Smashbox Photo Op Mega Palette Swatches and Review

I am so excited to share with you one of the prettiest palettes I've gotten this year.  It's called the Smashbox Photo Op Mega Palette, and oh my goodness it is indeed M-E-G-A in size!  It features all these in one little foldable palette, much like a book that can fit in your purse:

-56 0.044-oz Photo Op Eye Shadows
-Four 0.032-oz Brow Tech Powders
-0.024-oz Brow Tech Wax
-Eight 0.031-oz cream eyeliners
-Two 0.298-oz blushes
-Three 0.132-oz Soft Lights
-Four 0.024-oz lip glosses

Now these are not just ordinary eye shadows from Smashbox.  These are ALL the trios Smashbox has ever come up with in a new, improved formula!  Remember those circular pots that hold eyeshadow trios from Smashbox?  All those are in this palette, except that it costs less per trio in this palette, and in an improved formula.  They have this transparent plastic film over them so you can easily see the name of the shade.  The shadows and the corresponding labels are organized according to trios, so you can really see the shades that comprise trios and coordinate your colors based on such.  Just for that alone, I'm sold on this product.  But that's not all!

Aside from the trios, you get two of their eyeshadow quads (Stage One and Softbox).  These quads have beautiful neutral shadows for your classic everyday and even smoky eye looks.  You also get two pretty substantially sized blushes, three Soft Lights highlighters, 4 glosses, 8 cream liners, 4 Brow Tech shades, and a Brow Tech Wax.  All for $93 and change, plus shipping and handling.

The products come in a very nifty and convenient palette with a center palette that holds the blushes, highlighters, cream liners, Brow Tech shades and glosses, while the right and left wings of the palette hold the eyeshadows.  They fold on top of each other neatly for easy storage and it's also great for travel.

Here are some closeups of the shades:

Eye Shadows:


Left Wing eye shadow trios (first set)






Left wing eye shadow trios (second set), plus eye shadows from the Stage One quad (bottom 4)







Cream shadow/liners


Close-up of the cream liners


Cream shadow/liners with the Brow shades plus brow wax




Brow shades plus the blushes


Powder Highlighters and lip glosses




Right wing eye shadow trios (first set)


Right wing eye shadow trios (2nd set)





Right Wing eye shadow trio plus eye shadows from the Soft Box quad (bottom 4 shadows)

The real test is swatching and wearing these babies, right?  Here are some swatches:

Eye Shadows:








































Blushes:





Brow Powder Shades:



Highlighters:



Lip Glosses:







Cream Liners:









As you can see, the colors are rich, pigmented, saturated.  These were swatched without a base, and yet the colors still shone through.  I am really happy with this palette.  I also tried on a few of the shades.  The blushes are amazing and shimmery, so if you don't like shimmer, be warned.  The eye shadows stayed put on my lids all day with a good primer.

My only concern is that the cream liners are not technically protected because there's just one plastic film that covers them, so I feel that they might dry up.  It's a good idea to always close this palette after use to prevent these from drying.

All in all, this is an amazing value for all these colors, and all in the improved Smashbox formula.  You can get this on QVC.com for $93 and change, plus shipping and handling.

The Shades Of U Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars