Growing up I was a big fan of Gwen Stefani. I had always loved No Doubt but when she broke off to do her solo album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." I became obsessed. I only wore G perfume and rocked my Harajuku Lovers brand purse and high tops on the regular. I've since come to realize how odd her whole Harajuku phase was and in particular her song "Harajuku Girls." Needless to say, my love for her has faded. I do love her style though and the packing of the line is straight out of my dreams. The palette was designed by Gwen Stefani and the colours are what she actually wears. This is a 15 shadow palette that retails $58 available at Ulta, Sephora and Macy's. 12 out of the 15 shades are exclusive to this palette. She usually keeps her makeup pretty neutral with a bold red lip and her line delivers just that. Most of the items seem to really only cater to someone with Gwen's skintone. The blushes are very fair with a few exceptions, some shadows may only show up on light skin tones and the brow box only comes in her blonde shade. I really think this collection works for those with fair to light medium skintones. Everyone else seems to be out of luck. I'm ghostly so I figured this would be the palette made for me, but after having it for almost a month I have a lot of mixed feelings.
I was so excited when this palette started being teased because it seemed to have everything I loved for daily neutral makeup. Lots of light shades, a few transition shades, and pops of colour. I was most excited about the dark blue "danger" and deep red "punk." The packaging is enough to make me lust after it. It's simply stunning. It has a full sized mirror on the inside with "magic's in the makeup" which is a No Doubt song. All of the new shades have names relating to Gwen so I could see how it would get fans excited. I expected a lot from this because it was from Urban Decay and seemed to be right up my alley. In the month I've had it I've had to force myself to use it. Something about these shadows is just off. I use a Urban Decay shadows often so I noticed right away that the feel of these are different. Even in the pans they feel slick and it makes it hard to pick up enough product for them to be pigmented. When you're working with such light shades you need them to show up, not blend away to nothing.
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| (Left to right) Blonde, Bathwater, Skimp, Steady and Punk. |
Blonde: Pale beige with pink iridescent shift
The pink comes through more on the eye than in a swatch. Due to the colour shift it makes for an interesting lid shade but doesn't work well as a brow highlight.
Bathwater: Pale beige with gold pearl
This is one of the silky shades I mentioned earlier. It's sheer yet chunky. It blends a little too easily, all pigment disappears and only a gold sheen is left behind. I wish more of the bright beige base stuck around.
Skimp: Pale nude satin
It comes off as a sheer light pink with a bit more shine than I would expect from a satin. Probably my top pick out of the three light shades.
Steady: Medium rose with metallic gold shift.
I wish this was more metallic. It's a pretty soft coppery rose but it kicks up a lot of powder.
Punk: Reddish brown matte
This is hands-down the biggest disappointment of the palette for me. It looks super patchy. None of the red tone comes across on my eye. I've tried to play around with this shade but I can't make it work for me. I think I might have a dud because I've seen others rave about it.
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| (Left to right) Baby, Anaheim, Stark, Zone and Serious |
Baby: Cool metallic rose
This is my favourite of the palette. It has the shine I expect from a metallic and the level of pigmentation I expect from Urban Decay. This is one of the most beautiful rose shade I've seen.
Anaheim: Light taupe-brown matte
I do really like this shade. I reminds me of their naked shade that I use in my crease almost daily. It's cool-toned without looking ashy.
Stark: Nude-pink matte
This shade works brilliantly as a transition shade. I doubt it would have the same effect on someone with a skintone much darker than my own.
Zone: Medium brown matte
In swatches you can easily make the distinction between Ahaheim and Zone but on the eye they look very similar, so much so that I wish they would've gone with a warmer brown to add variety.
Serious: Smoky gray with iridescent micro-shimmer
This is a light gray shade that looks beautiful but it's difficult to blend. When packed on precisely it looks quite beautiful. The shimmer is just enough to add dimension.
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| (Left to right) Pop, Harajuku, Danger, 1987 and Blackout |
Pop: Pale coral with iridescent sparkle
I do not get coral out of this. It's a soft pink with a lot of sparkle and shine, It'd powdery but as it translates well onto the lid.
Harajuku: Metallic blue-pink with iridescent mirco-shimmer
This is a beautiful bright sparkly pink. I really do like this shade, but not necessarily in this palette. I don't think it has enough colours to play off of for me to get inspired to use it. I would pull it in for an outside palette look though because it is a pretty colour.
Danger: Deep metallic royal blue with blue mirco-sparkle
This is my favourite of the palette. It's a deep navy with a bright blue flash and the perfect amount of sparkle. It's one of the few shadows here that I find to be richly pigmented.
1987: Bright metallic yellow-gold
This is the definition of a yellow-gold. It's beautiful and vibrant but I don't love it with the other colours in the palette or on my skintone. This would look incredible on someone with olive skin.
Blackout: Blackest matte black
I have Blackout in my Naked 2 but this one feels different to me. I don't know if this one has a film on it or what because it comes off patchy with a brush. I do enjoy this blended out but concentrated it doesn't work for me.
