-love the liners’ shades and I’m falling for Lucky Penny and Truffle :P.
The color range is perfect for me…but I already have dupes for pretty much all of these…I think that may be one reason I have resisted Naked for so long.
It is interesting how someone mentioned packaging and someone else mentioned quads…lately I have been skipping eyeshadow altogether and I think it is because I moved all of my single pan eyeshadows to a 15 pan palette. Getting it out of the drawer and holding it must just be too much work for me in the morning. If anything I just end up grabbing my highlights quad (shroom, all that glitters, brule & rice paper) but that is only when I have someplace special to go. 🙁
Looks like a very versatile palette! What are you wearing on the cheeks? I love it!
Oh no! Just when I resolved to cut back on makeup shopping… Smashbox releases a new palette!
I bought this last week and I already have the Naked palette. They’re different enough to both be useful and versatile, with the UD palette being a little better for adding more drama. I’m wearing one of the Softbox looks today and I love it, as well as how easy they made everything.
Very pretty, especially the cream liners. I have the In bloom palette and like that as well.
Love, love, love the hoodie! Where did you get it from? Must get my hands on one or two.
Thanks for the review, I’ll check it out next time I’m visiting Sephora.
I love smashbox. The colors are really nice and pigmented.
I love this more than Naked. It caught my eye immediately unlike Naked…. 😛 Luckily for me, I’m just starting out makeup so I don’t have any of these colors!
I have this and I adore it! I have tons of other makeup, but this is so great for travel and those mornings when you’re too lazy to think about pulling out a bunch of products. For me, the color payoff is awesome – to the point that I have to remember to go easy. 🙂
Also, I use the liners as cream shadows; they’re awesome as shadows.