I ordered my first Marc Jacobs Beauty Item during pre-sales about a month ago, with help from lovely Jenny from Belletristic Beauty. This beauty line is not available in Europe at the moment but I have heard that they are planning a launch next year.
I wanted to give it a go with an eye product (how typically me) and there were two palettes available for pre-sale. One was the purple palette (#202 The Tease) and the other one was looking more "natural" on the photo. There were no swatches and I thought I could understand the line a little better by trying out the natural palette, so decided for Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet.
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| Packaging of Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
The package comes in a pouch with a staple on one end and a stripe of cloth attached close to the other end with the name of the brand written on it. Inside the pouch there is a sponge tipped applicator, which is probably unnecessary for me and many of you but can come in handy on the go. The fabric of the pouch is not made of velvet as many other beauty brands choose for their products but this one is a thicker and coarser material (I am not sure what exactly it is). I found the overall look rather modern and chic, love that the pouch can be closed so that the palette doesn't get loose or open inside my monster bags. I also like the material of it, since it looks stable and ensures to keep the palette neat and clean.
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| Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
The palette is in a sleek black plastic case and can be opened by pushing a metal knob. Once the upper lid is open, there is a thin plastic which protects the eye shadows with brand name written on it. I really liked the way it looked seamlessly black which reflects on the mirror and made me appreciate the design with a happy sigh.
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| Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
I removed the plastic protection to reveal the shades. They were looking like in photo, so there were no bad surprises here. We all know there are some promo photos with various filters which may make a neutral palette look purple or vise versa. The palette fits in my palm nicely although it hosts seven eye shadows it is not heavy or bulky but still looking luxurious.
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| Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
The palette consists of seven shades, mostly naturals. The left side of the palette has two taupes, then comes a brown, followed by two natural shades with a twist, a orangey/peachy shade and a yellow gold. On the right most part of the palette there are two cooler toned eye shadows, a light gray and a deeper anthracite. This is what I observed after checking out the shades and right before swatching. I was so excited and by the time I touched the surfaces of the eye shadows, I was smitten by how buttery and smooth the texture was and how pigmented each shade was going. But...
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| Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
After swatching them all on my arm, I looked at it once more and I knew this one was far away from my "dream natural palette which would make it to my everyday eye looks". Then it all made sense, the name of the palette being "The Starlet" and the definition of the shades at Sephora website starting all with the same indication "metallic":
"metallic muted lilac, metallic champagne pink, metallic dark copper brown, metallic bright copper, metallic gold, metallic bluish silver, metallic gunmetal gray."
This one must have been the most interesting natural palette I have come across this year and I couldn't decide if it was in a good way.
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| Swatch with direct sun light: Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
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| Swatch with indirect light, Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in #204 The Starlet |
I am not fond of frosts and this is no secret. So for me it was an interesting experience trying to put an eye look together just using metallic shades, even at crease. I used the first shade all over the lid, the third shade on the crease to define (which is the only dark shade of the palette anyway) and padded the fourth peach shade in the middle of the lid to add a little bit of something to the eye look. I used the 6th shade on the inner corner and a mix of first and third shade along the lower lash line. The good news is that they can be layered and blended easily.
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| In-action: Some shades from Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Palette in #204 The Starlet |
Make sure to check out the swatches of all four Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palettes by Rads from Weekendramblings.
Final thoughts: I am so confused. Yay for design in all aspects from me and then all these frosty metallic finishes, I don't know what to think about this. If you like these finishes, you should run and pick up one of these palettes, like, right now! But if you are on the same side as me, who rather prefers mixture of finishes, especially if there are 7 different shades, then you may want to keep your money for something else.
Do you like metallic finishes? Is the idea of a palette with 7 metallic shades appeal to you?