The first thing that struck me about the DHC Eyeshadow palette was the packaging. A little door opens up over the applicator, and then a mirrored door opens over the eye shadow. It is unique and attractive. The shadow itself is fine. The shades are rather light, and sort of remind of some of the Clinque light neutral shades. That is also fine with me, but if you like really dramatic eye shadow, this might not be for you. The shadow also generally wore well for me. I also like how it is packaged, with the largest pan being the base shade and the liner as the smallest. It balances out the use better that way!

Sweet Dressy is, as the name implies, to impart a sweet look. The slim palette contains 6 colours - 3 powder eyeshadows and 3 lipstick and lipgloss combinations. The eyeshadows are in the pink-purple family which is favoured by the Japanese for a sweet look. The lipsticks are quite a deep shade with a sparkly lipgloss to round off the look. Knowing the Japanese style of lipsticks, they would be sheer - just how I like it. I’m quite taken in with the middle colour of the Sweet Dressy eyeshadow palette - it looks like a nice silvery tone.

I must say, Smashbox really knows how to put a great palette together. Smashbox Ultimate Beauty Palette is chock-full of goodies that will keep any makeup enthusiast entertained. It's similar in size to Sephora's Blockbuster Palette but offers more eye shadow colors than Sephora's.

These new-generation eyeshadows play up the power of contrasts between matte and iridescent, with a surprising array of visual effects: metallic, opalescent, powdery or creamy.

The set will include an eye palette (Vintage Glaze), a lip gloss (Deep Bordeaux), a solid perfume ring, a hand mirror, and a vintage-style clutch bag.