It's not often I go to Ulta, the nearest store is about 90 miles away from me and it's a hassle to make a day trip all for the sake of makeup. In fact, the only time I've ever gone to my "local" Ulta, it was on a mission for the Spellbound Shimmer from Tarte's Make Believe in Yourself collection. My best friend drove me all the way up to find it (shoutout to her, it's definitely a feat), only to later realize that the collection in the store was very minimal. With my faith in finding the Spellbound Shimmer diminishing (at this point the collection is going away since it was limited edition), I decided that a trip so far out should be worth it somehow. I noticed a sale going on at Ulta where with a purchase of $16.50 in Ulta Beauty brand products, you'd receive a free palette. The free palette contains a vast range of eyeshadow shades, a black-brown eyeliner pencil, a few brushes and applicators, some blush shades, a contour, and highlight/white powder that I really haven't found a use for. Anyway, if you haven't picked it up, here's a peek at what it looks like:
Isn't it pretty?! I find it usable but definitely not something I reach for every day.
Now, back to what I was originally discussing... I decided to purchase the Strobe Palette from Ulta because it would mean getting the free palette and not going over a the $16.50 minimum much. I spent a pretty penny at Bath & Body Works earlier that day and definitely did not want to come home broke. Despite the palettes in the bin looking used and picked over, I was fortunate enough to grab one that looked untouched. I checked out and went home, excited about my purchase.
The Strobe Palette was beautiful! The sleek black packaging was something to look forward to, despite it feeling very cheap. I like to look for aesthetic when I purchase products as well as quality and quantity - I want to have a well-rounded purchase - and the Huda Beauty vibes it was giving off were very appealing to me. I swatch the colors and WOW - the shades were...... not my favorite. Since when do shimmer bronzers come in handy??? I have to admit, it looked cuter in the pan...they all do.
The shimmer blush was a bit lackluster to me, because I don't think it's a color someone with super pale skin (like me) can pull off any time soon. It's hard to build because the pigment is way too overpowering. There's also a cream highlighter in the palette that I find to be more greasy than anything. It doesn't really show up as a highlighter and I admittedly hate the idea of greasy cheeks.
There is one holy grail shade in this collection though, and that's the shade in the top left corner - it has no name but it's very reflective and I consider that a big must-have when I purchase a highlighter. Plus, it's very pretty for my skin tone. I must say, it was ultimately the one shade that won me over with the palette.
The texture of the powder shades was interesting to me, and not in a good way. It reminded me almost of wet sand, extremely grainy and unfortunately, hard to pick up with a brush. Again, I'm asking myself "When would this come in handy?" I'm learning the answer to my question very fast....
I finished taking photos of my palette for the blog and I went to pick it up, but just as I went to do so, all the powder pans fell out of the palette! You would think Ulta would do a better job of gluing these pans down, but apparently not.
So to be honest, I'm very disappointed in this product - not only for how "well" it held up, but for how expensive it was (Approx. $18.00) and how poorly the product performed. Admittedly, for the price, there's quite a bit of product. But how much does that truly matter when you can't even get the product to work in the first place? It'll be stored in my "No" pile until I glue back the pieces and try to make use out of it. If you want to save some money and get the same thing only better, Wet N Wild's Megaglo Palette will do the same thing.
Thank you for reading my review! I hope that you find it helpful! Please be sure to check out my other social media and send some love my way!
xoxo,
Lys_Glitz
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