By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude, Review, Swatch & FOTD

Thanks to everyone who asked how my back is doing after yesterday I had to write the whole post while standing in the middle of the living room, my computer placed on top of the cupboard on the wall. Today it is much better so I can sit while writing these lines, yay! 

I was pondering about ordering the new By Terry palettes after a lovely reader Jane teased me here in the comments section with her swatches and told me I have to get the one called Colored Design. I was about to pull the trigger and order it from SpaceNK but each time the price point stopped me. Until recently, when I have seen that Sephora France have these palettes at the same time with their 25% off promotion code, I couldn't resist anymore and ended up getting both of the shades to compensate for the shipping, well, at least that was my excuse. So today I would like to show you By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude and the review for Color Design will be coming in a few days when I got to test it properly.

By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

The palette comes in a sleek plastic case with signature By Terry pattern. I find the case to be an ideal weight and size for travelling. The packaging is sturdy and the click closure is also safe. The case comes in a velvet pouch, which is also nice and looks luxurious.

Packaging: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

Inside the compact  of By Terry Eye Designer Palettes there are ten eye shadows and a brush. I don't think the brush is all that useful considering that one end of it is not dense enough to pick up enough product. I imagine the other end can be used if you are in desperate need. If I were to travel with this palette, I would rather replace this with one of my multi functional Hakuhoso brushes or a double ended one from Laura Mercier so I got to have a decent brush in there.

The compact has 14 g of product that is 1.4g (0.05 OZ) for each of the eye shadows. Compared to say YSL's recent 10 color eye palettes (e.g. this one)  which had only 5 g, it almost offers three times as much. But let me tell you, it gets even better when you see the quality!

Compact: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

I really like how each eye shadow has By Terry pattern embossed on it and this pattern doesn't go away so fast because the eye shadows have a good consistency, without being too powdery and too soft. I think everyone has their favorite consistency and I don't like eye shadows which happen to blend themselves to nothing. So I am happy to say this is not the case here.

The formula is defined as wet & dry but I have to admit I didn't get to use them wet until now since they definitely have enough pigment when used dry. If I really want to go dramatic one day, I might give it a try but I am afraid to loose the pretty pattern.

By Terry defintes the finish as lumi-matt base tones, pigmented fashion colors and illuminating enhancing satin shades. I think pigmented fashion colors are more on the other palette. Lumi-matt is an interesting way to describe the matte shades, such as one in the beginning of the second row or the end of it. These two are almost matte with exceptionally fine shimmer. 

Close-up: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

The first row consist of satin colors, some more shimmery than the others but all of them look matte to satin on the eyes, without being flat but looking really very natural.

Left most: Deep neutral black with satin finish. This can be used to deepen the crease or as a liner.

Left: Mid-toned pinkish bronze with satin to shimmery finish. This shade, it is everything! The photos can't tell how beautiful it is. It also happens to be one of the rare warm shades in the palette and can be combined with others to warm up the eye look.

Middle: Light grey taupe with satin to shimmery finish. This is also a beautiful shade for a cool smoky eye.

Right: A light champagne with satin to shimmery finish. I wished this one would be a tad lighter so would be a better inner corner highlight. But that way it can be applied all over the lid, which is also nice. With this palette I need an additional inner corner highlight because none of the shades seem to do the trick for me.

Right most: A neutral brown with satin finish. A lovely crease shade or a liner shade. I tried or apply it all over the lid to see how they behave but didn't like the result. It looked a bit patchy. I think the reason is this shade and the black one are formulated a little stiffer is that because these are meant to be used as liners. If you want to apply it as all over color, you need to blend well.

Swatch of first row: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

The second raw of the palette is mostly consist of mattes

Left most: A mid-toned cool lilac with satin to matte finish. It is one of my favorite colors in the palette. It reminds me of MAC Quarry which I also like using as crease color. Tell you what, the texture of this one is even better, it literally rocks. I can't get enough of this shade (read: I want to paint my whole face with it!)

Left: A very light natural pink with matte finish. It is a very brightening shade but it has way too much pigment (can it ever be a problem) to be used under the brow bone or in the inner corner. It is great as a base shade or inner third shade to start a gradient.

Middle: A warm skin color shade with matte finish. It is one tone darker than my complexion. This one and the one after that are great to blend over the crease.

Right: A light beige/skin tone shade, which is one/two tones lighter than my skin tone. Again a good base and blending shade.

Right most: A deeper skin tone shade, around two/three tones deeper than my complexion. Another great crease shade for me which is better for warmer looks or to make a cooler look appear neutral.

Swatches of second row: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

For the below look I tried to apply the right most shade from first row which I then layered with some of the lighter shades in the inner third. It was really a quick look and together with Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil in Demolition, it gave me a nice cool smoky eye look which is not too grey.

You have seen this as FOTD here.

In-action: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

Below I used the left shade from top row, left most and left shades from bottom row. Each time I use the left shade from the second row (the pink one) I end up getting a lot of pink in the mix. That one is really very pigmented. I was trying to get an inner corner highlight and each time I end up reaching it, which then drives the whole look in one direction. Here I used the lilacy shade on the crease so the gradient is softer. Please ignore my eye liner which is not applied right to the roots. These days I am having some pollen allergy and my eyes are a little irritated. So I try not to irritate them more.

In-action: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

Here is the look in context which I presented you before during my berry post (yummy). I especially like this palette in combination with deeper or brighter lip shades.

FOTD: By Terry Eye Designer Palette #1 Smoky Nude

Check out more swatches and thoughts at Indigo Kir Royale and Visionary Beauty.

Final thoughts: I really like the textures in here, they are very pigmented, smooth but don't tend to blend to nothing. The shimmer is so subtle and lovely, it is rather on the matte side of things so if you like shimmery neutrals, this palette might not please you. If you like mattes and satins and a little cooler side of neutrals, you have to check it out. 

If you order both of the palettes at Sephora.fr from Germany (with 25% discount code), one would set you back 65€ and for that price, this palette is a steal. The smoky one looks to be sold out all the time but I managed to order three, so it stocks in between, you just have to leave your e-mail so that they can inform you.

What is your favorite cool neutral palette at the moment?

Disclaimer: The product in this post is purchased by me.