Sunday, November 29, 2015

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette

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Let me preface this review by saying that I was SO EXCITED for this palette. And now that I have it, it's just "Eh." I felt bad even feeling this way about it, but one of my friends is having the same issues I am with it, so at least I know I'm not alone.
It came with a sample pack of 4 out of the 8 Gwen lipsticks that will be out for spring. Pretty shades, but nothing very unique here. There's:
Rock Steady (Cream finish) - Blood red
714 (Mega matte finish) - Bright true red
Ex-Girlfriend (Sheer finish) - Sheer nude
Firebid (Cream finish) - Fuchsia with a blue pearl sheen to it
The lipsticks feel nice and are on par with UD's other lipsticks, I just don't feel that the shade range is great, nor do I think any of the shades are super unique. The packaging looks pretty epic, though!

Which brings us to the palette. It came in a white and gold box, and the palette itself is just gorgeous to look at:

The mirror inside even says "Magic's in the Makeup" (a No Doubt song) in the lower right hand corner:

When I first saw pictures of this palette, I was wondering why so many shades looked alike, but upon seeing swatches I could tell that they were different, had an array of finishes, etc. When I first got it and swatched it, I thought it was wonderful! The mattes in this palette are seriously the silkiest I've ever felt, and everything swatched like a dream. But I have major issues when actually trying to use and blend the darker mattes here. Punk is the absolute worst - when you place the color onto your lid, it just stays where you place it and does not want to budge to blend it, no matter what I do. It's really disappointing, because this would have been such an awesome everyday palette for me. 

Before I get into it too much, let me show you all the shadows up close and include some swatches.

Blonde looks like a cream, but when swatched it has a pink iridescence to it:

Bathwater is a shimmery champagne:

Skimp is a cream with a satin finish:

Steady is a shimmery golden peach:

Punk is a deep cranberry matte. This is the one that gives me the most trouble.

Baby is a metallic rosy pink:

Anaheim is a matte light brown. This is a great transition/crease shade, but again, gives some issues when trying to blend.

Stark is a matte peach toned cream:

Zone is a matte medium brown, another that gives me blending issues:

Serious is my favorite out of the palette. It looks like a matte dark gray, but it has tons of multicolor micro shimmers in it:

Pop looks like one of the classic chunky glitters from Urban Decay - a champagne shade with tons of sparkle, it smooths out better than chunky glitters of the past. You cannot apply this with anything but a flat stiff brush though, otherwise you get no pigmentation and the glitter just wants to fly everywhere.

Harajuku is a shimmery baby pink:

Danger is a metallic navy with tiny blue sparkles:

1987 is a metallic yellow gold:

Blackout is a rich matte black. This has been in UD palettes before, but it is extremely smooth in this one! I was srprised with the troubles that I had with the other mattes, but this one doesn't give me as many issues when trying to blend it out. It's so pigmented and black, I would say this is the standout shade of the palette, which is pretty sad considering it's a color that they've already had before.

So there you have it. I hope that if you missed out on this or decided to skip it, that my review helped put your mind at ease - it's not a MUST HAVE palette, in my opinion. Is it pretty? Sure. I just don't think it's worth all the hype that it was getting. I love Gwen, I was obsessed with No Doubt when I was in middle school, and I was extremely excited for this palette. But am I going to sit here and say this is amazing and so worth it when it's not? No. There's some good shades in it, I just don't see myself reaching for this all the time like I was sure I would. At one point I considered buying 2 so I would have a backup, and boy am I happy I didn't!

Again, I feel like I'm alone in writing anything negative about this palette. I don't know why none of the reviews I've seen have mentioned that Punk is an absolute nightmare to work with on the lid. Did I get a bad palette? It's possible, but like I said, my friend is having the same issues with it - she was also as excited as I was for this to come out. As a matter of fact, we were texting at 3am to make sure we were both awake to order it LOL. I'm bummed that this wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be, but you live and you learn, I guess. Hope this review was somewhat helpful to you guys!!









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