Shine Bright with the Smashbox x Casey Holmes Spotlight Palettes
‘Tis the year of makeup collabs! Earlier this year, Smashbox teamed up with YouTube makeup artist, Casey Holmes, to create 2 highlighter palettes. The Spotlight Highlight Palettes hit the scene with much anticipation and hype. Then seemingly disappeared. I even bought into the hype of the release because I love highlighters and Smashbox has totally been on my radar this year. So I bought both the Pearl and Gold versions.
And then almost completely forgot about them. Whoops! ?
It wasn’t until I was rummaging my stash for something else (of course) that I rediscovered the Spotlight Highlight Palettes fresh in the box. I cracked those babies open like it was Christmas Day and went to town shooting and swatching. Oddly enough, my excitement soon turned to disappointed.
Did I get a bad batch or something?
Both Pearl and Gold swatched terribly! They seemed dry, chalky, powdery and gritty. The glitter came out super chunky. The formula didn’t seem to adhere to bare skin well. Swatching the Spotlight Highlight Palettes was a total disaster. It got so bad I banished them back to the drawer I dug them out of.
Considerably pissed, I sent out a tweet wondering why the hell no one was talking about how awful the quality was. My trusty twitter buddy, Natalya, mentioned that she owned one of the Spotlight Palettes and loved how smooth and blendable they were. Part of me thought she might have been crazy. LOL!
But she was right! You truly can’t judge these palettes by the swatches! I gathered up enough courage to try the Gold Spotlight Highlight Palette one day. Now it’s pretty much all I wear. The Spotlight Highlight Palettes are smooth, blendable and absolutely stunning when applied.
Pearl Spotlight Highlight Palette
Fair skin beauties rejoice! I often see the other end of the spectrum complaining how they too struggle to find makeup for their skin tones. It appears that Smashbox and Casey Holmes were listening ladies because the Pearl Spotlight Highlight Palette is a great option for fair to medium skin tones with cool undertones. It features 3 shades:
- Turn It On Pearl pale luminescent yellow gold
- Crank It Up Pearl soft rose gold pearl
- Blow A Fuse Pearl icy luminescent pink
You can keep it soft and sheer with Turn It On Pearl, shine softly with Crank It Up Pearl or go full on Beyoncè-glam with Blow A Fuse Pearl. You can even layer them for an insanely intense highlight that’s quite stunning. The choice is yours!
Gold Spotlight Highlight Palette
Gold, on the other hand, is better suited for medium to deep beauties with warm undertones. I have to tip my hat off to Casey Holmes for keeping her Smashbox collab inclusive with an option for everyone. The Pearl palette works nicely on brown skin. But, of course, the Gold Spotlight Palette reigns supreme on my chocolate cheeks! It features:
- Turn It On Gold soft shimmering champagne gold
- Crank It Up Gold bronze gold pearl
- Blow A Fuse Gold warm true gold with golden shimmer
I love all 3 shades but my favorite way to rock the Gold Spotlight Palette is by sweeping on a little Blow a Fuse Gold and then layering Crank It Up Gold on top. Together, the two create a molten gold sparkling highlight that still manages to look buttery and natural. Rather than gritty and metallic like the swatches.
Are the Smashbox x Casey Holmes Spotlight Palettes worth it?
Absolutely! I love that Casey Holmes keep the Spotlight Highlight Palettes small as they’re incredibly convenient and easy to pack along for traveling. I also like the idea of being able to choose your glow intensity rather than being stuck with 3 insanely pigmented highlighters that need sheering out. Smashbox and Casey Holmes did a bang up job with the Spotlight Highlight Palettes. They’re definitely worth a try!
Gold Spotlight Highlight Palette
Pearl Spotlight Highlight Palette