Smashbox Holiday Flash Collection Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

Smashbox is doing more than just the usual blockbuster-style palette and mini gloss set for Holiday 2011. This year they've created Holiday Flash, a little three-part makeup collection perfectly suited for festive holiday looks.

It includes:

The Holiday Flash Eyelights Eyeshadow Quad ($39), the Holiday Flash Double-Ended Lip Enhancing Gloss in Siren/Star ($22) and two Holiday Flash Long-Wearing Liquid Liners in 14k and Chrome (not pictured), both $22 each.


The Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad contains four sparkly metallic shades: pearl (which is a white gold iridescent shade), gold (metallic yellow gold), silver (metallic light silver) and pewter (black with silver sparkle).


The Double-Ended Lip Enhancing Gloss features a clear with shimmer (Star) and a bright cherry red with shimmer and iridescent microglitter (Siren).


The Long Wear Liquid Liner in 14k is a bright, shiny, sparkly liquid gold which comes with a soft, pointed spongy/felt applicator very similar to the Stila Sparkle liner applicator.



Swatched over bare skin (no primer) in sunlight, with flash and indoors. Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad (pewter, silver, gold, pearl), Siren gloss, Star gloss, 14k Liquid Liner.


I have not seen it for myself, but based on the formula and texture of the 14k Liquid Liner, I'm thinking the Chrome Liquid Liner will be a molten silver sparkle just like Urban Decay Bobby Dazzle. 14k is really similar to Urban Decay El Dorado and Illamasqua Alchemy, so that's why I'm assuming they'll be similar.

Here's a look I did with the shadows and liner:


Please excuse the spidery lashes. I was trying out a new mascara that was really not cooperating with me.

This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop
Smashbox Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad - Pearl shade on lid
Smashbox Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad - Gold shade on mid-to-outer lid, blended with Pearl
Smashbox Holiday Flash Eyelights Quad - Pewter shade in crease and on lower lashline
Smashbox Holiday Flash Long Wear Liquid Liner in 14k

The shadows have a really odd texture. They're very creamy and a little sticky, so they adhere really, really well to the lids even without primer. They're very unusual feeling, sort of like a hybrid cream-powder shadow. The payoff is excellent, perhaps even a little too good because it applies really thick/densely and needs a little smoothing with a fingertip to thin it.

The glosses are your typical Smashbox gloss. Medium to thin texture, smooth and totally non-sticky, not very long wearing but very smooth. Faint vanilla scent, barely noticeable. Sheer formula lets the lips show through a bit, like a 'jelly' lipgloss. Shades layer well together, but be careful of mixing colors on the brush because Star will turn pink in the tube!

The liner is awesome. Extremely sparkly and shiny, like liquid gold. Applies very easily and dries quickly. Waterproof.

So...

What I liked:

• Every color is gorgeous and all compliment each other perfectly.
• Sparkles!
• Good formulas.
• Very festive.
• 14k liner is a good substitute for Illamasqua Alchemy, which is always sold out and hard to get in the US.
• Siren is a red that doesn't look ridiculous on me.
  

What I didn't like:

• The shadow quad is way overpriced at $39. I'd gladly pay $25 for it; it's a good quality and it's very pretty, but $39 seems too high for only four shades.
• Colors are dupe-able.
• 14k Liner must be shaken a lot before use to ensure even texture.

Overall, I think this is a really festive and pretty little collection for the holiday season. Perfect party makeup. The palette is great for some glimmering metallic smoky eye looks and the liner is really a showstopper. The gloss compliments all the colors in the palette; I especially love the combination of gold eyes and red lips! I think the palette should be priced a little more modestly, but that's really my only true complaint.

The Smashbox Holiday Flash collection will be available soon at Smashbox.com, Ulta and Nordstrom.

(This was sent to me for review.)