e.l.f. Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette {Review}

Pros: Cute packaging, good selection of shades in each palette, economically priced, metallic shades are very pretty
Cons: Pigmentation issues, odd distribution of shades

After e.l.f. released the first Studio 6 Piece Geometric Palette, they soon followed up with two additional palettes (originally Target exclusives).

Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette

Rating: B-
Cost: $3 USD
Shades Available: 3 palettes
Weight: 0.17 oz
Where to Buy: eyeslipsface.com

The Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palettes are a reboot of an older, limited edition product.

Packaging

These palettes are very similar to an earlier limited edition product, originally available through exclusive Target promotions (previously reviewed here). The originals featured six square pans, and some had brushes instead of double-ended sponge applicators. I’m pretty sure they don’t have as much product as their geometric counterparts.

Comparison of the e.l.f. Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette I
and e.l.f. Back to School Natural Shadows and Brush

The Geo Palettes are constructed out of a shiny plastic that holds six triangular pans of varying sizes and feature a “window” on the lid. There is a well to hold the accompanying double-ended sponge applicator.

The packaging between the two Geo palettes I own is basically the same. The LE 2013 winter holiday edition from Target is white, though it seems the non-holiday versions will feature a standard black case.

If the images on the e.l.f. website are anything to go by, the window on the lid is larger for the Geo Palettes II and III, than the original one. And indeed, my white Geo palette II has a larger window than the Geo Palette I.

e.l.f. Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palettes

One of my biggest complaints about the palettes is that the lighter shades get smaller pans and the darker shades get larger pans. I usually hit pan on the lighter shades first.

Formulation

Like most e.l.f. eyeshadows, the pigmentation is hit or miss. Some shadows are fine, while others take work to show up on the skin, particularly the glitter shades. As a whole, the formulation is not as “creamy” as other e.l.f. palette eyeshadows.

Dry swatches of the Geo Palettes

The metallics tend to be the easiest—and “creamiest”‐to use. The two glitter shades of the Geo Palette II are the worst offenders. They are practically unusable in dry form.

Wet swatches of the Geo Palettes
(the swatches for Geo Palette II are not as warm as they appear in person)

After struggling to use some of the shades, I decided to try them wet. This dramatically improved the quality of the shadows. The glitter shades worked infinitely better wet, though there remains a lot of fallout.

I would encourage you to try both palettes wet, as it improves performance.

Shades

There are three palettes currently available. The original Geo Palette is more neutral, with some shades leaning towards taupe. The later added Geo Palette II is a warm palette with lots of browns, while the Geo Palette III is a cool palette with mostly silvers and greys.

Geo Palette I

I was very excited to see this palette because I thought it was a re-release of my favorite mini palette, the Natural Shadows & Brush set from the 2010 Back to School promotion at Target. It turns out that while the shades are nearly identical, there are some slight differences in color and consistency.

Comparison of the e.l.f. Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette I
and e.l.f. Back to School Natural Shadows and Brush

While the Geo Palette I is not as good as the Natural Shadows version, it still is a nice palette to have. This is more of a true neutral set, with a few each matte and metallic shades.

Geo Palette II

I was excited to see that e.l.f. had expanded their selection of 6 Piece Geo Palettes. I was hoping for some good, warm shades in the second Geo Palette, but the bad experience with the two glitter shades in the middle overshadowed it. The glitters aren’t really usable as is. After some experimenting, I found that using them wet solved a lot of consistency problems. There is still a lot of fallout, so watch for that.

Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette II

The Geo Palette II is okay, but I don’t often find myself reaching for it. I think the shades are a bit too orange and russet for my tastes.

This palette is listed as Geo Palette II on the e.l.f. website, but the box and the palette itself from the Target collection call it Natural. I’m not sure why the name change.

Images

Final Thoughts

While the Studio 6 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette is not the best palette e.l.f. has produced, it is better than the Studio 32 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette (review here), and there are definitely worse $3 eyeshadow palettes out there. Overall, I have lukewarm feelings towards it.

I would, however, recommend this for all the vegans out there on a budget if it was ever to be carried in retail stores. There is a dearth of low-cost, good eyeshadow sets out there for vegans, and I think the Geo Palettes are higher quality than what’s out there.