AVON Expert Mega Palette

I just keep saying wow, wow, wow over and over again.  Not that I think AVON shadows/products are cheap or inferior.  Some products are super inexpensive, and others I think are way overpriced.  Some products are hit or miss. 

Well this palette is right on the mark.  It's sleek, compact, chic and the shadows and blushes are pigmented, not WnW pigmented, but high up there in the quality department.  We are talking smooth and buttery, some more chalkier than others, but the color payout is there and I am super impressed.  Even the lipglosses, which I hate in pan form, are non-sticky and moisturizing.  What?

The palette itself is sturdy thick black plastic.  The shelves pull out smoothly.  You have to press a button to open the palette which I really like and it clicks shut, locking in place.  It also comes with a huge mirror for a compact palette.  Another plus!

Some details from the website:

Multilevel makeup palette. 6 1/2" L x 5 1/5" W x 1 1/8" D.
Contains:

• 36 Eyeshadows, .69 oz. total net wt.
• 36 Lip Glosses, .43 oz. total net wt.
• 6 Blushes, .61 oz. total net wt.
• Mirror
• Face brush
• Double-ended eye applicator
• Double-ended lip applicator

I dipped into the purple sparkly lipgloss with one of the lip applicators that was provided in the palette.  They are quite shallow but since there are 36 available for mixing and matching, they will last a good long time.

Alright enough babbling and raving, let's look at the pictures shall we?  I took just a few... :)

Swatches of the blushes first.  I used Missha eyeshadow base on my arm.  I'm NC20ish, maybe NC15 for reference.  I've never been color matched to MAC but that's my guess.

I swatched these backwards.  Woopsie Daisy.  The first 3 swatched shades from left to right are from the top row right to left.  Get it?  The next 3 swatches from left to right are the bottom row left to right.  Sorry!!!

Look at how pigmented these are?  The bottom right pink does need a little building, that was 3 swipes but they are all beautiful, versatile and flattering on so many different skin tones. 

Now on to the eyeshadows...  I'm not going to pretend that these are big pans of eyeshadow. They aren't by any means, but there is plenty of eyeshadow in these 36 pans to last a long time. 

For comparison there is .69 oz total of eyeshadow (36 total, .02oz a piece), in the Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV there is .48 oz of eyeshadow (16 total, .03oz a piece).

Blues, green and blacks:

Again, I swatched this backwards.  The swatches from left to right correspond with the colors in the pan from left to right.  Sorry for the confusion!

 I actually wasn't going to swatch out the entire palette, I was just looking at it and grabbed the sparkly black on the end and then freaked out that they were so amazing. 

Pinks and browns:

Gorgeous right?  Now the top right pink is a tricky color to photograph.  A quick swipe of my finger revealed a pink and lilac duochrome.    With Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy you can see it much better.  My camera isn't picking it up however.  You will just have to trust me on this one :)  It will be a beautiful inner corner highlight, brow highlight, etc...

Neutrals and browns:

Natural light

GE 100 Watt sunglight bulb

So all in all, there within 36 eyeshadows, which is a great selection of shimmer, frost, and mattes. 

Lipglosses:

I'm wearing the purple sparkly one, top left, second row.  It is pretty, nice wash of color with holographic glitter.  I do not like lipglosses/lipsticks in pan form, but I will make an exception for this palette. Like I said before they feel smooth and moisturizing on the lips, not gritty and sticky.  I usually skip palettes like this for that reason entirely. 

What's the sense of having a mega palette but the lip glosses are nasty?  Exactly.  Not here with this one.  They are perfect.

It's just the perfect size to bring with you on the go for touch ups.  Mine is going straight into my bag and I am looking forward to using it all the time!  Yeah, I'm the mom who does her makeup in the car in the preschool drop off line.  And instead of fumbling around with a bunch of products in 2 cosmetics bags, I'm just taking this.

Right, on to the price.  Now it is $29.99 for 36 shadows, 6 blushes and 36 lipglosses.  To me, that seemed a little expensive at first, but now that I have swatched the shadows, this seems still a bit overpriced, $25 is more in my comfort zone, $20 would be perfect.  But it is still at a good price point for gift giving. 

 I did notice that the NYX eyeshadow palette, with 78 eyeshadows is on sale at CherryCulture.com for $21.99.  Same palette but it says NYX on the front and the inside is all eyeshdows and larger eyeshadows were AVON put the blushes. 

So what do you think of the AVON Expert Mega Palette???