It all started from the newly renovated Guardian store in Suria KLCC. Palladio first made it’s first appearance into the Malaysia beauty scene back in September 2016. Right before I started tapping onto my keyboard for this review, I did a quick Google search on Palladio Malaysia. It seems that Palladio was once in Malaysia. 2009 to be precise!

Palladio was created more than 25 years ago by industry veterans as botanical and vitamin infused cosmetics from the US. I don’t know about you but the Chinese lady on the blotting paper looked similar to the one on the oldie white face powder from China. Back in my younger days, I used to buy the powder for its vintage pretty packaging. In fact I still own it for safekeeping sake . Palladio these days is known for its color cosmetics line. The company had its headquarter in Hollywood, Florida. If you happen to dropped by selected Guardian stores and found Palladio shelf, you will be drawn to lots of colors.

Now brace yourself for what is coming next. I will be going through my Palladio Top 9 Picks and First Impression Review on each products as well. A cup of tea or coffee would be good

Dual Wet & Dry Foundation (RM45.90 / 6 Shades Available)

The Dual Wet & Dry Foundation has got to be the most talked about product within Palladio itself. Its formula can be applied both wet, for maximum, all-day coverage, or dry, for light finishes and touch-ups. It comes in a medium-bulky packaging with two opening. The top reveals the powder itself, and the bottom housed the rather thick sponge. A pretty well-made rubbery sponge I say.

I chose the shade Laurel Nude. Laurel Nude is the most “liked” shade among its fans, from what I read. However I also read that their regular customers are not so happy that the formula and shade has changed. Especially this Laurel Nude. Now, I have nothing to say on that as I have not tried Palladio before this. But, what interest me was that many complaint that this particular shade Laurel Nude is darker than previous and that it is orangey. On application, it looked quite good. Coverage is superb. If you need more coverage on the undereye, I would suggest you to apply a layer on concealer before hand. Unless you are using it as wet foundation. As much as I like the coverage, I do find it to oxidize on me. A few hours down the road I looked orange. So on me it turned darker (because it oxidized) and also orangey. I could not understand why as the powder goes on fair on my skin tone. It does turn dark quite fast. The areas I do touch-up are funnily fairer comparing to my whole face. Be careful on this if you are using for mid-day touch ups.

So far I have only tried the powder dry. And that is enough coverage for me. Even that also I find that the powder on the pan are patchy. I do not know how you can use this wet without destroying the whole pan. The powder seems to create a slight hard layer on top when in contact with oil or water. The other downside for me that bugs me a lot is how dry it is on my skin. I have never encounter a tightening sensation from base makeup before. This one? It feels so tight and dry on me. I have to drown my face with face mist to keep the tightening sensation away. The more layer you apply, the tighter it gets. That is just me as I have dry skin now. Do expect powdery residue with this as well.

Brow Powder (RM26.90 / 3 Shades Available)

I am an automatic brow pencil type of girl. I cannot do pencil that needs sharpening, brow gel or brow powder. I am a bit sad that Palladio did not have any automatic brow pencil. Just pencil and this Brow Powder. I decided to give this a try and surprisingly, I like this a lot!

Choosing the shade is easy. It comes in 3 shades – Dark Brown (for medium to dark brunettes), Auburn (for redheads) and Taupe (for blonde, light brown or gray hair). I go with Dark Brown and despite the shade photo looked intimidatingly dark, the shade suits my darker hair perfectly. Filling the brow with the powder is fairly easy. I cannot say the same for the tail LOL. I kinda struggle with the sharp tail part. Contrary to all Palladio powder products which can be very powdery, this one is the total opposite. I did not find any powder residue each time I ran my angled brow brush on the brow powder.

Matte Blush (RM26.90 / 4 Shades Available)

I do not own a lot of matte blush as matte usually enhances my large pores even more as it is dry on my already dry skin. It is said that Palladio Matte Blush are formulated with Apricot Kernel, Ginseng Root Extract, Aloe and Chamomile Extract, to help condition and protect the skin from free-radical damage, as well as Kaolin Clay and Zinc Oxide help deliver flawless, velvety coverage. I took this opportunity to choose a neutral tone blush – Peach Ice as I did not have one. I always thought something neutral is a good change than the usual in-your-face pink or coral.

Peach Ice, just as the name suggest is really a peach tone blush. It appears nearly invisible on the skin but if you like layering non-pigmented blush like me, you will like this one. Honestly I prefer a blush that is less pigmented so I can layer the color up to my preference. Just as any other Palladio powder products, do expect lots of powdery residue once you brush hit the pan.

Retractable Lip Liner (RM15.90 / 6 Shades Available)

I am a lip liner junkie. Especially when it is a retractable and it is creamy. I have to say, this Palladio Retractable Lip Liner is my new favourite after Essence. It is so creamy, non-drying, pigmented, easy to draw-on and with good staying powder. I have with me shade Naked and Raspberry for the obvious reason. A neutral shade for a more neutral or mauve lipstick and a pinker shade for red or pink lipstick.

Sometimes when I am lazy, I only put on lip liner. It works just like a lipstick. This lip liner is very comfortable on the lip even on its own. It is not drying or whatsoever and the color payoff is similar to a lipstick.

Eye Shadow Primer (RM28.90)

I was really excited to try this silicone-based formula Eye Shadow Primer but unfortunately this is the one product that fails on me among all the Palladio products I have tried. It goes on so patchy on my lid for some reason. I also find this primer to be on the oilier side. When you use finger to spread the products out, it turns slightly velvety. I have tried it on so many times on different occasion, with and without face makeup and it is still patchy. At first I figure it could be that my lid had powder but nope. I wipe my lid clean with a micellar water and the result is still the same. Patchy.

Silk FX Eyeshadow Palette (RM42.90 / 7 Shades Available)

Palladio has two eyeshadow palette available. I know a lot of people would go with the neutral Eyeshadow Quad but I am more attracted to this Silk FX Eyeshadow Palette in Boudoir Chic. Purple eyeshadow is one of my favourite shade to play with. I have been on the neutral bandwagon for so long now that I have forgotten how much I love purple shadow.

The palette comes with 5 shades. I am a little bit disturbed that it does not comes with a warm brown transition shade. But that is okay. I can use my bronzer for that.

On the product description, it says that Silk FX Eyeshadow Palette feature a unique liquid-to-powder formula that wraps the skin in a rich, velvety blanket of illuminating crystals. I do not know which part of the eyeshadow is a liquid-to-powder formula as the whole palette is so powdery. I have fallouts all over my face and all over my table! When used with a brush, the color is not as pigmented as the shade on the pan. You really need to work more with this palette and keep on layering.

The shade I was most excited is the shimmery shade on the top left of the palette. I used my finger the dab on the color onto the mobile of my lid. At first it does look beautiful. After a minute, the shadow was gone. Poof. What was left on my lid was just the tint of it. I wonder where does all the shimmer goes? I reapplied and poof it was gone. Oh boy.

The eyeshadow are buttery soft alright. Too soft that it breaks as soon as my brush hit the pan. I keep on tapping the brush to remove the powdery residue off as I have watery and sensitive eyes and the powder gets all over my table, my fingers, my hand. Everywhere! But when I do tap off the excess powder, there was no color left on the brush LOL. This palette really tested my patience today. The color is beautiful. Just the formula itself is a struggle for me especially when my eyes get red and watery so easily.

Velvet Matte Lipstick (RM25.90 / 12 Shades Available)

The one product I would highly HIGHLY recommended is the Velvet Matte Lipstick. It comes in 12 shades all together. In my mind, I would love to get a purple matte lipstick. But there was none close to what I want so I chose the shade Brocade.

Despite carrying the “matte” word, this liquid lipstick does not turns matte at all. I would say this is more of a comfortable matte, just like the name suggest – velvet matte. I find that if I apply straight from the tube, it is a creamy lipstick. But if I clean the applicator a bit onto the edge of the tube, it is not as creamy. However, it still does not dries down matte no matter what. You will still get stains on your coffee mug, chopstick, everything. It is absolutely comfortable on the lip. There was no funky scent of whatsoever, which I appreciate. The staying powder was okay through food and drinks. VERY opaque. You will not want to miss this one. Get Raw Silk!

After I was done photographing everything, I clean up my mess and then I found out that I have totally missed two items LOL. I was bummed that I could not do contouring and highlighting. The fact is I have The Definer for the job!! Oh my Lord. How can I possibly missed this one? *face palm*

THE DEFINER Contour + Highlight Crayon (RM39.90)

Most brands in Malaysia are reluctant to bring in contouring and highlighting products so I was surprised that Palladio brought this in. THE DEFINER Contour + Highlight Crayon is a dual-ended jumbo pencil crayon with the Contour pencil on one end and Highlight pencil on the other end. The Contour shade seems a little bit on the cool tone side. So far I have been using warmer contour and I have never tried cooler tone like this one. It will be an interesting experience. The crayon on the pencil are very soft. You have to be careful with that. The Highlighter pencil was already smushed when I open the cap.

Rice Paper (RM20.90 / 3 Shades Available)

This Rice Paper is one of the best-seller in Palladio. Interestingly the lady on the front is the same with the oldie white box powder from the good old days. Usually blotting paper are colorless. This Rice Paper comes with three shades. I did not want the transparent one so I go with Natural shade . If you think this is just a normal blotting paper. Think again. Its unique tissues are made from natural rice and provide the same, great oil-absorbing functions as their Rice Powder. You can choose to use the matte side to blot shine away or  the powdered side for occasional touch-ups. I remember many many years ago I repeatedly bought a similar blotting paper from The Body Shop. This one works the same. Cheaper too!

That is my Top 9 Palladio picks as well as my review for each product. Does any of it interests you? I say go with most of it except for the Eye Shadow Primer. Overall the price are quite affordable however the powder-based products are mostly quite powdery. Do expect some fallouts and powder residue.

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

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