Smashbox Holiday 2008: Rapture Eyeshadow

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and safe travels. No doubt by now you’ve seen one of this season’s most glorious promo photos: Smashbox (for a collection called Rapture). If you’re thinking “that’s exactly how I want to look when I go to my holiday party this year,” you’re in luck! Smashbox has provided an incredibly detailed explanation of how to go about recreating the look (complete with close-up photos) — click here to read all about it.

There’s more to Rapture than meets the eye. You’ve probably seen the brush set, the lipgloss set (still to-be-swatched), and the eyeshadow set — all in pretty pink packaging — but other holiday sets include:

• Flawless Finish Primer Set ($39 for full size + travel size Photo Finish primer)
• Best of Smashbox Kit ($19 for mini Bionic mascara, mini Soft Lights in Dusk, and a mini lipgloss in Aura)
• Gift of Glow ($49 for Waterproof Shadow Liner in Hollywood [bronze with gold shimmer], lipgloss in Gilded, Flash Powder, Brush #30 [waterproof shadow liner brush], baby Kabuki brush, and a quilted travel pouch — Sephora only)
• Ultimate Beauty Palette ($59 total makeup insanity in a box — Ulta only)
• Enchantress Beauty Kit ($45 for a Cream Liner Duo in Caviar/Midnight Brown, Soft Lights Quad in Aglow, Lip Enhancing Gloss in Protege, That’s a Wrap Mascara, makeup bag, silver necklace from Canadian designer Foxy Originals — only at Smashbox.com)

As you know, I’m a fan of Smashbox’s eyeshadow singles (and I’ve got swatches to prove it) — and Smashbox brushes have quite a following — so I was most interested in the Rapture eyeshadow set. $59 gets you 8 eyeshadow duos and two brushes: #15 and #32 (crease and blending brushes).

Swatching started out well — I liked Desire and Grace. By the time I got to Splendid, I was wondering if this set might be the answer to my custom-Dior-quint prayers, or a way to approximate the now-unavailable Dior Iridescent Leather.

By the time I got to the end of my arm, though, I started feeling that the duos contained less-good versions of some lovely singles. I swatched Twilight between Ink and Oyster — neither shade seemed as pigmented or smooth as the original.

It does feel like this set has a lot of similar highlight shades, and I think the overlap comes from the decision to make duo pots rather than a one-piece palette. If each one of these is a self-contained look, it might be easier for me to choose a pot or two to throw in my weekend makeup bag than to pack a really comprehensive palette. Different strokes for different folks.

Anyway, Smashbox eyeshadow singles are $16 each. The #15 brush is regularly $28, and the #32 brush is not generally sold separately. The Rapture eyeshadow set is sold out on Smashbox.com, but still available on Sephora’s website.

Smashbox Rapture eyeshadows: Desire, Grace, Splendid, Dreamscape, Enchanting, Delightful, Twilight, Gala