Smashbox Cosmetics: LA Vibes Kit | Canyon Cover Shot Eyeshadow Palette + Gloss Angeles Lip Gloss Review | @ohjaechaos

If there’s a color scheme that grabs my attention quicker than anything it’s one that invokes the spirit of a 1970’s floral printed couch in all its olive green and mustard glory. It’s weird. I know it’s weird, but it’s the truth and my grungy loving soul is here for it.

When I was perusing around my local Ulta’s Smashbox Kiosk, I noticed there was a new Cover Shot Palette kit… AND it was calling to me, in all its grungy glory. I swatched it and it magically appeared in my cart. I don’t know how it got there… but it happened and now here we are.

Enter the LA Vibes Kit:

This Ulta-exclusive kit contains a full-sized Smashbox Canyon Cover Shot Eyeshadow Palette (retailing at $29) and a full-sized Gloss Angeles Lip Gloss in the shade 72 & Honey (retailing at $19) all for $29. From what I can tell, this palette is exclusive to the kit and it just launched TODAY! I guess my store put it out early, which explains why I wasn’t able to find it online after I purchased it.

If you are unfamiliar with the Smashbox Cover Shot Palettes, they are small, 8-pan eyeshadow palettes normally broken up into two different color combinations with an overarching theme. There are two larger pans, usually mattes, that are intended to be all over colors or blending out shades. Not all palettes are worth the money, even at $29, but some – like this and my Prism palette is totally worth the little splurge.

CANYON COVER SHOT EYESHADOW 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.

This palette contains a decent mix of mattes, shimmers, and metallics. I was automatically drawn into the quad that had the mustard yellow and greens. The other quad gives more of a soft rose vibe, which might be good for the daytime – and of course, is right up JackyOhh’s alley – is something a little soft for me. I would have loved to see another one of the shades in the formula similar to Astro or Rocket Star from the Prism Palette – especially if the new formula was the same shade as Pixel Dust.

The only issue I had was a one-off when I tried to blend Cumin Nature (mustard yellow) and Nectar (mid-toned brown) together on my crease. For some reason, the Nectar shade that I applied over Cumin Nature applied a little patchier than I would have liked in my crease – but a little work and extra blending helped to even everything out.

If you are swatching this palette in the store – keep in mind things swatch differently with a finger than they might look applied with a brush, especially the metallic and shimmer shades. I noticed that the metallics apply best when applied with a finger in patting motions or with a makeup brush spritzed with some makeup setting spray.

Soft and Rosy

These four colors don’t really show up on my arm that well because I’m so pale. This quad seems a bit lacking as far as colors for a full eye look go. When I was using these I almost always needed to bring in the medium-brown, Almond, in to help darken up the crease or to add as a base before going in with other colors. I wish that there was a deeper-toned shade in this quad instead of three very light shades.

Nectar is a great shade to diffuse any harsh edges if you are pale. It’s slightly peachy toned so it also works well to subtly warm up the crease, if necessary. Bottomless is a typical champagne, shimmer eyeshadow shade. The base of this eyeshadow isn’t very pigmented but the shimmery particles do a good job at catching the light and standing out. I like to use this shade as an inner corner or brow bone highlight. I’ve also used it as a straight-up highlighter on my cheekbones (see the full-faced look below to see it in action). Party Pants was the most surprising shade out of this quad. I thought it was just a rose-toned metallic shade but when you apply it to the lid, there is a slight duo-chromatic shift from rose to gold and it pairs beautifully with Olive It. You can also use this rosy metallic shade as a blush topper, if you’re feeling adventurous. Please note that this shade does have a lot of fall-out and the base while brown-ish, isn’t that pigmented so you will need to build it up if you are only applying that shade by itself. Lastly, Pixel Dust is a yellow-golden metallic shade, that like Party Pants, doesn’t have a completely pigmented base but it is very pretty in the inner corner or paired with Olive It.

Gloriously Grungy

If I’m being completely honest, and I am, this quad of colors is what sold me on the palette and kit. Do I probably have a few of these colors in other palettes or singles – maaaaaaaybe… especially the mid-toned brown and olive green shade, BUT IT’S SO PRETTY – DON’T AT ME!

Almond is a warm-ish, mid-toned milk chocolate matte brown that is great for putting in the crease. This shade isn’t new to the makeup world, but it is handy to have in a palette like this. Almond can be paired with practically every single other shade in the palette. Cumin Nature is a glorious matte mustard yellow shade that is one of those one-and-done shades where you can just put it all over your lid, blend the edges a little bit and be on your way. It is similar in shade to Saucebox Cosmetic’s Daffodil, Melt’s Loreli (from the Gemini Stack), LimeCrime’s Mustard (from Venus ii palette), and Make Up For Ever’s M-408 (Mustard) Artist Color Shadow. Olive It is a buttery, olive metallic eyeshadow, similar to Party Pants in that the base isn’t terribly pigmented but the sparkle does a good job to make up for it. Self Kelp is the most unique shade in the palette, I think. It swatches like a dark grey, but it can look like a dark grey-green when applied with or over other colors. This shade is very soft and I did end up getting quite a lot of kickup and fall-out on the eye when applied with a brush. Self Kelp works as an excellent base to Olive It, Pants Party, and Pixel Dust (see the bottom right picture to see it in action).

Overall, I do think I will keep this palette as a travel-friendly option when I have to go in a hurry. The shade names make me chuckle because some of them are down-right punny. I like that the palette comes with a decently sized mirror and as far as wear time goes – I didn’t experience any premature fading or flaking of the eyeshadows during the day.

For the price, it’s not a bad deal especially when you consider that this kit comes with a full-sized lip gloss as well… and speaking of THAT:

Gloss Angeles 72 & Honey Lip Gloss

The Gloss Angeles formula for the lip gloss is very comfortable and wearable on the lips. It reminds me of NYX’s Candy Slick Lip Glosses with the almost lip oil texture. 72 & Honey is described as a warm nude, which I happen to agree with – it also has a slightly peachy undertone as well. The applicator is your standard flat, doe-foot applicator and it deposits the correct amount of product without getting too gloopy.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say other than I like the gloss. It’s completely comfortable and doesn’t dry my lips out. So, that’ll be a win-win from the Chaos in the room. I usually gravitate towards eye products more so than lip products and I wasn’t planning on buying this new formula – but I am very happy that it came in the kit… so essentially I received this lip gloss FOR FREE!!! WEEEEEEEEEE!

Grungy Green Halo Look

I created this look during a live stream yesterday over on Instagram. If you like live-streamed makeup tutorials/hangouts, you should totally join me over there. You can find me on IG @ohjaechaos. Shameless self-promotion aside, I really like how this look turned out, but I am also a huge fan of grungy olive eye looks and will do them whenever the muse is upon me.

And now we’ve come to the end of this lengthy review post and so happy you made it this far! I would love to know if you’re planning on picking up this exclusive Ulta kit, or if you are planning on passing on it. While you’re letting me know ALL THE THINGS in the comments, tell me which eye look using this palette was your favorite. I may do an actual YT tutorial on the winning look.

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