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The Smashbox Crystalized Collection is a collaboration with Bri Luna, who is the founder of The Hoodwitch and an expert in the power of crystals, so this collection is inspired by the magic of crystals in every sense; the shades are crystal-themed and the packaging itself is embellished with crystal-like decoration – this is crystal powered beauty and it’s gorgeous!
There’s a little bit of everything the collection, with the main focus being eyes, but there’s also lip glosses, a highlighter, primer waters and a Crystalized Photo Finish Primerizer (£30), which provides both hydration and a priming base for make-up, with an ingredients list boosting some great skincare goodies such as Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid. There are three different scents of the Crystalized Photo Finish Primer Water (£22) which each provide different benefits: Crystal Clarity, which is inspired by the tranquil energy of amethyst and fragranced with lavender and sweet orange; Aura Shield, fragranced with clary sage and tea and inspired by the negativity-releasing energy of smoky quartz and finally Love Ritual, which is fragranced with jasmine and rose and inspired by the loving energy of rose quartz.
For me, the Cover Shot: Crystalized Eye Palette (£26) is the superstar of the collection, as it’s a really lovely edit of colours and you can really see where the inspiration comes from. The palette contains eight shades, with a great mix of finishes including mattes, metallics and foil shades too, so you can achieve a selection of looks ranging from light and sparkly to deep and smoky.
As soon as I opened the palette I locked straight onto the shade Mystic Opportunity, which is an antique green show through with gold that is just so pretty! I used this with the matte grey of You’re Grounded which worked really well to add a bit of smoke; these two together provide a really easy smoky eye that looks a little bit different to the norm.
In the swatches above, I’ve snapped the left row in natural light (sorry, it was a really grim day so not much sun, sadly!) and the right row is under a light ring, so hopefully this’ll give you an idea of what sort of finishes are included in the palette. What I love more than anything about these colours is that they seem to break from tradition, yet the colours are still very accessible and wearable.
The Always On Liquid Eyeshadows (£18) come in six new shades as part of the collection, with a mix of bolds and neutrals. There’s a really gorgeous plummy shade called Rhodinite Stand that looks quite unusual. The two shades I have are Mindful AF – a brilliant, royal blue that manages to be incredibly striking without looking dated, and That’s Fire, a warm brown that’s more of your everyday shade.
I found the best way to apply these is directly from the tube using the doe-foot applicator, and to work in thin layers to really build up an even finish. This is less important for the more nude shades, but for Mindful AF I went in three times to get an almost-foil like finish that was really impactful and impressive. I also really like the formula as you have a bit of time to move it around before it sets in place.
The two other elements of the collection including three new Crystalized Gloss Angeles Lip Glosses (£15 – practical Magic looks especially pretty!) and a stunning Crystalized Highlighter (£30) in shade Opti-Mystic, which s a warm, flattering peach. Check out the full collection here – link.
