Imagine prismatic, purple-y goodness in a bit-sized palette. Add a sprinkling of flakey duo-chromatic shades, some satiny shimmers, and one matte shade… and what do you get? The Smashbox Cosmetics Covershot Prism Palette, dah’lings.

Smashbox Cosmetics came out with the palm-sized, Covershot Palettes about a year ago- I think – originally releasing nine palettes in the standard eight pan format in varying color palettes and ratios of finishes. There have been additions to the overall collection, like the Prism Palette, that come out once in a while. All told, counting the LE ones, there are sixteen or seventeen Covershot palettes as of now (Fall 2018). They range from all matte to all glitter to a mix of finishes. I currently own three of the palettes: Punked, Prism, and Sunlit Yellow.

What drew me into picking up the Prism palette were the two NEW FORMULA shades: Astro Nut and Rocket Star… and I’m going to completely blame @DominiqueLDR for convincing me that I needed them. The swatches were gorgeous and the price, set at $29 USD for eight eyeshadows in a compact little case, wasn’t terrible either.

I’ll admit that I haven’t been the best at raving about Smashbox’s eyeshadows – and that’s mainly because the times that I have picked up other palettes, specifically their Holiday LE palettes, or the times that I’ve tried their little trio eyeshadow things… I haven’t been impressed. BUT, these little Covershot palettes (that I own) have changed my mind.

—– PRISM COVERSHOT PALETTE —–

Like all the Covershot Eyeshadow Palettes, the product comes in a small, hard plastic container with a lenticular printed design on the cover/lid – which is one of my favorite things about these Covershot Palettes. It’s so mesmerizing to look at. Inside the palette are two larger “all over lid” shades and six smaller pans.

From a whole palette view, the fact that the Prism palette only has ONE matte is a little disconcerting BUT after using it for a few times I’ve noticed that some of the more shimmery shades can blend out nicely without being overly “OMG IMMA SHIMMER SHADE AND I’M ALL OVER YOUR LID, CREASE, AND FACE.”

The single matte shade, Prism Break, is fairly versatile,  buttery smooth, and can be used as a base shade for the others or as a dark shade for the crease/lash line. Heck, it blends itself out beautifully transitioning slightly brownish when diffused. I do wish that there were more mattes in the palette, but I can say that this palette does pair nicely with their Punked palette which is 3/4ths matte. Also, I don’t know what it is about this matte grey, but it works as an AMAZING lower lash line color and looks BEAUTIFULLY on those of us with brown eyes.

The shimmer shades in this palette are decent and look okay on their own or blended out. All of them do need to be built up if you are applying them with a brush and the only one that I’ve had a bit of trouble with is Tarot-fy as it would blend away and get muddy if I messed with it too much. As a workaround, I just put it over the matte grey color and then call it good.

Are all the colors unique? No, and if I think about it I probably have close-enough dupes for all of them in my collection (see: HORDE) but having them in one, travel-friendly palette is nice, and it comes in handy.

All swatches below are with my finger without primer. Swatches, in general, aren’t a great way to tell how a formula or eyeshadow will work when it’s on your lid, and it bugs me when folks just go off of the swatches, but c’est la vie. It’s an excellent way to truly see what the color looks like out of the pan… so there ya go.

Left image, Top to Bottom: Rising Sign, Astro Not, Gimme Space, and Prism Break.
Right image, Top to Bottom: Gal Palace, Rocket Star, Bratmosphere, and Tarot-fy.

The shades Astro Not and Rocket Star are a new finish to Smashbox. Like I stated above, this new formula is the main reason why I purchased this palette. If those shades were just more shimmer shades, I don’t think I would have picked up the palette at all. The new formula is a flakey duo-chrome that truly shifts when the light catches it. I will agree with the packaging that to get total payoff it’s best to apply it with your finger… but they do look beautiful as a little wash of sparkle when applied with a fluffy brush.

After trying them, they remind me of the Kevyn Aucoin Prismagic Highlight Trio shades, AND they are dupes for both Aura (blue-purple duochrome) and Illusion(red-orange duochrome). The Prismagic Highlight Trio Palette formula is just a touch flakier, but swatched they look ridiculously similar… don’t you think?  See the swatches below on bare skin in sunlight. The top shade is from the Prism palette, and the bottom shade is from the Kevyn Aucoin Prismagic Palette. Both the Smashbox and Kevyn Aucoin shades do look a little darker in the pan after swatching them, but I guess it is just a trick of the light – they aren’t dirty or anything. It threw me at first but since it happened with both flaky, luminous formulations… it must just be how the flakes are pressed/bouncing the light.  You do get about 4x more product in the Aucoin Prismagic palette for double the price of the palette BUT if you want a little dupe that won’t break the bank and you get some more colors – try out the Prism palette from Smashbox.

—– MUTED PURPLE HAZE LOOK —–

• F A C E •
Dermablend Flawless Creator in N25 + N0 Milk Makeup Flex Concealer in Fair
Becca Cosmetics Hydra Mist Setting Powder
Smashbox Cosmetics Contour Palette
EBA Encore AAM in Clay and Smoke
Milk Makeup Lip+Cheek in Werk
MUFE Mist + Fix Spray

• E Y E S •
Smashbox Cosmetics Lid Primer in Light
Smashbox Cosmetics Covershot Palette in Prism (using Prism Break, Gal Palace, Rocket Star, Bratmosphere, and Tarot-fy)
Tarte Double Take Eyeliner
Kush Mascara

• L I P S •
Bite Beauty Lip Pencil in Black
Smashbox Cosmetics Always On Metallic Matte Liquid Lipstick in Punked Rock w/ a little Prism Palette patted on top

• B R O W S •
ABH Brow Powder Duo in Ash Brown
Milk Makeup Kush Brow in Dutch

• C O N T A C T S •
Pinky Paradise Elamis Cristal Grey Lenses

—– Subtle Greys with Gold Flecks —–

I’ve done this look a few times, on the go. I wanted to include it – but I didn’t have any full face pictures of it, so I cranked out an eye look just for you guys. It’s a very soft look with some eye-catching shimmer thanks to the Astro Not shade.

1. I applied primer (Smashbox Lid Primer in Light) all over the lid blending it out with a brush then went straight in with Prism Break on the outer V, very lightly making sure to build up the pigmentation.
2. After that, I took Gimme Space (the dove grey shimmer shade) and applied that all over the lid, up to the brow bone and over top of the Prism Break shade.
3. Then, taking my finger, I picked up some of the Astro Not (Gold Duo-Chrome flakey shade) and patted that gently over the mobile lid area. It gave a subtle marbled effect to the look, and it looks a lot cooler in person. If you have this palette, you should try this.
4. I finished everything up with mascara (Nudestix Lash Lengthening Mascara) and brows (Milk Makeup Gel Pencil in Pilsner).

After all is said and done, I think for the price and color selection – this palette may be worth your while to pick up next time you head to Ulta (since out of the two big US makeup stores – they have the best rewards program). It’s at least worth a swatch or two if you can see it in person.

If you have brown eyes, this palette will work beautifully on you. I think this palette would be pretty useful for those out there that want something shimmery but not completely in-your-face-COLORFUL as the shade selection is fairly muted – especially if you don’t have a lot of time to get where you’re going. And like most of the other Covershot palettes – it’s travel-friendly and great to just pop in your bag, purse, or pocket and get on with your day.

Are there things that I’m not entirely 100% happy about with this palette? One or two issues, yeah. I think that it needs another matte shade – like a lighter shade or maybe a matte plum, but it’s completely user-friendly and versatile if you give it a chance. I also would have liked to see the two new formula shades as the most prominent shades in the pan (or maybe the matte as one of the bigger pans)… but that’s because I think that they are gorgeous and I’ve about hit pan on both of the duochrome shades. HAHAHA! Oh, and yet again a brand has used the term “HOLOGRAPHIC” in their description for shades that are clearly duo-chromatic. COME ON PEOPLE, STOP USING THAT WORD. I DON’T THINK IT MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS.

With that, I would like to know if you have this palette or if you’ve skipped this palette. Tell me all about it in the comments and if you’d like to see a video tutorial/review with this or one of my other Covershot palettes – LEMME KNOW DOWN BELOW.

As always, don’t forget to stay positive and be awesome.
….. because you are awesome.
yep.

FTC Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored nor did I receive this palette or any products mentioned for free. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. All questions or PR inquiries should be emailed to me at info@jaechaos.com or sent via the contacts page on this website.