Smashbox Punked Cover Shot Palette | Review & Look

When I started wearing makeup I was all about black, silver, and grey eyeshadow. I had a taupey grey single from Victoria’s Secret that I was all about and wore it every single day. I used their line so much in high school and just thinking about it brings back so many memories. The warm eyeshadow trend has been so prevalent for the past few years that finding cool tone or even neutral palettes without orange much more rare. When I saw the Cover Shot Punked palette by Smashbox, I was surprised that more people weren’t talking about it.

As soon as I saw in in person I had to buy it. Not many palette releases have stood out to me for having a unique concept for a few months besides this one. It has mattes and shimmers in grey, a cool tone mauve, purple, taupe, silver, plum, and black. The rocker theme is pretty cute as well and the colors actually fit the topic. From Ulta’s website, here are the shade descriptions:

Headliner (light pink w/ violet tint & silver pearl)

Punked (deep gray w/ purple tint)

Anarkissed (light pink)

Soft Punk (cool mauve)

Studded (cool gray/brown w/ silver pearl)

Destroyer (gray/brown)

Riot Girl (purple w/ purple & silver pearl)

Combat Boots (black)

I’ve posted a couple pictures of the palette and have gotten some questions about whether it is muddy. This is a common concern about cool toned colors. In my opinion, they can get muddy if you use too many at once like any colors. I like to stick to one light shade, one medium tone, and one dark to keep things from getting messy or muddy. For example, if you grab two mediums and build them on top of eachother, you may run the risk of losing the vibrance of both colors. Using only one in a particular area of the eye with different pressures has given me a better result.

I’ve reached for this palette a lot and am really enjoying having some cool tones all in one place. I have some cooler eyeshadow singles strewn about different Z Palettes so this makes creating a cool toned look much easier. I have a wedding coming up where the bride requested a cool toned matte look so I can’t wait to create this for her. During her trial I used the Tartelette in Bloom, which will definitely be what I reach for to build up a transition shade.

It’s hard to even pick my favorite shades out of this palette because I really like them all. The light matte color Anarkissed is such a good transition color to sweep in the crease and build off of. Punked is the color that completely sold me on the palette. They all work well together to create the perfect taupe or grey looks.

I feel like I shouldn’t go on and on about how much I like these so I’ll throw in some negatives to balance things out. The formula is a tad dry if I had to be picky. These aren’t as creamy as Makeup Geek or Kat Von D’s Shade + Light Eye Palette. The Smashbox Cover Shot formula reminds me more of the Juvia’s Place or Tartelette in Bloom palette formula.