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Tuesday 19 February 2013

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette - Review and Swatches


I'm back! It feels good to be back, although I am afraid it may not be for long. My computer is having serious issues. Thank heavens it is still under warranty. I just got it back tonight and the tech dudes have not fixed all of the problems it would appear. So I will likely have to take it back tomorrow night and I have no idea how long it will be before I am back online again. So cross your fingers that it will not be long.

Okay, today I am going to review the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette. This came out back in 2011. Shame on me for only getting to it now. I don't think Sephora is still selling it but Urban Decay was a few weeks ago under their "sale" items. I checked tonight and I don't see it there anymore. Nevertheless, there is the odd store still carrying this. I know in Canada some of the Shoppers Drug Marts sell Urban Decay and I know they still had this palette the last time I checked. Also, 7 of the colours in this palette (out of 15) are now in the permanent single eyeshadow collection. So I think a review, albeit late, is still worth doing here. This palette was selling for $55 U.S. and I think it was around $68 Canadian (sheesh!). When I saw it, I had to have it. The colours looked so cool! Other than the Naked palettes, I didn't have a lot of UD eyeshadow colours so I felt I must have this. I finally got around to using all of the colours in here just the other day. That is how long it took me to try it all.



I don't know if you can tell from the first picture, but there is neat metal edging on the sides of the palette. There is even a secret compartment below the eyshadows if you want to store earrings or personal items. That's kind of a neat idea. The first thing I have to say is that I don't think the colours go well together. This is not a well coordinated palette. That's why it took me so long to use all of the colours! You have to dip into the rest of your stash in order to wear half of these in a "look". I think if you like these colours on an individual basis, this is a good buy, but don't even think of buying it for the purpose of using it as a stand alone to put together looks.


The colours are from left to right and top to bottom, Midnight Rodeo, Tainted, Deeper, Midnight 15, Junkshow, M.I.A., Vanilla, Omen, Ace, Flow, Evidence, Blackout, Chase, Deep End and Half Truth. The best colours in this palette in my opinion are Flow, Tainted, Omen, Deep End, Ace and Half Truth. As an aside, the colours in this palette which are in the permanent eyeshadow line now are Deep End, Omen, Blackout, Chase, Evidence, Midnight Rodeo and Vanilla. Finger print marks are a constant issue when handling this palette.

I hate Midnight Rodeo with a passion. It is a chunky and glittery silver brown mess and is a nightmare to work with. Fallout city. I have no idea what to even do with this colour to make it worth wearing. Yuck! Midnight 15 is okay, but I am not keen on it. It's like a bleached shimmery brown. It too is a glittery mess. Vanilla has a decent texture but it is a bit dry. I don't like the yellow hue it has. It doesn't look all that great with my skin tone. It is likely more flattering on someone with a peaches and cream complexion or perhaps certain natural blondes could wear this in the tear duct and/or as a highlight shade. Flow is one of my favourites. It is a nice iced peach colour, blends well and is easy to work with. Looks great on its own as all over wash colour.

Midnight Rodeo, Midnight 15, Vanilla, Flow, Chase,Tainted, Junkshow and Omen

Chase I could take or leave. This colour is so common with all eyeshadow brands and UD makes a bunch that are very similar such as Deeper, M.I.A., Barlust (from the Smoked palette) and half of the colours in the Naked palettes! Chase is smooth and easy to work with though. I really like Tainted - it is an unusual pink. Props to UD for thinking outside of the box on this one. Looks great with black gel or liquid liner. Junkshow is a bit loud for me. It's fuchsia, what can I say. Omen is a gorgeous opal purple. I don't have anything even close to it in my collection. Evidence is a shimmery navy blue. It is not an unusual colour and it's ok. Deep End is a stunning Caribbean sea colour.

Evidence, Deep End, Deeper, M.I.A, Ace, Blackout, and Half Truth
 
Deeper and M.I.A. as I mentioned earlier are your garden variety shimmery browns. They are nice, but are nothing to get excited about. Ace is a lovely blue steel grey. I love this colour! Blackout is a very matte black. I am sure most of you have a million similar colours in your stash - I do. Finally, we have Half Truth and it is a cool shimmery mid purple. I really love this one.
 
To summarize, there are some nice colours in this palette, but overall the combo of colours doesn't work together. I really only like 6 of the 15 colours and that makes buying this palette a bit of a waste for me. Mind you, only two of the colours I like out of the six are in the permanent range. So I can't win. Although I really like those 6 colours, I kind of wish I had passed on this palette and saved the money. It is not one that I reach for all that often. This is not a travel friendly palette as it is big and bulky.
 
Packaging: 8/10 (it's cute but chunky)
Pigmentation: 9/10 (no issues except with Midnight Rodeo) 
Easy to Work With: 8/10
Longevity: 8/10
Texture: 6/10 (depends on the colour but this is the overall)
Price: 4/10
Ingredients: 7/10
Travel Worthy: 3/10 (it would take a lot to break this case)
Attractiveness of Product: 7/10
Would I buy this again? I don't really think I would  
Overall Rating: 7/10
 


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