Coastal Scents Hot Pots Review And Swatches
a few weeks ago coatal scents had a 40% off sale (they can go up to 50% off, like during black friday, but i gotta take what i can get) so i stocked up on a few make-up items and tools — most notably my first set of hot pots.
the coastal scents hot pots ($1.95) are eyeshadow pans that come in over 300(!) colors, with finishes ranging from matte to satin to oh-so-shimmery. i picked 12 of my favorites after quite a bit of research on the shades (this is crucial as a lot of these shadow pots turn out to be total duds). i’d read that, when done right, you could end up with eyeshadows that rival MAC’s famous stellar quality and color pay-off.
the twelve hot pots i picked all had shimmer, because as it turns out, there is higher risk with the matte eyeshadows. they tend to be chalky apparently, with less-than-impressive pigmentation — compared to the shimmer ones, at least.
anyway, they arrived in individual packaging as shown above, with each hot pot apty labeled with its name.
i also purchased one coastal scents’ 12-pc interchangeable palette ($5.95), which i highly, highly recommend. it is also available in 4’s and 24’s, as well as individual pods, but i feel the 12-pan variety is perfect to create your coastal scents starter kit (unless you are a make-up artist, in which case the 24-pc one would probably be better).
the hot pots easily pop in and out of the empty pans, thanks to the palette’s built-in magnet. i also love the huge mirror: SO convenient.
as for the colors themselves, i picked out a selection of neutrals (shocker!) as i feel they were safest and will never really go out of style. but again, you can customize your palette with what ever hot pot selection you’d like. here are the swatches, under artificial light:
1st row:
ivory dust – soft, off-white satin
flesh tone – pale beige w/ golden shimmer
light apricot – light peach shimmer
mai tai – mauve w/ silver shimmer
2nd row:
pure bronze – golden metallic bronze
golden sienna – earthy sienna w/ gold shimmer
burnished wine – burgundy-brown shimmer
concrete jungle – metallic brown-gray
3rd row:
chai spice – deep bronze-brown shimmer
kodiak – dark brown w/ golden shimmer & slight olive sheen
boca mocha – coppery golden brown shimmer
elven midnight – smokey purple gunmetal
for the most part, my choices are all of excellent quality and provide rather impressive pigmentation — indeed comparable to MAC’s. some are a tiny bit powdery (typically the ones labeled “sheer” on the website), but still stunning when worn, as long as you learn to work them into your lids properly.
i do still have a bunch of other hot pot shades i am interested in getting, but until they go on sale again i will be more than happy to make do with the ones i already have. i am definitely eyeing the 4-pan palette though (perfect for travel!) and perhaps branch out into more colorful shades next time.
in case you were wondering: coastal scents does ship worldwide and they offer quite a few options for transit method. for this set of purchases though i used my gcash amex and had them shipped to my MSB US address (free with purchase of at least $50 on CC), then had them delivered straight to my door.
