Sparkled Beauty

It did feel like summer around here when Annabelle Aqua Queen collection showed up in my mail box. And it fed the craze of bright colours I had been having all Spring.

On the left is the 10-colour eyeshadow palette in Hawaian Hues, and on the right is the Biggy Bronzing powder in Caribbean Sun.

As much as I am in the mood for warmer weather, summer dresses and sandals, the bronzer will have to wait, as this post is mostly about the palette. And don't get me wrong, it is a good wait :)

Now tell me, what is your first thought when you see the palette?

Well, my thought is... Actually the light reflection on the lid of the bronzer kinda gave it away. It's a heart, and it is LOVE! No photoshop, I swear.

The Hawaian Hues palette has something for everyone. The champagne and warm bronzy shades are for neutral gals, and the cooler toned shades are to spice it up. To top it off, a matte black to smoke things out.

The packaging is cute, light and slim, houses 0.33oz/ 9.4g of products (vs. 0.07oz/ 2g in an Annabelle mono eyeshadow). The palette retails $12.95 vs. $4.25 for the mono eyeshadows, for comparison.

Swatches this time were taken with flash, as I couldn't find a decent natural lighting pic to show you.

All shades but the black are shimmery but not glittery. The shimmer shows up in swatches under flash, but is not very visible on my lids, so those who are concerned, don't worry.

Surprisingly enough, I like the first few shades on the left side of the palette more than the colourful bunch. Can you tell why?

The black and the dark bronze have the best pigmentation among them all, very smooth and easy to blend. The champagne is a perfect brow bone highlight colour for me. The charcoal silver can brighten up your inner corner and the light bronze is great all over lids.

Then the brights. The purple and the light teal are a little too sheer to my liking, require building up. The yellow is not very visible on my skin tone.

The aqua is quite pigmented, I have reached for it often. The green is not as "strong" as the aqua but still lovely to wear. Both are easy to build up when needed to.

All in all, Hawaian Hues is great for short trips out of town, pairing with an eye primer - in my case would be the Maybelline Colour Tattoos and MUFE Aqua creams). Check out the two looks I did with this palette - Bright FOTD and Darker FOTD to see how versatile it is :)

A personal note: This post (and a few more in the near future) is scheduled, as I am taking a breather for a little while. If I am slow in responding to comments, please understand.