Drugstore Blues: Hard Candy Santorini Nights Palette Review
Hard Candy is all about color these days, and they’ve been pumping out these Look Pro! Eyeshadow Palettes with distinct and unique color stories. This one, called Santorini Nights, is definitely giving me peachy vibes. It’s not every day that we see a predominantly blue drugstore eyeshadow palette, so this definitely stands out.
First off, I’m loving the layout and balance of shades and finishes in this palette. You’ll probably notice that we have two shades that are about triple the size of the others— these are base colors to help set your primer and assist with blending. Since most people use base shades every time they do an eye look, they can potentially run out before the rest of the shades. I love the idea of having extra! Aside from these two neutral mattes, we have four satin shades, three mattes and six glitters.
Here’s what the shades look like swatched on top of my white NYX Eyeshadow Base. They perform significantly better over a sticky base like this, so keep that in mind. With that said, the matte shades are still a bit sheer and need to be built up, but they blend out easily without getting muddy. The only shade that really gave me trouble was Midnight in Mykonos. It has the least color payoff, but is still workable if you layer it.
As for the glitter shades, these are gorgeous and opaque statements that will really amplify your look… if you apply them with your fingers. Using a wet brush is also a great option to get high impact color. The satin shades are smooth and go on with good payoff in one swipe with a brush or finger. In general, packing the shade on in a patting motion will give you the most color payoff with this palette.
Base: It’s Greek to Me
Transition: Olive You
Crease & Inner Corner: Under the Moon
Lid: Meditterannean Vibes, Glistening Sea & Volcanic Ash
I think this is a decent starter palette to work more blue shades into your routine– especially for a fun summery look– if you don’t have anything similar in your collection already. You just have to be willing to meet the palette halfway by using the right base, and taking the time to build up the color with the right techniques.
The Hard Candy Santorini Nights palette is only $10 at Walmart.
Have you tried anything new from Hard Candy recently?
