Review: Mood Recipe Multi Eye Color Palette #Plot Twist (3CE)

This product was sent to me by StyleKorean for review purposes. I was not paid for this post but please note that affiliate links are used on my blog. These go towards supporting Oh My Stellar and future content.

For quite a while, I’ve been focussing my attention onto Western eyeshadows and while I have tried out a few Korean palettes lately, most of them have been a bit disappointing for me. Rather than the formulas being bad, I actually think that it’s because the products are catered to a different look to what I usually do now.

I prefer blendable and highly pigmented colours, with a variety of formulas and shades. Typically, I would use a minimum of three shades on my eyes and I find it a bit difficult to build full eye looks that I’m satisfied with with smaller palettes. However, since Korean beauty trends favour light washes of colour and natural looks, I find that their eyeshadows tend to be softer and generally stay within a more easy to use colour spectrum. Personally, I prefer to use Western eye shadows but there are some Korean brands that do really great colour eye products – my favourite of which is 3CE!

3CE recently expanded their popular Mood Recipe line with more lipsticks, blushers and also an eyeshadow palette! This isn’t the first one that they’ve done, but they really don’t do them often and it is the first time that they’ve had this 3×3 format. They’re called the Mood Recipe Multi Eye Color Palette and I have it in Plot Twist – there are three in total: this one, an all matte palette and also a more rose toned palette. This was sent to me for review by StyleKorean and you can get this, as well as a really good range of other 3CE products, from their website where it sells for USD$50.40

Before you do that though, let’s get into this review where I want to talk about the product, show you the shades as well as share my personal experiences and recommendations about this.

Packaging

So the product comes in the standard 3CE branded box, except it is in brown (instead of the usual black) – this monochromatic packaging is stylistic of their Mood Recipe collections which always focus on a certain colour scheme. Personally, I really like their branding and packaging style – I think that it looks really trendy and youthful, while still maintaining a certain elegance and prestige. Style wise, it’s very simple but effective.

The case for this eyeshadow palette includes nine shadows in a 3×3 set up – it’s simple and easy to use. I really love basic set ups like this because it makes full use of the space and the arrangement of the shadows makes it easy for even beginners to use. My only complaint about this though, is that the palette is a lot smaller than you would expect.

I originally saw this in Korea and it was markedly smaller than I was imagining it. The palette is only around 7.5cm wide and tall – which I would consider either a mini or travel palette. Consequentially, the pan sizes are also rather small even though there is no wasted space. The plus side is that the packaging is very travel friendly and you can keep it in your bag for touch ups, but the downside is that… well, it’s small. I’m used to having large pans for the 3CE single shadows and I thought that they would have come out with a full sized palette.

The palette is made of plastic and it’s very light but still sturdy. The brown plastic has a matte finish, which is easy to keep clean and doesn’t scratch easily. The window of it is clear and glossy, which gives you a clear view of the colours inside. It also doesn’t fingerprint much, so the overall look is high quality.

Shades and Formula

For this palette, I decided to go with the Plot Twist version which is described as having “soft and sweet brown shades” – it seems to be a very wearable everyday palette, but with shimmers and deeper tones to also give way for a more dramatic look. Annoyingly, the palette doesn’t seem to have names for the individual shades so I will have to name and describe them myself. See the list below, which describes the shades from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Sheer cream: A light, neutral cream shade with very shimmery micro glitters
2. Sheer peach: A soft, peach shade with very shimmery micro glitters
3. Neutral copper: A more neutral copper shade which is extremely glitter with both silver and gold reflect. It can appear foiled on the eyelids
4. Matte neutral brown: A soft and highly blendable neutral brown shade – this is a bit light but can be built up easily
5. Warm, peanut brown: A very warm brown shade with a soft formula, it is more pigmented than the previous
6. Warm dark brown: A dark chocolate brown shade which has gold microglitters
7. Warm, orange copper: A warm, orange copper shade which is extremely glittery with gold reflect. It can appear foiled on the eyelids
8. Warm, dark brown: A warm dark brown with a tiny hint of gold and silver microglitter
9. Neutral, deep brown: A neutral deep brown with a tiny hint of gold and silver microglitter

Overall, this is a mostly warm palette with some neutral tones mixed in. It has a good mix of formulas (which range from matte, semi-matte, shimmer and glittery) and, while the colours can feel a bit similar in the pans, they’re quite different once applied to the lids. The formula of the lighter matte shades are very buttery and soft, making for easy application. However, the more glittery shades (3 and 7) can be a bit chunky – it isn’t too bad though and, aside from looking a bit messy in the pan, they can be built up to a very dramatic effect.

The only shades that I find quite bad are the semi-matte shades (8 and 9) which are essentially dark mattes with a bit of glitter in them – there isn’t enough glitter so, while it can look very pretty in the pan, it applies quite scattered. I would rather these have been shimmer or simple matte shades. In particular, the deepest shade (9) is a bit dry feeling and swatches poorly. I onyl ever use a small amount of it though, so I blend it into the other colours.

The lightest shades are shimmery but with very light colour pay-off (1 and 2) – I’m a bit on the fence with them. They can have a very pretty effect and would look good in a light wash over the eyes. However, I feel like this palette needed a lighter matte shade to use as a base.

Claims

• Seamless sebum control: Plant-derived silica efficiently absorbs oil on your eyelids, leaving a crease-, fallout-,and clump-free finish that adheres seamlessly into the skin.
• Glittery color payoff: Synthetic pearl mica pigments create sharper color payoff with more intense shimmer.
• A harmonious spectrum of colors: Nine shades blend effortlessly with one another, adding extra dimension with each layer and completing a classy, luxurious eye look.
• Pure, translucent color payoff: Without any typical stuffiness that comes from powder, this eye shadow imparts translucent and buildable color, leaving your eyes looking fresh and clear.

The promises of a cohesive colour range, buildable pigmentation and high glitter formulas definitely rings true. The shades with a stronger concentration of the pearl mica pigments (which you can easily see from the dramatic range in shimmer) definitely give off a great, almost foil like effect.

However, it also claims to be oil controlling and non-creasing which is something that I will have to question. As I don’t have oily eyelids, I will be unable to comment on that, but I find that the product creases on my eyes within a few hours. I do have very watery eyes, which is likely the cause of it. Since the palette is so light though, I don’t mind having to touch up once or twice during the day. The shadows blend well together and, even with just your fingers, your look is easily mendable.

Above are the swatches on my hand! Overall, I felt like the palette had a good tonal range (as I would consider most of these colours quite different from one another, even when blended out) though the whole set is probably best suited for someone who likes natural and simple looks. Although the two glittery shades are a stand out in the palette, they are still rather simple.

I do enjoy using this product. I find that it applies best with an eye primer or glitter glue beneath it (depending on what look you are after) because the more shimmery/glittery shades tend to be messier to work with. That being said, once I got a little bit of use it with, the actual shadows started to look pretty messy in the pan. Since the glittery shades are a little bit chunky, I also seem to have used a lot of it already (more than usual). The palette is pretty expensive for what it has, to be honest, but the quality is there and the shades are very quintessential to kbeauty trends.

Here’s my verdict!

SO WHAT IS IT?

A nine pan eyeshadow palette with matte to high glitter shadows

THE GOOD

• Good packaging design
• Light and travel friendly
• Soft and buttery matte shades
• Dramatic glitter shades which can also be blended out with very pretty shimmers
• Cohesive colour range suitable for daily wear
• Well arranged and can be used by a beginner
• Very, very suitable for kbeauty trend style
• Has three versions (this one, matte or rosy) to suit different preferences

THE BAD

• Expensive
• Small palette
• The pans can get quite messy with use
• Simple shades

RATINGS

• PACKAGING | 4/5
• PRICE POINT | 2/5
• PIGMENTATION | 4/5
• BLENDABILITY | 4/5
• LONGWEARING | 3/5
• SHADE RANGE | 4/5

OVERALL RATING? 7/10

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

To be honest, this is not a palette that I consider an essential part of anyone’s collection. The formula is definitely great, the shades are great and if this is the sort of thing that suits your style and you can afford it, then by all means go for it. However, since it is quite expensive, I would rather recommend looking into the 3CE eyeshadow trios or duos, or even the Pot Eye Shadows instead. They are less expensive and, while you don’t get this full shade range, I also don’t think that it is necessary.

This palette is really only for every day wear and kbeauty make up styles – it doesn’t inspire experimentation or play.

WHERE TO GET IT FROM

Although this palette didn’t blow me away, I still think that it is a good product for those who are into this sort of look. If you want to get your hands on this Eye Color Palette in Plot Twist, it is selling on StyleKorean for USD$50.40 or you can click the below banner to go to their homepage and check out everything else that they have on offer:

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