A Moroccan Summer: Eye Look & Review Using Black Radiance Eye Shadow

Moroccan Summer Makeup Look

Black Radiance Eye Shadow Palette in Moroccan Mix

Swatched dry, on bare arm

Swatched wet, on bare arm

I first heard of the Black Radiance cosmetic line from Nouveau Cheap's blog when she did a review of their 8 pan palettes, which I will link for you here.  I saw this line while I was in Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and was immediately drawn to the mix of colors in this palette, but mostly towards the blue/green/aquamarine shade, that I did not have anything like in my collection.  At $4.99 I thought it was a fair price to give this brand a try.  I love the entire makeup look that I wore using this palette, however, as you can see from the swatches above the pigmentation on these shadows is not quite what I was expecting from looking at the colors in the pan, and generally they were very hard to work with.  (Please note I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance on my lid before application.)

• The lightest creamy champagne shade is the most creamy and pigmented of the palette.  It is a very frosty shade that I really liked to use in the inner corners to make them pop.  I also used it blended out as a brow highlight.
• The orange-rust colored shade is a more firm shadow that takes several swipes to build up color.  I used this in the outer corners and also into my crease.
• The beautiful blue green aquamarine shade sadly was the most disappointing to me.  It was hard to build up the color intensity to match the shade in the pan.  I used this shadow at first wet, then dry, then wet packed on my lid with my finger to achieve the intensity you see in the above pictures. *whew*!
• The light golden shade was a bit more creamy (not as much as the champagne color).  I used this as a blending color on my inner crease area.

Overall I was disappointed in this product, but at the same time I recognize that every product line has their good and poor products so I may have gotten a bad palette.  I will not totally discount this entire brand however, because I have heard amazing things about their 8 pan palettes (which are manufactured by WetnWild so that is why they look similar to the WetnWild 8 pan palettes) which I do love and they are known for their pigmentation & blend-ability.

As for my Moroccan Summer makeup look I achieved with this palette, I think I will definitely try to attempt this look again using other products.  I love the combination of a  a deep blue/green, rusty orange, golden shimmery eyeshadows with deep berry red lips and bronzed cheeks.  I will just be on the lookout for more pigmented products that are easier to work with.  Let me know if you have suggestions for the blue green aquamarine shade for sure!  It does have a bit of shimmer, so something that isn't entirely matte would be gorgeous I think!

I purchased this Black Radiance palette at my local Wal-Mart, but I have also seen this line in drugstores such as Walgreens.

Have you tried any Black Radiance products?  If so, which ones would you recommend? 

I'd love to hear about it!

On my cheeks: Hard Candy blush box in Skinny Dipping
On my lips: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Red Velvet
Eyeliner: MAC Teddy Eye Kohl