When I say that I was excited to be chosen to review Smashbox products, that has to be the understatement of the year. I was overjoyed! I had always wanted to buy Smashbox but I hadn’t tried the product and couldn’t justify spending the amount on a product I didn’t know. But I still always envied my friends who always spoke about their Smashbox makeup collections. Finally I have my own little Smashbox collection, and after this review, it is going to be growing in the near future!

Item 1: Smashbox Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio in Litho (wheat, hazelnut and ebony). This little, round, magic pot of heaven is worth every cent of R310. It is not messy like some eyeshadows. It stays firmly in the container and goes directly onto the makeup brush (or your finger) when applying. It glides gently onto your eyelid and is super blendable, which I love! The lasting effects are amazing. After applying the makeup for this review, my makeup was still on at the end of the day. It is really long-lasting.

Item 2: Smashbox Always Sharp Crayon Eyeliner in 3D Pacific. This eyeliner is different in a few ways. You twist the lid to take it off, and you have to push the applicator down in order to get more product out. Just like the retractable eyeliners, there’s need to sharpen this one. The green eyeliner reminds me of a mermaid themed colour… it’s a very gentle green with a nice sparkle to it. This eyeliner stays in place once it’s on, and it won’t dare to budge or smudge, giving you a full day (or night)’s wear. R235 can be justified to have your eyes looking gorgeous and smudgefree all day. I am really looking forward to buying and trying the black one!

Item 3: Smashbox Photo Op Eye Brightening Mascara in Black. R250. This is a great mascara and I’ve been using it every day since I received it. My old mascara is a distant memory. This doesn’t clump, it glides on nicely. If you apply a few layers you can get really gorgeous thick black lashes. You can see this in my night look in the images below.

I am happy to say that the wait for trying Smashbox products was totally worth it and I am sold over!

I created a day look in the photos by doing the following: I applied a relatively thick layer of the green (3D Pacific) eyeliner on my top and bottom lids. I then took the wheat colour and blended it on the full area of my top lid ending just after the natural crease. I made sure to blend the ends so that it blends in with my natural skin colour, which is quite light. I then applied a thin layer of mascara to the top and bottom lashes.

To move to the night look, I kept the above steps, but added the following: I took the ebony eyeshadow on a thin applicator brush and used it to line all around my eye (top and bottom). I dusted some of the hazelnut eyeshadow on my top lid and a small sweep on my bottom lid. I then took the ebony eyeshadow and put a little bit in the outer corners of my eyelids. I ended off the look with three layers of mascara.

Let me know what you think! :)

* Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio in Focal Point // R310.00
I'm not really an eye shadow girl so I tried to just put my fear of eye shadows aside and try the trio for a few weeks and oh my gosh, I am glad I did! I absolutely love the 3 neutral shades in this trio. Each Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio comes with 3 highly pigmented hues. This trio includes 3 coordinated shadows, a base shade, contour color and highlighter so taking a day look to a night look can be achieved with one compact trio! How convenient, right ladies??

The actual formula of each shadow is amazing! It's highly pigmented and has a lovely velvety formula. Not only does it glide on with ease, it also applies on the eyelid very evenly.

Available in 13 different shades, I'm sure there is a trio to match every eye colour or taste in makeup. The trio I received consisted of Champagne (highlighter), Flamingo (base) and Java (contour).

* Hyperlash Mascara in Black // R250.00
Ah, you guys! This mascara is just stunning! I can agree with the fact that it does lift, lengthens, volumises and defines for fuller, longer, clump-free eyelashes. This all-in-one mascara coats the lashes really well from root to tip. I don't have the longest lashes but I do have medium sized lashes and with this mascara, it really spreads and coats each lash giving it that extra length to give my lashes that butterfly effect where it looks like little wings.

The applicator is a flexible dual brush and comb applicator.The brush side of the mascara builds and thickens while the comb side of the mascara defines and lengthens lashes.

Not only does the mascara provide a really dramatic look because of it's highly pigmented black shade, it also contains peptides and antioxidants that will repair the lashes.

One thing I dislike about this mascara is the fact that after wearing it for a while, tiny dried bits of the mascara starts to settle on my cheek but other than that I personally think it's pretty amazing.

Available in black without paraben.

* Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Liner in Sumatra // R235.00
I haven't tried a brown colour liner before so I was pretty surprised that this liner suited me perfectly. I've been loving it for the day time because it's subtle yet it defines the shape of my eye.

This liner goes on smoothly because it has a creamy consistency. The creaminess allows you to smudge out the liner for a much more dramatic look.
It is also waterproof which is amazing for the upcoming Summer days.

I think the real amazing thing about this liner is the fact that it self-sharpens every time you twist the cap off. HOW AWESOME?? There is no fuss with a blunt tip, pencil shavings or the hazard of damaging your eye area with sharp wooden sides of the pencil.

Available in 8 different shades, from Black to Nude.

Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio (In “Head Shot”)

These shades worked great with brown eyes.. I used the brown for the outer corners & crease, the pink for the lids and the cream for the brow bone.
This shadow contains a subtle shimmer and the shades blend so naturally.

Always Sharp 3D Liner (In “3D Billionaire”)

I love this liner! would never have thought to use a green liner either but it really brings out the green in my brown eyes.
I hate sharpening eyeliner pencils so the fact that it self sharpens is simply genius! It never went blunt!
Which means perfect application every time.
It contains a gorgeous shimmer that creates the 3D effect
It lasted all day with out smudging or colour fading.
It’s a liner you can wear with just mascara for a complete
make up look!

Eye Brightening Mascara

This mascara contains blue pigmints which make the whites of your eyes seem brighter.
I’m not sure if I noticed this effect after applied but it did make my eyes look bigger even without any other make up all.
I generally prefer the plastic mascara brushes but this one isn’t bad and it does catch every lash.
It’s not clumpy or thick on application but the formula is drier then I am used to (it may have just been my tube though).
It volumizes well but still looks natural and it lengthens and lifts lashes.
It is fairly long wearing but is also easy to clean off with make up remover, however it isn’t waterproof.

I was one of the lucky ladies to receive three gorgeous Smashbox eye products to try. I was super excited because I had only heard good things about Smashbox but I hadn't tried any of their products before.

Here's what I received:

*Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara
*Smashbox Photo Op Trio Eyeshadow consisting of three colours > Alabaster, Antique, Clay.
*Smashbox Always Sharp 3D Gemstone Eyeliner

{Smashbox Hyperlash mascara}
This all-in-one mascara promises to lift, lengthen (which I don't really need but a girl can never have too long lashes right?), define and volumize. And boy did it do all of that! This mascara is awesome because most mascaras make my eyelashes clumpy but this one didn't. I have pretty long eyelashes and this mascara brought out the best in them. The thing I like most about it is the precision in the wand bristles and how they separate and define my lashes. They cater for my lashes because with each stroke I can feel it focusing on each individual lash. The intense black colour of the formula also helped my eyelashes stand out more because I have naturally light eyelashes. So I love the intensity the blackness gives. I also noticed that one coat of mascara is also enough whereas many other brands you need to apply a few coats for it to do it's thing :) So this one will be lasting me a long time too! I did however apply another coat for the more dramatic night time look.

{Smashbox Photo Op trio eyeshadow}

I really liked the colours in this trio eyeshadow because they can be used as everyday makeup and they are very versatile. The packaging is very compact and has a nice feel to it. I like how they combined three colours in one container to make it easy and quick to apply. As I was thinking of where I should use which colour I noticed the flip label at the back. I was really impressed that they added a mini makeup lesson on the back label to help you create an easy makeup look. With these three colours, there's really no other colours you need for a simple nude/light smokey eye makeup look. I loved the texture of these eyeshadows too.

{Smashbox Always Sharp 3D Gemstone Eyeliner}

This eyeliner is waterproof and it really did stay on all day. This is great to know because through out the day I get so busy at work that I don't even have time to check if my makeups still okay. This would also be great for me to use on a night out because usually when I'm out dancing and it's hot and sticky then my makeup runs down my face easily. I think this eyeliner's staying power would be really helpful on such a night out on the town!
With a simple twist as you take the lid off, the liner sharpens itself from the inside of the cap! How cool and 20th century makeup technology is that? I love that because I hate sharpening my eyeliners. The only kind of downside to this liner is that I couldn't figure out how to release more product once it was short..Usually you would turn the upper part and it would come out but after trying a few techniques I finally figured out that with this liner you have to push downwards for it to push more product out. Confusing at first but pretty cool once you get it. This liner is a gorgeous brown berry colour with pretty golden pearl shimmers. Great for the lower inner eye line during the day and amazing on the top eye line for a more dramatic night look.

Here are a few of the eye makeup looks I played around with. I really impressed myself with my first try :) Look out for my video on two makeup looks using these products. I will upload it soon...