No7: Stay Perfect Mini Trio Eye Shadow Palettes Review


Here in the Netherlands, the drugstores that we frequently visit are Kruidvat and Etos (the former, especially, is ubiquitous!). For those in the UK, that's quite like your Boots and Superdrug stores.

Over here, Boots stores are quite a novelty. I mentioned Boots early last year in my Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands: Drugstores post. To cut a long story short, Boots had been in the Netherlands before in the 1990s, then left us and returned in early 2009. When I wrote that abovementioned post, there were only five Boots stores here. Almost two years later, they've grown to about 20 stores throughout the country.

The Boots store that I've been to is a fairly small one, a cosy neighbourhood pharmacy/drugstore. The range isn't huge but it has got No7 and Botanics products. I walked into the store a few weeks back and I saw some really pretty makeup palettes from No7. They are from the Christmas collection and ladies in the UK would surely have seen these in the local Boots stores.

I bought this set: No7 Mini Eye Palettes.


Aren't the eyeshadow palettes pretty? They are laminated cardboard palettes with covers that swivel open. They are small, measuring only 4.5cm x 8.5cm.


This giftset is made up of smaller versions of products that are in No7's existing range. It consists of:

• No7 Stay Perfect™ Eye Shadow Trio Palettes (Cappuccino, Twilight, Beside the Sea)
• No7 Intense Volume Mascara Black
• No7 Amazing Eye Pencil Black
• No7 Amazing Eye Pencil Brown


I had never tried No7 products before, even back in the old days when I had easy access to Boots. I'm shamelessly saying that, this time around, I was plainly sold on the cute packaging.


I've decided to split this feature into several posts. I will also write about the eye pencils but I doubt I will do a post on the mascara anytime soon. I won't start using this new mascara until I've finished my existing ones (must be disciplined!).

Mini Trio Eye Shadow Palettes
Here, we'll take a look at the three cute trio eyeshadow palettes. These three colour combinations - Cappuccino, Twilight and Beside The Sea - are mini versions of the No7 Stay Perfect Trio Eye Shadow Palettes that are in the main collection (housed in round/oblong black palettes). The applicators that come in these mini palettes are tiny. The sponge isn't too bad but the handle is ridiculously short, 2cm (in order to fit inside the palette).

Swatches with eyeshadow primer

Columns, L-R:
Cappuccino
The browns: skintone beige (mine), taupey brown, golden brown (all with fine shimmers)

Twilight
The black&whites: white, silvery grey, matte black

Beside The Sea
The blues: grey-ish white, light aqua, medium blue (all with fine shimmers)

These eyeshadows are hypoallergenic.

Ingredients




Quality
In general, the eyeshadows do crumble a bit and their pigmentation is so-so (it's nowhere near excellent). You definitely need a good eyeshadow base for them. It took a while to get past the imprint (for a while, all I was getting were disappointing ashy, chalky shades). Of these three palettes, I think Cappuccino performed the best. The darkest shade, golden brown is gorgeous and the most pigmented. In the blue set, Beside The Sea, the pigmentation of the middle shade could be improved on.


The black&white palette, Twilight, was the worst performer. The white is fine but the silvery grey is half-dead and the black is weak. When I see black, I'd like a black black, please.

So, bottomline, I find the quality of these eyeshadows just average (to below average for Twilight). Cappuccino, though, is a good one.

Price
This giftset is priced at €17.95. Just like in Boots in the UK, Boots Netherlands is now also holding a 3 for 2 Christmas offer on giftsets. I got two other products from Botanics to take advantage of this offer.


I don't know if this specific set is available in the Boots physical stores in the UK. I see a similar set on its website. It has the Classic Matte, Good Earth, Beside The Sea mini trio eyeshadow palettes, the same two eye pencils and the No7 Extreme Length Mascara. It's called the No7 Smoky Eye Trio. Price: £16.00.

For Dutch ladies, there is now a Boots online shop. There are a few other palettes available - with different combinations of products including lipglosses and nail polishes.

More information:
Boots Nederland website
Boots UK website

13 comments:

Content Director - Strong Female Leaders said...

I had no idea No.7 came in such beautiful packaging. Excellent!

나니 said...

I really like the neutral one : D and they look easy to travel with!

Anonymous said...

Cute little palettes! Pretty packaging as well with different colors. Yup it looks very nice. ;) "KTee" xx

Unknown said...

I loooove the packaging!
And the colors are really basic so everyone can wear them!

BlackCherry said...

I love the packaging. There are very pretty too.

Anonymous said...

Nice giftset, 3 mini palettes with a variety of colors. Pity the quality isn't that good. Take care and have a great weekend. Nicole x

sugar sugar said...

the packaging is soooo pretty anne! :)

lavender said...

The packaging is so pretty. Too bad the color is less pigmented.

Bear Woods said...

The packaging is to cute, I would buy everything ;) so thank God we don't have this grand

rachlovespenguins said...

It is a shame the quality isn't quite there. I'm a sucker for awesome packaging as well. :)

Witoxicity said...

@Girlie Blogger
It's a great design indeed! :)

@나니
Yup, they're nice and compact. :)

@KTee
Yeah, I can't imagine anyone not finding the palettes cute. Heh heh! :)

@rock-or-not
I totally agree. :)

@BlackCherry
Yes, and that was why I bought them - too pretty to resist! :D

@Nicole
I know, it's such a pity. If the pigmentation were better, they would all be perfect! I hope you had a great weekend, Nicole. It's been a hectic one here, hence this late response. Have a good week ahead! :)

@sugar sugar
So sweet and pretty! :)

@lavender
I wish the quality were better. :)

@MissDoll
Haha! Temptation indeed! :D

@rachlovespenguins
Haha, most of us are, I guess. :D Yes, it's a real pity the pigmentation isn't better in some of the shades.

Cynthia Z said...

OMG! CUTE CUTE CUTE!!! :))

Hey, how come the reply option isn't here in yr comments section, like in my blog??

♥xx♥

Witoxicity said...

@Cynthia Z
I know, aren't the palettes just so cute? Oh, that reply option hasn't been turned on yet. Gotta look into that. :D