Dollarama Mariposa Smokey Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hi All!

Welcome to my blog! I've been in love with skincare, beauty and makeup since I can remember and I'm excited to share it with you all. I thought I'd start off with a review of a product from a relatively new line called Mariposa, which is available at Dollarama stores here in Canada.

This is the first product I've picked up from their line, and I picked it up because my go-to eyeshadow palette (E.L.F. Everyday Eyes 32 piece palette) finally bit the dust. I've been looking to try out some different eye palettes and this one was really pretty. They had a lot of different options besides the Smokey (which I bought), including Metallic Chic, Dramatic Shades, All Natural and Glitter. The Smokey looked the most intriguing to me, but I'll probably pick up the other ones to try and review as well.

Mariposa Smokey Palette (Closed and Opened)

You can see the color selection is varied, and the shadows look really pretty and creamy. They're all shimmer shades, but the shimmer isn't overwhelming. It's definitely something you can wear every day. When I applied a brush to them I could tell there was a bit of overcoating on them (probably to keep them from crumbling) but the shadows underneath were incredibly creamy and had only a little bit of fallout.

Now, onto swatches! I'm going to assign numbers to the shades so you can keep up when I give my thoughts. I've also taken the liberty of swatching both with a small concealer brush and with my fingers. Fingers definitely brought up more pigmentation so I'd recommend that for application in the future.

Shades applied with brush

Applied with fingers

Shades from left to right:

1. Pale pink
2. Purple-grey
3. Soft grey
4. Copper
5. Peach
6. Bronze
7. Pink-grey
8. Purple
9. Pale peach 
10. Deep grey
11. Pink grey
12. Slate

The first thing I noticed was that some of these shadows are more pigmented than others. Shades 1, 3, 5 and 7 took multiple swatches to show up. I was sort of surprised shade 5 took that many because in the palette it was one of the brighter ones. The bronze and copper shades showed up very well and blended wonderfully. All the greys were beautiful as well, definitely suitable for a smokey look. Shade 2 was probably my favorite, as it was a deep grey that picked up purple when it hit the light. 

I did take some photos of the shadow I put on my eyes, since I tried out the shadows. The lighting in the bathroom isn't ideal, and I used shade 1 on my browbone, shade 9 on my lid and shade 8 on the outer corner, but as I mentioned before, using a brush on this product is not ideal. I haven't tried a damp sponge but I feel like the colors would be much more intense if I did. 

Worn with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara and Essence Long Lasting Eyeliner

Shades 1, 8 and 9

To summarize, I do like these shadows. They're not my favorite, but they're workable if you're on a budget or just starting out with makeup. I probably won't buy these again, but I will definitely be trying out more products from Mariposa as I feel there aren't enough reviews. And I'll continue to use this product because although it's a little more complex to apply (requires finger blending or a damp sponge), it's still a relatively solid product for the price. 

OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5