Haul + PAC eyeshadow palette review

Hey again! Wow, I've sorta been busy lately so I've had to put this post off over and over. I'd also been hit with the exhaustion bug, even though I've been sleeping the right amount of hours lately. I guess it's sort of the stress? Oh well. Thankfully I have a long weekend this week. Today I had no classes, and I caught wind of a sale at SM North Edsa (for you ladies who can get there, sale is 20% off on all (sometimes on selected) items at the cosmetics department, but mallwide it's up to 50% off through July 31-Aug2) and my parents and I decided to hit the mall to see what was on sale.

I originally thought, oh hey I should try the Revlon foundation since I've been hearing so much good stuff about it, but..sigh. It wasn't on sale! :/ So I instead went around and decided to get backups for the stuff I usually use, and then a few items here and there. Here's my happy little haul:

L-R: cutlery container (for brushes, I have some coming in the mail from Makeup Masala :D the thing is fugly i know but its temporary until I can find a decent one), ELF eyelash curler spare, ELF clear mascara, Vo5 mousse for curly hair, Maybelline Eyestudio vivid and smooth eyeliner, Maybelline lip and eye makeup remover backup, Tea Tree oil from Zen Zest, Maybelline volum express cat eyes mascara backup (HG!!), Fashion 21 dip liner

My brushes in the new container they'd live in...it looks so empty right nowwww. DX

Oh! I have a bit of good news for ladies in the Philippines. ELF is bringing their Studio line in, and it should be here by late August or early September. Isn't that awesome? :D

So, anyway, I have a review for you all. I shoulda posted it a while ago but as I said things came up so...here it is now!

I have had this PAC perfect finish pearly eyeshadow palette (whew, mouthful!) in February 2009 to do my cousin's makeup for her prom. I couldn't find a good kind of red, until I dropped by PAC. I was hesitant too cause I knew them for their expensive prices and I wasn't aware back then that buying quality was better. Thankfully I had my friend with me and she convinced me to buy it (partly cause it was on sale and would come with a free bag :D). I am SO glad that I did. This palette, to be honest, started my full-blown addiction to makeup.

Packaging is matte, sturdy and sleek

Palette picture with flash -- pans are HUGE

Without flash

Finger swatches with flash, very accurate picture of the colors

Look at that. Very pigmented, right? Well look at this picture:

This is the picture of my fingers AFTER I swiped the swatches onto my arm. I grabbed a small amount of shadow from the palette. Just one-two swirls on the pan.

Flash on top, no flash on bottom. One swipe on arm. (Please ignore the eyeliner swatches)

The eyeshadows are so pigmented there is barely any difference between the side with no base (left) and the side with the base (right). For the record I used UDPP for these swatches.

I love so many things about this palette.

PROS

• Huge pans, very generous amount of eyeshadow (I would guess 7g-10g). A lot bigger than MAC eyeshadow pans
• Very very pigmented
• A little goes a long way
• Great texture, easy to blend -- Very blendable in fact
• Sleek packaging, seems very durable
• Long-wearing and doesn't fade
• Fair price 2000php (reg price) or a little over 40USD
• Very versatile - can be used as eyeshadow or eyeliner, can be applied wet or dry (although it is very pigmented even when dry)
• Great for bright looks, theater jobs, photoshoots etc
• Using the right brushes, very minimum fall out

CONS

• Slight smell in palette strong at first but goes away after some time (that or I grew to like it LOL)
• Can get messy sometimes
• Due to pan size, e/s can break a bit easily when dropped or accidentally scraped
• Not available worldwide (although I hear this is available in New York), and website is in Indonesian
• Color combinations can be difficult
• Can be difficult to remove because it is so pigmented
• Can be difficult to get correct or 'just right' amount of eyeshadow with the brush (texture of eyeshadow makes it stick to brushes really easily)
• It's supposed to be a 'pearl' finish palette but most are just shimmer. In fact it's a mix between VERY shimmery, slightly shimmery, and one matte shade (brown--slightly less pigmented than other shades too). To PAC's credit, the blue/green duochrome does have a pearl finish.

TIPS

• Take a very minimal amount on your brush and just build the color up to get desired shade
• Wear base to avoid creasing if your eyelids are very oily
• Have a good makeup remover handy
• Take care not to drop the palette

I will definitely repurchase this palette!

To be quite honest I love this palette so much that I use it every chance I have, even if I have my Coastal Scents 88 palette. It got me pretty much in love with the brand and I just wish they would come out with more colors (although perhaps they have more colors and they're just not available here) and get their site translated into English.

If you could get your hands on this palette and have some extra money on you I definitely suggest you get it, you'll be as satisfied as I am. PAC also has another palette (I think matte shades), and a blush palette. The prices can seem a bit steep sometimes [to people like me lol] but just wait for a sale, and it'll be very worth it. Check out their other products too, great value for money (but stay away from the lipstick if you tend to have chapped lips).

Their website: http://www.pacbeauty.com/
As far as I know, PAC is available in SM North Edsa and TriNoma.