Lipgloss, keys, cat food, camera — I never leave home without ’em! They’re my essentials, especially the camera.
Oops! And my phone. Can’t forget that…
Gotta be ready to go paparazzi at a moment’s notice, because you never know when you’ll cross paths with a 1-pound tub of neon orange cheese balls or when you’ll find a cute kitty stowaway in the back of your car.
I’ve gotten so used to feeling the weight of a camera strap around my neck that I feel totally and completely weird without it (well, weirder than usual), and I’ll catch myself reaching for it from time to time, my fingers fooled by a phantom photography limb.
When I spotted the lights and photography umbrellas gracing the new photography-themed Smashbox Be Discovered Eye Shadow Palette ($44), my first thought was, “This was made for me!” The umbrellas are used to direct and diffuse light, hopefully, I assumed, like the palette’s colors.
Now that I’ve spent some time with these shadows, I see how they resemble photography in at least a couple of ways. First, they require time and effort, just like learning how to use a new camera or lens.
Over the past few seasons, I’ve felt like Smashbox’s eye palettes have moved toward sheerer and sheerer levels of pigment, and the Be Discovered palette continues that trend. Lighter lovelies who like less intense shadows, holla! This palette’s eight pastel and brown powder shadows were made for you.
If, on the other hand, you’re a darker diva and/or prefer bolder eyes, brace yourself for a workout; I find I have to apply a lot of layers with these (a minimum of five!).
Smashbox Be Discovered Eye Shadow Palette eyeshadows from the left: Bliss, Rosewater, Opal and Mist
Smashbox Be Discovered Eye Shadow Palette eyeshadows from the left: Adobe, Champagne, Pebble and Lilac
By itself, having to do a lot of layering wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me, but there’s also a good deal of fallout, so you might want to keep some makeup wipes nearby.
I’m a sucker for photography themes, but I fear that my skin may be too tan and warm-toned to make the most of these shades. Be Discovered would probably prefer pretties who wear cool-toned pastels well and don’t mind a bit of cleanup.
PRICE: $44
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Sephora, Smashbox counters and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B-
Happy hump day!
You know what I realized this morning…? I’m a glutton!
I miss the overeating I was doing over the holidays. The pancit at midnight; the lemon bars and chocolate chip cookies for breakfast; the veggie burger, fries and vanilla shake for lunch…
‘Twas glorious!
Now, my oatmeal this morning seemed like a bowl of gruel. Oh, well. At least I feel better when I try to eat healthy (four words: fiber keeps ya regular!).
As for exercise, I’m still trying to get back into my old routine, but Tabs has been hogging the treadmill…
I did get in a short run yesterday, and the thing that helped me finish was INXS’s epic 1987 album, KICK, one of my favorite pop albums of the decade.
New Sensation makes me want to sprint!
Now don’t you feel like kicking @ss? 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
OMG, how do I love that album? Let me count the ways. 🙂 I’m a big INXS fan to begin with so my iPod is full of their stuff. I remember being totally obsessed with To Look at You (from Shabooh Shabaah). Oh, I hear you on the overindulging. Even my sweatpants feel tight! HAHA! It’s going to be tough to buckle down, but it must be done.
That’s a shame about the shadows. I don’t mind the lack of pigment, but I’m definitely not a fan of the clean-up.
Oh, while I have you, I need to get on my Clarisonic purchase. Do you have any advise about the regular, Mia or Mia 2? It’s just for my face so I’m thinking the regular will be overkill. I can’t quite figure out the difference between the Mia and the Mia 2, though. Except the price, of course. 🙂
From start to finish, it’s excellent. I’ve also been rocking out to Listen Like Thieves… SO GOOD! Did you ever own an INXS t-shirt? I always wanted one, but you don’t have much control over your wardrobe when you’re 10.
I have the regular Clarisonic and the Mia, and to be honest I prefer the Mia. It’s less bulky and easier to use. I haven’t tried the Mia 2, but I glanced at the specs and it seems they incorporated the pulsing timer and additional speed from the regular Clarisonic into the Mia . I actually really like the timer (always wish the orig Mia had it) and the option of another speed, so I’d go for the Mia 2. 🙂
Awesome, thanks! I love the timer in the sonicare toothbrush, so I’m sure I’ll dig it in the Mia 2. 🙂
No, on the INXS shirt but they were definitely awesome. I love Listen Like Thieves, too. I have the cassette tape of Kick, Thieves and Shabooh (they’re with my walker and denture cream). HAHA! And, confession time: I was always jealous of Michael Hutchence’s hair.
Love INXS!
Yes! What are your fave songs?
i hear you about missing the holiday indulgence! we have started our strict salad and chicken breast for dinner regimen and i miss the ham, the yams and the cakes!
Yeah, that’s how it’s going down around here. Salads for dinner and a couple hard candy treats for dessert. I miss See’s! 🙁
you might like these:
http://www.sees.com/prod.cfm/pops_and_candies/Little_Pops
they’re still See’s, and if you have one or two, it isnt that bad. 🙂 i <3 the caramel flavored ones.
our current salad of choice is butter lettuce, cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half, fine strips of red onion, croutons and just vinegar and oil!
HOLY MOLY. Those just might be the greatest things ever. How did I not know about Little Pops? (I was probably too busy shoveling milk chocolate butterscotch squares down my gullet, LOL!)
omg i <3 those butterscotch squares so very very much! i put that on my birthday wishlist … but for now, im satisfying myself w/ the little pops. my fave is butterscotch, but the cafe latte ones arent half bad at all!
Those colors are pretty, but they probably wouldn’t work on my darker skin. That’s okay, I’m sure there are many other items coming out for spring that I’ll want to try. 🙂
Love the pic of Tabs – that fluff of fur on his belly is so adorable!
His belly is one of his best assets. 🙂 You should see him when he’s walking down the stairs. It swings back and forth! LOL!
The colors are pretty but too sheer for my taste so I’ll skip this. Thanks for the review.
You’re welcome!
Loved INXS! Michael Hutchence (may he rest in peace) was soooo hottt!
Funny story — I much have watched the video for Need You Tonight a bazillion times before somebody pointed out to me that he had a rat crawling around on him. I never noticed — I was so busy gazing longingly at Michael!
WAIT… he has a rat crawling all over him?!?! I think I was too busy admiring his hair to notice (I wanted his hair like you wouldn’t know).
I love the beginning of the song when he whispers, “Come over here.”
YES! A white rat perched on the crook of his arm. Check it out online sometime. I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who was too distracted by more appealing aspects of the video to notice it.
OMG! So the rat shows up in the first verse and crawls up his arm. EWW! Who knew? I can’t believe I never noticed it before… I’ve only watched this video about 500 times. LOL
Never been a fan of sheer shadows but when CVS had the Revlon ColorStay quads on clearance recently (~$1.25) I bought all of them. After swatching I was disappointed, even for dirt cheap, because they are on the sheer side. But after using several of the palettes I’ve found they’re great for days when I want a smokey eye without blending for 20 minutes. Compared to these though -only need a couple of layers (NC 25/30), no fall out, and over UDPP last about 9 hours on my super oily lids. Score!!
Off topic – I luurve your earrings Karen! Are they from Nordie’s? I had my eye on a pair in their website that look similar and they’re 50% off! Lol Can you tell I love a good sale?
*on their website, lol. Sorry, inner FOB
Hi Inday,
Good eye! Yup, I bought them for myself for Christmas. 🙂 Highly recommended. Just keep ’em away from your cat.
Ah! Sheer eyeshadows and fallout?! *runs in fear* 😛
Sheer, I can deal with – in specific cases, of course. But fallout is a huge “no” for me! I can never quite manage to sweep it all off.
Tabs is so adorable! I worked out the other day for the first time in a really long time – my kittycat was looking at me really confused, like “Why aren’t we snuggling on the couch?”
I like sheer eyeshadows, myself, for casual days. As for getting motivated to exercise, it helps me to have something to strive for. In 2008, I ran my first marathon. I made a lot of beginner mistakes, but I finished and there were a lot of triumphs throughout the race, too.
I’m getting back into running, myself, after a hiatus because of a fully loaded semester and picking up a second job. My motivation is my career after college, and the fact that I would like to run my second (and any other) marathon at peak fitness. From what I’ve learned in my years of on/off running (depending on what life threw at me), it helps to have a goal of some sort, be it a race, or losing weight, or just feeling fit and better about yourself. It also helps to have a killer playlist! I like 80’s rock, myself, and some techno/dance/pop hits. Great post 🙂
Your calendar idea with stickers is (so far) really working for me! I also got a $2.50 pink-rimmed whiteboard to put my weekly fitness goals on. Thanks for all the inspiration 🙂