I showed you some preliminary pictures of the upcoming (for us) Urban Decay 15th Anniversary eyeshadow palette over the weekend (see the close ups of the case, and size and fingerprinted glory here) Everyone’s baying for swatches and yes, we have them! Hurrah! 😛 I have a very quick sort of eye look but had no time to do anything dramatic because I’m going away, and I wanted you to know that this palette is very friendly despite the bright colours, and that yes, I predict many of you will be liking it very muchee!
Before I start with all that malarkey, I wanted to just correct myself in my previous post. I noted that the palette comes in a metal box sitting in a plush velveteen “gift” box. And I was correct.
However, I thought that that velveteen box was the “free gift” and that’s where I was utterly wrong. Urban Decay was not pulling your leg when they said that you can remove the eyeshadows and use the box as a keepsake box. You literally can remove the eyeshadow tray. The velvet lined bottom layer is then for your use as you want it. Honestly, I’m not sure what you’d do with it. Where would you put the eyeshadow tray to start? Good question eh?
So what you essentially get in the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary eyeshadow palette is 2 “free gifts” and 15 brand new eyeshadow colours.
You get a big plush royal purple velvet box, and a metal velvetlined box. What you do with your eyeshadows remains to be seen. As I am boggled by that last thing, I chose to keep my shadows in the UD box. Makes a heck lot of sense to me 😛 Maybe I can hide brushes underneath or primers, or various makeup bits so this case becomes my travel case? Food for thought.
So anyway, here is quickly an overview of the palette before I get into the swatches.
Many people have opted to swatch the palette in 3 rows, top to bottom. I have chosen to swatch mine across, left to right. It will make it a little confusing, but as you will see, it throws up an infinite number of possible colour combinations that you may not think about 🙂
Names are by Urban Decay. Descriptions are my own based on how I perceive them.
(1) Midnight Rodeo (glittery silver-gold brown), (2) Tainted (satin pink-gold), (3) Deeper (Shimmer golden brown), (4) Midnight 15 (glittery silver-pearl), (5) Junkshow (satin fuchsia pink)
Midnight Rodeo and Midnight 15 are reminiscent of the texture of that infamous Midnight Cowboy and Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, 2 highly glittery shades with a lot of fall out. I personally find that Midnight Rodeo and Midnight 15 do not have spectacular fall out which is great, but are colours you will reserve for evening makeup or just for a touch in the inner lid for a bit of highlight. All shades were swatched with fingers just once and the textures are in the main, smooth and very pigmented.
(6) M.I.A (shimmer dark brown with warm tones) (7) Vanilla (shimmery cream-gold) (8) Omen (duochrome lilac purple that flashes blue) (9) Ace (satin dark blue-grey) (10) Flow (shimmery peach with gold tones)
The colour I was most excited about is Omen and I’m happy to note that it does not make me look bruised! It in fact applies on me looking lilac and it is most definitely cool toned. It is a bit of a duo chrome shade so it can look quite different as the light hits. Vanilla and Flow are packed with shimmer and make great highlight shades, but can also be worn on their own without fall out of looking glittery. The colour that surprised me most is Ace which looks a dull grey in the pan, but swatches a very pretty blue-grey with a satin feel. All colours are swatched just once. See the pigment!
(11) Evidence (satin navy blue) (12) Blackout (matte black) (13) Chase (shimmer golden bronze) (14) Deep End (satin teal with golden tones) (15) Half Truth (shimmer deep purple)
There is only 1 matte shade in the palette which is Blackout. It is dark, but I had to swatch it twice to get the intensity you see here. A let down for me was Evidence which is a gorgeous navy blue shimmer as you see here. But I had to layer it 3 times before it showed up looking anything as pretty. Applied with a brush, it shows up even less pretty. So I’d use my fingers for Evidence and as a primary colour instead of as a contrast or smokey shade. The other colours were swatched just once, which tells you something about quality.
I will note that all the swatch photos were taken in natural light. That should give you an idea of how shimmery they really are. If they are this vibrant under natural light, imagine how they’d look under lighting!
And here’s a very quick look I threw together. Just the eyes I’m afraid. I just could not make it look any better than this 😛 The whole face shows up in a different review to come so you will get to see it all then.
Omen on outer lid, Midnight 15 on inner lid and blended, Evidence on outer most lid and “crease” (does not show up well) and Vanilla to line lower lid. Used sparingly, Midnight 15 whilst glittery does not look super sparkly for the day (quite understated in fact) and I experienced no fall out.
In a nutshell
If you don’t have an Urban Decay eyeshadow palette, and found Naked way too boring, then you will like the 15th Anniversary palette. It has a good mix of neutral and colourful shades which can throw up an infinite number of combinations. Textures of eyeshadows vary in the palette as does quality. In the main, the shadows are pigmented and swatch smoothly barring 2 shades – Evidence and Blackout. Perhaps I’m just picky. A point to note however is that this palette does tend towards being cool toned so if you are neutral toned or can handle cool colours well, as I can, then you will like this palette. If you prefer warmer colours (yellow golds, browns, warm greens) you are better off waiting for another palette because you will not maximise the use of this one. I’m quite happy with this, but there is room for improvement.
Pros: Smooth pigmented colours mostly, Cool toned shades that work well for my skintone, A good mix of neutral and bright jeweled eyeshadow colours
Cons: Bulky case, Inconsistent texture of eyeshadows, Glitter shadows may have fall out, Predominantly cool toned
As I previously noted, I purchased mine through a friend (Hi S) in London. I am told its coming into Sephora locally in early September (try September 1st) so look out for it then.
Should you get the 15th Anniversary Palette or the Naked palette?
I personally find the Naked palette warmer in tone. If the colours there suit your skintone better, go for the Naked palette. If you can handle these shades and prefer a palette that allows you to mix neutral and colours, get this one. I must note that it is limited edition. So er… you know what to do then. Don’t everyone go stampede Sephora all at once yes? 😛
Are you eyeing this palette? Do the colours grab you or do you prefer if they had a better mix of warm and cool shades? 🙂
Paris B
Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette is limited edition and was purchased by me from the UK for £37. Local availability is in September 2011 at Sephora and priced at RM180price is unknown for now.
Jyoan says
Omen is such the prettiest colour ever! Multi-hued. =D But not too sure I can use it because there’s just too much colour. SOB, for not being a student anymore.