Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Review: Urban Decay Sustainble Shadow Box

Since there is a new Urban Decay eyeshadow palette out now, "Naked" which looks lovely by the way, I thought I would go over some of the Urban Decay palettes that I already have in case someone is looking for swatches. I got this palette a couple of years back now, honestly I do not reach for it a lot. The colours are pretty, but many of them have tons of glitter and that means massive fallout when you apply them to your eyelids.I don't like products that take a lot of effort and are messy, so this palette is much hit and miss for me.


The Urban Decay Sustainable Palette (retails for $36US) is called 'sustainable' because it's eco-friendly, the packaging itself is made of bamboo (an abundant material) and recyclable PET box tray where the shadows are nestled. I guess they were going for an earthy feel with this one, the back of the package also states that they do not test on animals. The palette also comes with a cruelty-free eyeshadow brush and a travel-sized Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It contains 10 eyeshadows, which are some of their best-selling ones at the time, and are arranged in duos to be used together, although you can mix and match all you want of course.

I primarily bought this because I was intrigued with the packaging, but unfortunately that was this palette's biggest downfall, it is really awkward to open and the top lid is attached to the rest of it, and just hangs off. You could remove the top, but then you would be left with exposed shadows. I have also read for some people after a while, the screw comes out and the packaging falls apart. I haven't had that happen however.

Now onto the shadows, I think for the most part, people buy these palettes from Urban Decay because it's a lot more practical to buy a palette with a bunch of shadows, then to buy 1-2 full sized ones, so if you like more than three shadows in this palette, it's a good deal to get it. For me, I really liked YDK, Twice Baked and Half Baked.

The shadows in this Sustainable Palette include (descriptions from UD website):
Winners:
YDK - bronzed mocha w/ golden microglitter. This is a smooth lovely brown shade, I wear this one often.
Flipside -  electric teal w/ blue sheen. Smooth as well, pretty colour, but I don't see myself wearing this often.
Twice Baked - brownie brown w/ gold glitter. I like this colour a lot, there are glitters in the pan, but when swatched they disappear.
Flash - bright iridescent purple, a very unique purple with a blue sheen.
Kiddie Pool - ocean blue w/ iridescent glitter, I love the colour of this one, very unique as well, glitter is more of a shimmer in this one and the shimmer is different colours too, kinda cool.
Half Baked - subtle, lustrous bronze, beautiful gold smooth shadow. Love this one too.

Losers:
Grifter - sheer lavender w/ lots of silver microglitter. Very pretty shade if it wasn't loaded with silver glitter.
UZI -  metallic silver w/ big iridescent sparkles. Another terrible fallout one, the most fallout one of the bunch here, glitter is BIG too!
Midnight Cowboy Rides Again - golden beige w/ bronze, gold & silver glitter, aka the worst shadow I have ever dealt with, this is major, major fallout. The colour is gorgeous, but it's very gritty and thick and just crumbles everywhere.
Oil Slick - black with silver glitter, a black with not so great pigmentation and lots of silver glitterly mess, pass!

I would say that 4/10 of these shadows are NOT wearable whatsoever. But MCRA is definitely a total miss in this palette. The ones that I do like, I like a lot. Would I buy this again? No, cause I would never get through these shadows, the size that you get is totally enough.

6 comments:

Jennifer said... Best Blogger Tips

I agree with everything you wrote, really good review. I actually regret buying this, I never use it. When I do use it I get so angry with the massive glitter fallout. I agree with the three that you like the best, but I just never reach for them. midnight cowboy rides again and uzi's glitter fallout is out of control haha

rebeca.cd said... Best Blogger Tips

Lovely palette!
I'm in love with all Urban Decay palettes

http://becksmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-first-giveaway.html

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Jennifer - definitely out of control!!! lol

Kristie said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for the honest review. I feel the same way about a lot of the UD palettes that's why I'm not tempted to pick up Naked. However, I love their eyeliners!

alicesmother said... Best Blogger Tips

I love all these eyeshadows, but specially flipside and half baked, they are gorgeous!

Stevista said... Best Blogger Tips

Great review Justine! :) I love the packaging of this palette (I don't own it)

drugstoreandbargainlover