Swatches: Smashbox's On the Rocks Photo Op Eye Shadow Luxe Palette

I am SUPER excited to have this, if only because I only had to pay $20 for it instead of $42. But I'm also excited because it's really beautiful and it's overall a really nice palette with tons of shades that I love. It's very sturdy - the pans sit in a plastic insert that actually comes out (as I discovered, to my surprise), so I guess you could put earrings or thin necklaces in it if you wanted to? The top (pictured above) is kind of cushy, and the diamonds are textured and glint rainbow in the light :) It also comes with a little "Get this look" guide.

Here are the names of the shades:

They're printed on a clear plastic insert, which I hate, because I have to remove it every time to use it, but I can't just throw it away either.

As you can see, it's a nice range of colors (earth tones, jewel tones, smoky shades, and some brights thrown in) as well as textures and finishes (matte, shimmer, sparkle, duochrome).

I divided it up into three sections in order to swatch. All swatches were done with my fingers (clean, I promise!) on bare skin.

Earthy tones:

1. Marzipan - matte light beige

2. Totally Nude - matte warm beige

3. Sumatra - matte cool brown

4. Ambient - shimmery orange-bronze

5. Fizz - shimmery champagne pink

6. Midas - shimmery light gold (This one really sucked. I was disappointed.)

7. Cream - shimmery vanilla

8. Sable - matte warm medium brown

9. Zoom - green with a gold shift

10. Roast - dark brown matte with gold sparkles

This is my favorite part of the palette, and not just because of the cute gemstone - I love purples and blues :)

1. Purple mist - metallic blackened purple with a lavender shift

2. Pastel - matte cool pale pink

3. Lilac - metallic blue-based purple

4. Navy - matte navy blue (what it says!)

5. Sapphires - metallic navy

6. Peacock - metallic light turquoise with a gold shift

7. Juniper - slightly shimmery brownish purple

8. Lavender - slightly shimmery lavender (what it says!)

I will probably use this third section the least, not because it's not good, but just because they're the colors I reach for least overall. Usage aside, they are very, very pretty! This section of the palette reminded me MOST of the holidays, especially the last five shades together :)

1. Royal - matte suuuuuper dark eggplant (a little patchy, but fine)

2. Babycakes - shimmery baby peach

3. Snow - matte white (pretty basic)

4. Moonlight - metallic, slightly-glittery white (this one was also a disappointment)

5. Mink - shimmery pale taupey purple (SO pretty, but I wish it was more pigmented)

6. Asteroid - metallic gray 

7. Framboise - metallic, slightly-dark magenta (again, PRETTY, but I wish it was more pigmented)

8. Gypsy - shimmery blackened green (gorgeous!)

9. Smoke - matte dark gray (reminds me of UD's eye pencil of the same name)

10. Cabernet - metallic dark maroon

So, out of the 28 shades, there were only two that I felt were rather unworkable (Midas and Moonlight), but otherwise, the shadows ranged from "pretty good" to "excellent" in terms of texture, blendability, and pigmentation, with the shimmery shades being the most buttery smooth to work with. 

I don't know if I would've considered this palette had it been full price (and had my Ulta coupon not excluded the Naked on the Run palette! *pout*), but I'm really glad I picked it up. It definitely feels luxe, both in terms of eyeshadow quality and in terms of packaging, and I'm looking forward to spending some time getting dolled up for the holidays.

Cheers!