Zoeva's Spectrum Collection includes three eye shadow palettes and three blush palettes with colours inspired by nature. Best known for its impressive line of makeup brushes, Zoeva is a German beauty brand that makes good quality, affordable tools and a makeup line that is creating quite a buzz among makeup lovers.
ZOEVA COOL SPECTRUM EYE SHADOW PALETTE
The Cool Spectrum Palette - inspired by the lights of the Aurora - features 15 cool toned eye shadows in a mix of brown and grey shades with accents of purple, teal green and icy pink. The majority have a satin or pearl finish mixed with some good matte base colours to balance things out.
SWATCHES
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| Swatched in natural light |
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| Swatched in direct sunlight |
The colour payoff is good, though a little lighter than I'd expected, this being my first dabble with the much adored Zoeva eyeshadows. They apply smoothly, blend well and have good lasting power; I always use a primer though these are swatched on bare skin. There are some really pretty shades here and I'm sure many will enjoy creating more unusual looks with the brighter shades (the green looks particularly WOW on), though personally I think I'd get more use out of the Warm Spectrum palette. I used to think I suited cool colours but am increasingly drawn to warmer tones... maybe as my hair is a deeper red now? When I was a true strawberry blonde (my natural colour), I wore cool colours much better, on both lips and eyes. This has thrown me a bit and taken some getting used to... I need to experiment more!
ZOEVA NUDE SPECTRUM BLUSH PALETTE
For me the Nude Spectrum Blush Palette is the star of the show... smooth and buttery with a great mix of nude tones that straddle blush, bronzer and - at a push - contour, though some do have a slight sheen. The bottom left shade is a beautiful rose beige that gives a gorgeous natural looking flush of colour, perfect when you don't want to look too 'done' or to tone down a bold eye or lip.
NB the tones in the above pic are most true; they look a bit warmer in swatches below.
SWATCHES
These are quite heavy swatches with a couple of swipes of colour; although well pigmented, they of course look much more subtle when applied by brush. I assumed these wouldn't work on my skin until Summer, but are actually perfect for adding a little warmth now. Excuse my crinkly fingers; I'd done a lorra swatching, wet-wiping and hand washing by this point!
I'm very tempted by the Coral Spectrum Blush too - it looks absolutely beautiful.
To round up, I like the eyeshadows, though am more drawn to the tones in the Nude Spectrum Palette. These new palettes cost £28.50 for 15 shades whereas the smaller ones are £15.50 for 10 shades (I would have expected a price point of £20-22 for Spectrum).
I find the Nude Spectrum Blush Palette superior in quality to the eyeshadow and think £15 is reasonable for 4 generous pans of colour, which I can imagine lasting a long time. The Nude and Coral palettes would more than keep me covered right through until Summer. Somebody stop me...
The Zoeva Spectrum Collection is available now at Zoeva or Love Make Up.
I'll definitely try more Zoeva makeup - do you have any recs for me? I'm quite drawn to the Cocoa Blend Palette?
