Sparkle aboard!

Can you believe that the last time I featured an eyeshadow palette was about 2 years ago? I was backtracking my blog posts and the last eyeshadow palette (or quad, I should say) I reviewed was Chu Chu Beauty's Think Pink Beauty Bento. What a throwback! It also made me realize that I slowly became uninterested in eyeshadows- which is fair, to be honest, because any shadow work I do will just get hidden by my glasses so it became a "Why bother?" moment for me, you know? Having said that, playing with eyeshadows can be fun, especially when said eyeshadows are vibrant and non-neutrals. It's about time we liven up our eyes again, don't you think? Or at least throw in a pop of color to make a neutral eye a bit more interesting.

In a sea of neutral palettes, we have a fun palette in the market courtesy of Dazzle Me! This is their 9-pan Cosmic Eyes eyeshadow palette in 01 Milky Way! I know this is the part of the feature where I insert the brand's product description but for some reason, there's none for this product so we're gonna have to skip this part. BUT here's what I can say about this palette: it's one that features fun, mostly cool-leaning colors and mixed shadow finishes- all for the price of ₱199!

    Okay, so packaging is a bit basic and kind of needs improving: purple transparent acrylic lid, acrylic body, no mirror BUT I think that's fine considering that it's sleek and that the overall feels sturdy, as in the shadows won't shatter on impact if I dropped the palette,  plus I do like the purple theme going on. Some of you may say that it looks tacky and/or cheap but I think it's fun and not bad for a palette below ₱200. Plus, look: the shades are indicated at the back!

Let's now move on to the shadows, shall we? As I've mentioned earlier, the Milky Way contains 9 shadows:

✧Aurora (a nude champagne with fine glitter flecks - shimmer)

✧Halo (a light neutral brown - matte)

✧Moonbeam (a matte medium warm brown - matte)

✧Astral (a warm cranberry - metallic)

✧Supernova (chunky mermaid blue with red flecks - glitter )

✧Luna (a light cool lavender - matte)

✧Collide (a medium cool lavender with silver chrome - glitter)

✧Stardust (a light cool periwinkle with pink/yellow/silver chrome- glitter)

✧Galactic (a light blue gray - matte)

Among the 9 shades, 5 are sparkling and shimmering - perfect for adding a little oomph in any eye looks! I absolutely love Astral- what can I say, red shadows always get me! When I saw Astral, it instantly reminded me of NARS Cambodia and MAC Cranberry, only Astral has a pinkier tone than said shadows, similar to the shadow Candlelit from Detail Cosmetics' Sunset Dream palette. I also quite like Aurora because I can see myself using it as a highlighter on my brows and cheeks!  

An interesting shadow for sure is Supernova, this interesting blue chunky glitter that shifts to red. Not a lot of palettes have chunky glitters so I applaud Dazzle Me for providing something different and fun to the eyeshadow market! It's not a shadow you can use everyday (unless that's your thing, of course) but I can see it being used for festivals, parties, raves, photoshoots, and such! Imagine using this on top of a white or black base? SO PRETTY!

Collide and Stardust are the proper glitter shadows in this palette and ones I can see myself using more as a shadow topper! These shadows are more on the sheer side, hence, you need to use them on top of a more opaque base. Stardust actually reminds me of the NYX pigment in Princess, as both have this pink/yellow chrome combo that looks really pretty and girly. Collide on the other hand is a new one in my collection and one that I can use to make my brown eyes pop more! 

As for the mattes, at first I was a bit weirded out by the fact that the brows here are warm toned and I was afraid that it would clash with the cool toned shadows but when I started experimenting with the shadows, I grew to appreciate the warm browns because they totally helped tone down and balance the brightness of the sparkling shadows. Both of the brown shadows helped define the crease without looking too warm on the eyes and they actually look good with the sparkles! The brown shades would totally do well with neutral looks.

The other two matte shades, Luna and Galactic, I didn't like as much and I think that's mainly because of their shades. Both shadows are too light and too white-based for my liking and I seriously had a bit of a pickle on how to wear them on my eyes. Ultimately, I don't see myself using both shadows in future looks, unfortunately. (Though I think they'd look nice if I were to do a 70's inspired eye look!)

As for opacity, I find that the matte shadows are more on the sheer to medium opacity and you have to layer and build them up to achieve a fuller coverage. Word of warning: they do have a bit of a kickback, and Luna and Galactic are a bit chalky. Aurora and Astral are the most opaque (which is no wonder why they're so easy to work with), while Collide and Stardust are sheer and function more as a shadow topper. Quality of the shadows are good considering its tag price. 

Here are two looks I created with this palette:

On the crease: Halo + Moonbeam

On the lid: Luna + Collide on top

Liner: Astral

Inner corner highlight: Stardust

On the crease: Halo

Lid: Galactic + Supernova on top

Brow bone highlight: Aurora

Inner corner highlight & inner lower lashline: Stardust

Outer lower lashline: Astral

    Milky Way palette is one that you won't use much but it's one you'll have fun using from time to time. It's the kind of palette that won't work on its own but will work well when used in tandem with a more neutral and full coverage palette. If you want fun shades in your stash but can't be bothered having those 32-pan shadows or spending a lot on a colorful palette you won't use much, then Milky Way is worth getting. Do it for the sparkles and dazzle them all! 

I received this product from Dazzle Me as a gift for consideration and review purposes. My opinions are solely my own and not influenced by the sender in any way.