Review: In GREAT detail - Esprique Precious Dress On Shiny Eyes

UPDATE: I just don't reach for these palettes often enough. The colors and textures aren't exactly suitable for me, compared to the others in my collection. I have since swapped these two palettes away. :)

I've been using my Esprique Precious palettes, C-3 and C-4, for about 5 months now, so I feel ready to share some detailed thoughts with you about their merits and faults. For more detailed photos, you can view my original haul here and my first EOTD here. I purchased these from AdamBeauty - they are still available there, if you're interested. The new Symphonic Fit eyes is also now available on the site.

Exterior Packaging: A perfect balance! Girly and sophisticated, pretty yet practical. The white pearly encasing with the shiny scalloped edges looks romantic, but doesn't show fine scratches or fingerprints. The bottom is shiny, and slightly curved so it feels nice on the palm of your hand. Entire palette is well-balanced and well-made.  10/10

Interior Packaging: The prettiness continues - the white frame of the mirror and the shiny frame around the shadows/sponge-tips comes together very well, and matches the exterior look.  10/10

Tools: A bit confusing, because even though the sponge-tip applicators are very soft and flexible to the touch, they don't feel as soft on the eyelid. Using them to blend eyeshadows in a back and forth motion can feel a bit rough.  7.5/10

Eyeshadow - Pigmentation: I never have a problem in this category because I like soft looks! :) But Dress On Shiny Eyes range has excellent pigmentation. The C-3 light blue is more of a silver though, once settled onto the lids. But I really like that look. 10/10

Eyeshadow - Range & Versatility: FYI - This is a highly subjective category, so take it with a few grains of salt if you don't use eyeshadows in a similar way. I prefer to have at least 3 basic colors to complete an eye look - "Light" shade for the inner 2/3, "Medium" shade for the outer 1/3 or over the crease, a "Dark" liner shade, and a matte highligher shade.

The C-3 palette: creme eyeshadow base, light grey blue, cool taupe, dark blue.
This palette has the Light, Medium, and Dark shades for me to complete a basic eye look. The only thing missing is a brow highlight. (Which is not a huge problem).  8.5/10

The C-4 palette: creme eyeshadow base, yellow taupe green, spring green, dark green
The problem here is that there is no Light shade. The yellow-taupe-green, while very unique, is not really light enough to contrast with the "Medium" color. So what I do is put it above my crease, and I really like the subtle shadow that it creates. And again, no highlight color.  7.5/10

In the C-4 FOTD below, for the "Light" shade, I used the gold color from Paul & Joe Facecolor Powder in 058. On the lips, I'm wearing Paul & Joe limited edition lipstick G 002. Mascara is Heroine Make Long & Curl, and eyelash curler is from Shiseido. By the way, the bottom two photos are more accurate. The green is much cooler in real life. :)

Eyeshadow - Texture: These two palettes have a nice texture, and are pressed tightly so you don't get powder bits flying in the palette. On the lids, they look - dare I say it - EMOLLIENT! The finished look is "moisturizing" - definitely a unique finish compared to the other eyeshadow cosmetics I own.

However, for some reason I find the 3rd shade in each palette (C-3 taupe, C-4 spring green) a little more difficult to blend! On top of Two Faced Shadow Insurance alone, the 3rd shade is quite resistant to moving, especially the C-3 taupe - and even more so when the glitter creme base is applied underneath. The 2nd shades (C-3 light blue, C-4 yellow-taupe-green) blend REALLY REALLY beautifully though.  8/10

Eyeshadow - Color Suitability for me: Ignore this, because it's 200% subjective! I prefer my colors to be on the neutral side, with undertones of pink. I dislike colors that are too gray, as I find they make my eyes look dirty.

C-3 Palette: The taupe color in the C-3 does not suite me too well. Compared to other taupes I have, it has more of a yellow-y undertone. I like my taupes to be more on the pink side. But the silvery-blue is gorgeous. 8.5/10

C-4 Palette: A good choice of colors for me. The spring green is not too warm, and not too cool. Really quite pretty!  9/10

Overall thoughts: So, I'm inclined to like my C-4 palette better, but the C-3 is great if I use more of the light blue shade. In any case, I can talk nonstop about palette details, but I think the heart of the matter is really in the color suitability category. If an eyeshadow color looks gorgeous on you, you'll love it regardless of other factors (unless you have dupes of the color, or the texture is extremely awful). I really look forward to trying the Symphonic Eyes range - there seems be 5 shades to work with in those palettes! :D