Quo Beauty Semi-Sweet Eyeshadow Palette: Buy or Bust?
/I recently picked up this little palette on a trip to Shoppers Drug Mart with my mum. The Quo Beauty Semi-Sweet eyeshadow palette retails for $20 CAD plus tax and features 9 pans of pressed pigment in two different finishes: matte and shimmer. Amid the wide array of other eyeshadow palettes, often with colourful packaging to catch the eye, the sleek matte grey of the component was actually what caught my eye. As fun as colourful, eye-catching packaging can be, when stacked up against more colourful packaging in the shelf it just becomes too much. Minimalism in makeup packaging has become waylaid by a race to put out more creative palettes, but sometimes simple is best.
Next, allow us to move onto the shadows itself. Pictured below is what the shadows look like in the pan, and the compact features a mirror for on-the-go application. The inclusion of a mirror is a very intelligent and consumer-oriented touch, as many consumers often feel as though bigger palettes cannot be brought along for travel, while smaller palettes often do not last as long as a palette that features a bigger pan size. The Semi-Sweet palette fits comfortably in the hand, and the size of the mirror allows for a focus on the eyes.
At first glance, the colour story of the Semi-Sweet palette appears muted and soft; light, shimmery shades more suited for springtime than a late summer/early fall release. However, with the right eyeshadow primer (I prefer to use one that will not dry tacky, as that will make the matte shadows blend unevenly and patchy) one may create a more dramatic look suited for a date-night in, or a lovely fall look. As far as swatches go, however… yikes.
When swatching the colours onto the inside of my arm, down my wrist towards my elbow, I did not use an eyeshadow primer on the skin beforehand. This can 100% affect how the shadows appear on the skin, as without a primer pressed pigments can often lose their vibrancy and be more prone to fading throughout the day. I recommend the Milani eyeshadow primer as it will cover any discolouration on your eyelids and provide a single-tone base, non-tacky base upon which to work.
Overall, the shimmers definitely had more colour payoff with and without eyeshadow primer, while the mattes had to be built upon twice in order to get a satisfactory colour. Some of the colours as well, like the mid-tone beige shimmer and light golden shimmer, had a lot of fallout when swatched on my arm. I had to blow the excess away, which was unfortunate as that ultimately means that product was wasted. I wore the light pink shimmer to work over the Milani primer mentioned above, and during my 5 hour shift it stayed put, which was excellent.
To conclude, I would rate this palette a solid 6/10 stars. Overall, it’s an excellent palette for a makeup beginner or someone looking for more muted shades. I did enjoy the packaging and how the colours looked in the pan, but the swatches were average at best.
This palette is definitely a bust, though QUO Beauty does have other eyeshadow palettes available for affordable prices, and I do recommend checking the brand itself out.
xx Jules