No7 Mini Eye Palette, £10 (here)
I'd built up a few Boots points and I was wondering what I should spend them on. In the end I decided to pick up a couple of the Boots Christmas sets and road test them. In the hope that it would help you guys decide what to pick up as gifts this year.
The first thing I picked up was the No7 Mini Eye Palette. It retails at £10 and it features 8 eyeshadow shades. I have to admit that online the shades looked a bit 'meh' but I took the plunge anyway. In the flesh the shades look 1000000 times better, in fact they are really quite pretty. They range from a shimmery white to a deep purple, with everything you need in between. You have the option to create a subtle day look or an extreme smokey eye, you have a lot of versatility.
The shades in the palette have been taken from a variety of different palettes from No7. So if you have other No7 palettes you may get duplicates, but this is my first palette from No7. The shades are numbered when you get them, if you're curious; shade 1 is taken from the Night Shadow Quad; shade 2, 4 and 6 are taken from the Chocolate Fondant Quad, numbers 3 and 7 are from the Good Earth Trio, and numbers 5 and 8 are taken from the Moonlight Duo.
As well as the eyeshadow shades and a large mirror, you get a double-ended applicator. It's actually a brush rather than the rubbish foam applicators you normally get, however, it's not really great quality. I've been using my normal eyeshadow brushes to apply the shades, they love my Real Techniques eyeshadow brushes.
I'm really impressed with the quality of the shadows, they are really pigmented and have a buttery texture. They blend really well too, which is important when you're working with shades this dark. It's an incredible little palette for £10, I thoroughly recommend this for the ladies in your life. It would make a great stocking filler!
