Sigma Eyeshadow Palettes

Sigma Brushes are growing in popularity as they expand and add new types of brushes and brush products.  Earlier this year, Sigma introduced three eyeshadow palettes: Bare, Dare, and Flare.

From Top to Bottom: Bare, Dare, and Flare Palettes in Sleeves

Each mirrored palette contains 8 eyeshadows (Net Weight 12g) and a double-ended brush and retails for $35.  Bare is perfect for those of you that love neutral palettes.  The colors range from some highlight colors, to skin- and earth-tone lid shades as well as some additional darker colors for lining, defining and smokey eye looks.

Bare Palette out of sleeve

Here are some close-ups of each shade:

• Shine: a glitttery black
• Control: a matte black
• Snoop: a matte grayish-taupe

• Hitch: a smooth, matte brown
• Act: a satin taupe with gold tones
• Command: a light yellow satin shade

• Elope: a nice pinkish nude shade, great for the browbone
• Approach: a golden beige shade, great for highlighting

Unlike most palettes that either don't include brushes or offer sponge applicators that you end up throwing away, Sigma's palettes include a double-ended brush with full-size brush heads for professional application on the go.  Bare contains the E25 Blending Brush (similar to MAC 217) and E30 Pencil Brush (similar to MAC 219, but more flexible).

Bare's Double-Ended Brush

E25 - Blending Brush

E30 - Pencil Brush

Here are some swatches of the Bare Palette from top to bottom, Shine, Control, Snoop, Hitch, Act, Command, Elope, and Approach:

The Dare Palette is a nice complement to the Bare Palette in that it includes neutral shades but also adds a bit more color range offering some deeper earth-tones.  This palette has 3 neutral shades as well as nice peach, vibrant yellow, and darker shades.

Dare Palette out of sleeve

Here are some close-ups of each shade:

• Surrender: a nice, burgundy shade with subtle glitter
• Grasp: satiny peach
• Chase: a light pink/peach highlight shade 

• Escape: a light shimmery champagne shade
• Reveal: a nice rust with a satin finish
• Catch: a brick shade slightly more matte than Reveal

• Shout: a bold, vibrant yellow
• Vanish: a nice gold shade

Dare's double-ended brush

Dare's double-ended Brush features the E20, a short shader brush, similar to MAC's 214 and the E45, a tapered blending brush, slightly larger than MAC's 224 brush. 

E20 - Short Shader Brush

E45 - Small Tapered Blending Brush

Here are some swatches of Dare's shadows, from top to bottom (Surrender, Grasp, Chase, Escape, Reveal, Catch, Shout, and Vanish):

The Flare palette features some more trendy colors like teal, lime green, and various purple shades.  I view this palette as two "quads" with the left half leaning towards some light shades with a darker crease color and the right half working nicely together for a purple smokey look.

Here are some close-ups of each shade:

• Crush: deep brown
• Oversee: satin teal
• Define: satin lime green

• Publicize: a neutral light yellow
• Resist: a satin burgundy/purple
• Gossip: a deep burgundy matte

• Allure: a vibrant lavender shade
• Beware: a pink highlight shade

Flare's double-ended brush features the E40, a tapered blending brush and the E55, a rounded eye shading brush.

Flare's double-ended brush

E40 - Tapered Blending Brush

E55 - Eye Shading Brush

Here are some swatches of Flare's eyeshadows from top to bottom, Crush, Oversee, Define, Publicize, Resist, Gossip, Allure and Beware:

Overall, I do like these palettes mostly because they include professional brushes, though I find storing double-ended brushes a chore.  I am tempted to ask my husband to saw them in half and use them as travel brushes but, the jury is still out on that verdict.

The colors do last but I find that I get more color payoff when the shades are applied over a paint pot, NYX jumbo pencil, or other primer or eyeshadow base.  Please note that the pictures of swatches reflect the shades on my bare skin (NW25-30).  I found that there was some fallout with some of the darker shades so I recommend applying your eyeshadow before your foundation if using the darker shades included in these palettes.

The packaging is bulky and I may end up trying to depot the shadows so I can easily carry them around in my bag for touch ups.  If I decide to depot the shades, I'll certainly keep you all posted.  Click this link to be brought to the Sigma site for more information on the palettes as well as their other products (http://www.sigmabeauty.com/?Click=61494).