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Pati Dubroff

Review: Pati Dubroff Spotlight Palette

I’ve had this palette for nearly three months and for some odd reason I haven’t gotten around to reviewing it for you guys! But that hasn’t stopped me from getting my grubby little paws all up in it! I’m here to give you the breakdown on how this eyeshadow palette from Pati Dubroff has been treating my little eyelids for the past few months! I’ll give you a hint – it’s one of my best buys for 2015 (so far)! I’ll tell you why if you keep reading!

This is definitely the most slept on palette I’ve ever reviewed! I stumbled upon this find on eBay back in May when I was looking for an affordable palette I could take with me on my cruise vacation. It was maybe $10 plus a few dollars in shipping.  I wanted something inexpensive that I wouldn’t cry over if it got messed up in transit. Out of all the palettes in my price range on eBay, this one offered a great diversity of color options that I could use during the day while sightseeing and at night (especially for those formal dinners that cruise lines are so fond of offering).

I typically try to read a few reviews on products before I purchase them, but I could only find a handful of reviews period on this item. Most of the reviews mentioned the same pros/cons so I didn’t have much to go on before I hit “Buy It Now”. I purchased this nearly blind because it was so cheap that I thought, “Hey, what the heck!”. If I lost $10 on a shadow palette, the world wouldn’t end. But if I lost/messed up one of my limited edition or expensive palettes on vacation, I *might* have had a panic attack.

Pati Dubroff, the creator of this Spotlight Palette, is a celebrity makeup artist. And I mean, like, real celebrities! She’s done Charlize Theron and Julianne Moore for the red carpet; Kirsten Dunst and Jessica Alba for the covers of major magazines; Kerry Washington and Eva Mendes for some sick editorial shoots – I mean this woman does it all! After doing a bit of research on this incredible artist while waiting for my package to arrive, I felt a little more comfortable with my purchase and began to eagerly await its arrival.

When it came, I could hardly contain myself and had to swatch it before I even managed to turn my camera on. The shades feel like you have just rubbed your finger across a piece of velvet. I was sold in .2 seconds.

This was the only palette of eyeshadows I took with my on my 8-night vacation so it got some pretty good wear on the trip. I’ve also been using it sporadically since I got back, but I have dipped my brush in all the colors at least once so I can attest the performance of each shadow and not just the palette in general. The palette also comes with a felt-tipped eyeliner, but I found it hard to work with so I don’t use that. But you will see it in the pictures below.

I wouldn’t say the palette is broken up into quads, but I am going to review it by 4’s so it’s easier for you guys to digest! Let’s start with the quad on the far left!

Cashmere was definitely not my favorite on my skin tone. The shade is pretty, the pigmentation is there, but it is lost on my skin. It’s too chalky and really just leaves me looking ashy! However, I think this would be a flattering color on fairer skin to set concealer on or around the eyelid.

Oleander is like the shimmery cousin to Cashmere. Again, not a great lid color for me, but when it hits that inner corner as a highlight, magic happens!

Prosecco is a sheer, shimmery champagne color. I tried it as a highlight one night and it was a tad too light, but keep that in mind if you have fairer skin than me.

Amberglow is one of my favorite colors in the palette! It is a rich, true gold shade and boy is it pigmented. As you can tell by the dent in the pan, I use this shade quite often. Most of the time, I use this as my lid color, but I have also used just a little of it as an inner corner highlight. It pairs beautifully with the green shade ‘Boa’ which I will talk about in the next quad.
Goldenleaf is the most BEAUTIFUL mossy green color! It reminds me of Looxi Beauty Urbane, but in a palette. They have similar consistencies so I can’t say I favor one over the other. This shade makes for the most incredible smokey green eye! I used this with the colors ‘Boa’ and ‘Licorice’ one formal night on my cruise and I was blown away by how it reflected in the dim lights of the dining room.

Mystic, unfortunately, was a miss for me. It looks like a brown in the pan, but comes off with a grey undertone on my skin. Matte grey eyeshadow doesn’t really flow with my brown skin. The pigmentation is also a little chalky on this one too! As you can see from the picture, it has barely been touched.

Boa is like heaven to the touch. I mean angles must have created it! I included this in my favorite eyeshadows for fall so you know it is a must have! I probably would have paid about $10 just for this shadow alone. Pop this over a black eyeshadow base and you have got an easy eye look perfect for this time of year!

Phantom is a silver metallic that I like, but it isn’t super special to me! It reminds me of ‘Saints & Sinners’ by Looxi Beauty, but I wear that one more.

Cognac is a killer transition shade for brown skin! It is a matte reddish brown with amazing pigmentation and buildable coverage so you can make that transition as invisible or as bold as you want. Sometimes I pull out this palette just to use this color if I just want to do an easy eye look for the day.

Onyx is so lacking in pigmentation it physically hurts me to swatch it! Literally – it has huge chunks of glitter that catch when you run your finger through it! Unfortunately, it’s a dud.

Acai is a purple shimmer shade and it has all the qualities I was hoping for from ‘Heirloom’ from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture Palette. It is a pretty straightforward shade; it doesn’t have any shifts or any hidden chunks of giant glitter in the pan. The magic happens in the way you apply it. I’ve used a brush dampened with MAC Fix+ to make the color more vibrant. I’ve used a black eyeshadow base to darken the color. I’ve used it over a purple eyeshadow base. Basically, I’ve used this every way I could think of and it looks great all the time!

Licorice looked so promising, but unfortunately it lacks the pigmentation of some of my favorite black eyeshadows. It works in a pinch (like when you are on vacation with no other options and you desperately want to do a smokey eye).

If you are still reading after that super lengthy one-on-one review, yay! I’ll get right to my overall thoughts. Do you need this palette? Yes, you needed it yesterday.

For the quality of the palette, I would have paid at least double what I actually paid for it. It had far more superior shadows than duds and after realizing what a disappointment the Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture Palette ($30) was, I am even more impressed with this one. This palette is also perfect for fall, so if you don’t want to go through the hassle of buying my top 8 fall shadows separately, this is a superb alternative. You can scour the web for a deal (definitely look for this on eBay) or you can purchase it from Amazon for $20. Pati Dubroff Cosmetics are sold at Costco and I have even seen other bloggers say they found their palette at TJMaxx for around $15.

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Swatches of the Pati Dubroff Spotlight Palette without flash.

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Swatches of the Pati Dubroff Spotlight Palette with flash.

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Next to the Anastasia Beverly Hills ‘Shadow Couture’ palette.

Get The Look: Top 8 Fall Eyeshadows

The end of summer is near! August is right around the corner and that means it’s time to start thinking about switching up your makeup routine for the new season. Goodbye hot pink lipstick, hello berry lips! To help jump start the transition, I’ve listed my top 8 eyeshadows to pair with your new fall look. Keep reading below to see my favs!

To me, nothing says fall quite like pumpkins. The idea of pumpkin farms, Halloween pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks make my little heart flutter! My first eyeshadow pick for fall screams ‘PUMPKIN’! This shade has some shimmer in it so it would be great as a lid or inner corner color. Coastal Scents, $1.95
This matte navy blue shade will up your smokey eye game to a 1000! Instead of black, which can still be a bit harsh for balmy autumn nights, try a dark blue lid color instead. You can always add a bit of black on the outer colors to further deepen the color. Or try a black eyeshadow base to make the color pop. My personal favorite is also from NYX.
NYX Cosmetics, $4.50
Make them green with envy when you walk by in this shimmery moss green shadow! This color is from one of my favorite eyeshadow palettes from celebrity makeup artist Pati Dubroff. This shade is especially gorgeous on hazel or dark brown eyes. Pair this with a bit of gold shadow in your inner corner and you are set for the night! Amazon, $19.75
Of course I was going to add a copper shadow to this list, DUH! I absolutely love this one by MAC which I got a few months ago. Not only is the formula super smooth, but it is buildable. You can apply a little bit of product for a subtle glow on your lid, or you can pack it on for an intense bright copper finish. MAC Cosmetics, $16
If you are looking for the most bang for your buck, look no further than Looxi Beauty ‘Urbane’! The pigmentation of this shadow is out of this world amazing. It is a dusty gold with a bit of a green undertone. You don’t have to use much to make a statement. This shade is especially beautiful in dim light so pull it out for date night! Looxi Beauty, $5
My love for mineral pigments knows no bounds! Pure pigments like ‘Tempura’ from Ultimo Cosmetics offer the most intense color payoff out of all the shades on this list. I’ve worn this shade over a black eyeshadow base to a concert and it didn’t budge during a night filled with dancing and singing along at the top of my lungs. ‘Tempura’ can hang, honey! Jenny’s Mineral Shack, $4.88
If you aren’t as comfortable with colorful eyeshadow as I am, you will look beautiful (and still be in your comfort zone) with this peachy, golden shimmer from ColourPop Cosmetics and YouTube beauty vlogger KathleenLights. You really can’t go wrong with a shade like this during any time of the year, but there is something about gold in fall that makes it feel more appropriate. This shadow is sold in a set of four colors developed by KathleenLights for ColourPop. ColourPop, $20
There is no way this list would be complete without a smokey matte black! I’ve picked one of my go-to black shades that will add another layer of sultriness to any of the other shadows on this list. Of course you can hit the town with a traditional smokey eye, but you can also add a tiny bit of this to the outer corner of your eye look to take it from day to night. This black has medium pigmentation so you can build up the darkness of your lid to your comfort level. Milani Cosmetics, $3.99