I’ve been waiting for this palette for so long! I was dreaming of having it the very first time I saw it. The color selection seemed to be 100% mine, because I just adore such shades and wear them with huge pleasure.
Huda Beauty Smokey Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette offers matte, as well as shiny/glitter textures in light and dark colors, which makes it so versatile.
First of all I was hooked on these shades which seemed to be flattering to everybody. There aren’t any neon-like, aka Barbie shades here. The palette will be super fine for daily as well as festive makeup looks.
I bought this palette in March and since then I can’t get my hands off it. I’m not a makeup guru, so my review isn’t actually a tutorial. 
I want to show you this palette with some examples of my makeup and I also want to list its advantages and disadvantages.
The palette is pretty small and it’s of square shape. The top lid opens up to 180 degrees.
Inside you’ll find a convenient mirror of good quality. It was sealed with plastic wrap (by the way, I haven’t taken that seal off, because of some reasons which I’m going to tell you about a little bit later).
On the back of the palette you’ll find the list of ingredients and a lot number, which is easy to google and find out about the expiration dates.
There are 9 refill pans in the palette. Four of them are matte (one is fair and 3 shades are dark) and 5 shiny shades (2 of them are glitters). I can't even call them “shimmers”, since this word isn’t good enough to describe all their beauty and sparkle they show.
Opening the palette you’ll definitely feel some smell. And I wouldn’t say that it’s cosmetic-like. I’d say that it’s repelling and not at all pleasant. It feels petrol-like.
All the shades are different texture-wise. I’ll describe them separately below. But there’s one popping feature that really unites all the shades from the palette which is actually the wear time and the way the product is applied.
The thing is that if I apply them with a brush over my lids (and it doesn’t even play a role what brush I use), the products fall out to my cheeks.
And if you decide to wipe this crumble off with your hand or a cotton round (no matter wet or dry), you’ll end up looking like that:
But the good thing is that - after the application, these eyeshadows will stay on your lids till the moment you decide to wash them off. The wear time of these products is just phenomenal. The eyeshadows are chunky in the palette, that’s why they stain it a lot. This is actually the reason why I don’t want to take the mirror wrap off. And one more thing to draw your attention to is that I always do my foundation after I finish doing my eye makeup.
As far as I know, the Real Techniques brushes are the best. I also tried the Eco Tools brushes and as a result I got only dusting and fall out of the formula.
The rough brushes won’t work here, as they can’t pick up the eyeshadows, while too soft brushes only make the pigment sit inside them.
These eyeshadows should be applied over a primer. (Mine is by Essence). While glitter should be applied over some sticky base (mine is by NYX). I’ve never worn this product over my bare lids, so I can’t speak about their wear time without a primer.
As you’ve already guessed, there aren’t any satin shades in the palette at all. And I guess that it is for the better, as I’ve already become fed up with them. And maybe the same goes to the totally matte shades. The glitter might look too vulgar or boring. So, the proportion of 4 matte and 5 glitter shades is just a perfect decision of the manufacturers.
The first horizontal row:
1. It’s a black matte shade
2. Nude beige which offers red undertones. This one is also matte
3. Brown glitter, based on a pink base shade
Daylight by the window:
Flashlight:
The second horizontal row:
1. Clear silver shade. It’s a pressed glitter, actually
2. Brown shiny shimmer shade
3. Pure golden color with bronze undertones. This one is also pressed.
Daylight by the window:
Flashlight:
The third horizontal row:
1. Deep brown matte shade
2. Average-toned matte brown shade
3. Tender-pink glitter shade
Daylight by the window:
Flashlight:
General characteristics:
The colors are very well-pigmented.
They transfer well from the brush to my eyelids.
The mattes and shimmer shades are super easy to blend. I can easily create the wash off color effect on my eyes and it won’t look dirty or anything.
The pressed glitters (silver and golden) are difficult to blend out. Yet, they are fine to pack and usually they don’t apply streaky and never crease. They stay on so well that sometimes it feels as though they aren’t glitters at all. They look like a liquid foil on my eyes.
They don’t crease and show massive staying power.
And now I’ll tell you about every shade that I use most of all with the greatest pleasure.
#1. It’s a good variety of black color that blends into gray. I use it to darken my crease, though I’ve never tried it for smokey eye makeup. The pigmentation is okay, yet still I expected it to be a little bit more like a classic black color, as I desperately need it, because I’ve already had a lot of different options of black color from other palettes (like with a golden glitter, for instance, or gray-ish black).
This is one of the most frequently used shades by me from this palette.
#2. This shade plays at being fair. But in reality it looks fair only in the palette. It has true red tones to it and it doesn’t look natural on my skin. I hoped to use it for blending and for the lighter wash of color effect. But now I use it as a base shade all over my lids or use it to make the darker shades appear lighter.
The pigmentation isn’t bad, but still I have to pack the pigment when I want to wear it alone, of course if you don’t want to see the red pigment on your lids. One layer isn’t enough to cover up my natural skin pigment and usually it looks pale.
#3. It’s a bronze dark pink based shade in the refill. On the swatch, the pink pigment vanishes and the base color looks more nude and beige-like.
This is my one of the most favorite colors. It suits any makeup look - daytime as well as evening. The pigmentation is fantastic! But like many other glitters, this one is chunky and falls out during application. But the staying power is above praises! This color stays all night long and doesn’t fall out on my cheeks no matter how many hours I’ve been wearing it. This shade looks fantastic over darker shades.
#4. It’s pure silver as it is. Cool-toned, frosty, I’d even say winter-like color which shows the beauty of the silver color as it is.
The glitter isn’t of the biggest grain and the particles aren’t visible! One or two swipes of the brush over my lids is enough to cover my skin with thick coverage of the color. There isn’t a need to pack it at all.
As many other shades from this palette, this one is also crumbly and falling out, yet not as much as the golden shade.
The application is good and I like that I don’t have to pick the pigment all the time from the refill pan to get beautiful coverage. The only thing that I have to do is to wet a brush with water or a setting spray and then apply the product on my lids.
I don’t like the way the silver shades look on me, as I’m more into golden colors. But sometimes I do wear it, only if I pair it with an eyeliner or over neutral-toned colors, so as not to look vulgar.
#5. I hardly ever use this shade.
#6. It’s the most beautiful golden color ever! The glitter has big particles and they are visible with the naked eye. It falls out a lot, and not only when I pick it up with a brush, but also when it’s in the palette and I don’t even touch it! Yet still, even though its chunky texture, the product still applies over my lids as though it has a buttery formula.
The texture of the golden and silver shades is different - the golden shade is more butter-y, while the silver shade is drier.
The pigmentation is fine.
One coat is already enough to cover up my natural skin color and I don’t even have to pack the color. If you still want to pack it, then you’ll get a plaster effect. Yet, it’s noteworthy that this effect won’t make you look ugly, as it’ll be visible only if you use a hand mirror.
#7 and #8. These aren’t my faves and I use them only from time to time (sometimes I can use one of them for darkening the crease).
#9. One of the most wearable shades from the entire palette, which will always be in place. It’s a pleasant and delicate shimmer pink shade. Unlike the golden and silver shades, this one is significantly less chunky.
I can wear it alone, or apply over my mobile lid to darken the crease.
So, I use 6 out of 9 shades from the palette on a daily basis. Even though they called it a “Smokey” palette, I still find some shades for daily wear.
The #5, #7 and #8 are also good, these aren’t actually mine, this is why I don’t like wearing them.
The most frequently used color by me is the golden shade. So, be ready to see it in many makeups.
My makeup with the shades #3 and #9 where the blending shade #2 is used.
For these makeup looks I used the shades #5, #8 and #9:
My makeup with the silver shade:
As I’ve already said - the main disadvantage of this Huda Beauty palette is that the products are chunky, hence they stain the palette very much.
In the picture below I’ll show you the palette after doing the swatches. I didn’t even do my makeup with it and only picked the products with a brush to take pictures of them:
Overall:
I assess this palette with 4 stars and recommend it for purchasing! Even though it does have its disadvantages, I still love it and use with pleasure.
