Review and Swatches: Sephora Pantone Universe Collection

         First, a disclaimer. I usually find it considerably more helpful when bloggers photograph what a product looks like applied to their face, rather than just on their arm. However, as much as I would have liked to do that for the blush in this post, my skin has been fairly atrocious as of late, and I am not comfortable posting pictures of it on the internet. I thought it would be better to post this while still relevant rather than waiting for the scarring on my face to subside, so the arm swatch will have to do for now.

       
       
      On to the review! This collection is a collaboration between Pantone, the color experts who recently declared that the color of the season is Tangerine Tango, and Sephora.  The items in this line incorporate various shades of orange and coral to echo the trend of the season. This new release by Sephora has generated some buzz (although it was rather unheralded when compared to the likes of a MAC collection) but it did successfully pique my interest for the first time ever in the actual Sephora line.  When I walked into my local Sephora to take a perusal, my initial impression was that the collection was quite large.  It is comprised of eyeshadows, brushes, blushes, lipsticks, glosses--really anything you could possibly want.  As this can be a bit overwhelming, I was first tempted to pick up the overview/highlights set, but after swatching some of the products included in it, I concluded that I would not get a great deal of use out of some of them, and found the quality to really vary from product to product.  For example, I had done some virtual drooling over the online promo images of the chroma blush (one of two blushes included in the collection), which is a beautiful metallic apricot, but upon swatching it found it to be rough in texture and not possessing the high level of pigment I usually like my blushes to have.  Therefore, I ended up picking up just two of the products (pat on the back!) and I feel like they are the real standouts of the collection.

       The first item I picked up is the blush duo. First off, I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the expensive looking packaging of both the boxes the products came in and the products themselves.  While not as cheap as say a drugstore product, these are still reasonably cheaper than most comparable products sold in Sephora yet I feel that they blow a lot of the higher-end competition out of the water with their packaging. The actual blush duo itself is nestled in a white compact with a transparent, magnetic lid reminiscent of the Inglot Freedom system; it’s simple, yet chic and modern. The duo comes with a mostly matte coral color, and a highly shimmery coral-red. The product itself is smooth and extremely pigmented.  I would most likely wear either the matte blush on its own, or mix the two together, as I feel sporting the shimmery blush alone could lead you into the dreaded disco-ball territory, as it is just so shimmery. Overall, I am impressed with this duo, and recommend picking it up if you are looking for a versatile blush to wear all summer.

       I also purchased the lipstick, which seems to have been marketed as the cornerstone of the collection.  This is allegedly an exact copy of the patented tangerine tango shade, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.  Let me state again that the packaging is great; the actual lipstick bullet is quite short, yet heavy and expensive feeling.  I cannot rave enough about the lovely texture and pigmentation of this lipstick.  Is it the most wearable color for someone with my skintone (fairest of the fair?) Probably not, but it is such a creamy, high-quality lipstick that I can certainly see myself reaching for this time and time again when I want a bold lip for summer.  My one complaint is that the color does make your teeth look quite yellow, but that it is an attribute shared by all orange-toned lip products I find, alas. I actually do find that this particular shade flatters me more than most orange lipsticks do, since it pulls red-orange on my naturally pigmented lips.

Swatches from left: Tangerine Tango Lipstick, Coral side of duo, Desert Flower side of blush duo

       Overall, I think Sephora really did a great job with this collaboration.  My only complaint is that the quality was not uniform across the board, but otherwise from the packaging to the on-trend colorsm I think this is such a pleasant surprise.  I hope Sephora continues to collaborate with Pantone for each season on!

Product I Regret Buying, Vol 1: Revlon Colorstay Quad in Decadent

Now, I don't usually end up with a multitude of products I strongly dislike, since I tend to do quite a bit of research before I purchase a makeup item; I really am not an impulse shopper for the most part when it comes to cosmetics. However, this Revlon Quad was purchased on a whim, and I have to say, I basically hate it. I was lured in by a few endorsements of this new product in the beauty community, and by the display at Walmart, accompanied by a price tag in the vicinity of $5 dollars. These new quads really do come in a great variety of colors, and there is probably something for everyone's taste in the color selection, as the shades range from neutrals to brights. The packaging is inoffensive, and actually pretty sleek as far as drugstore packaging goes. It is simple, black, and easy to store.

The product itself is where I really find fault. The Decadent quad comes with a glittery creme/pink shade, a tannish gold, a peachy pink, and a warm brown. I was really drawn in by the assortment of desert shades, which screamed summer to me. However, when I reached my car and eagerly swatched the shades, I was pretty much aghast at the poor pigmentation and chalky texture. You can see from the swatches pictured here that the shades hardly show up! The highlight shade on the top left corner actually grosses me out to swatch; it has one of the chalkiest textures I can recall swatching in recent memory. When I do, though, it basically looks like white powder with chunky glitter, and it fares no better when applied on the eye, even as a highlight shade. The shade underneath is actually a good dupe for MAC's Naked Lunch in terms of color, but the finish is so powdery, and the pigmentation, while better than the first shade I discussed, is still fairly lackluster. It is wearable though, which is more than I can say for the first shade. The gold shade reminds me of a less nice version of Stila Oasis; it, unlike the Stila shadow, has the same powdery texture and poor color payoff as the other shades in this Revlon quad. It barely shows up when I swatch it, and I can assure you I do not have a golden tan skin tone. The brown shade is a little better in that it actually shows up, but that might just be because it is the darkest shade in the palette. As to the claim by Revlon that this is a "Colorstay" product that wears 16 hours, I didn't find that these wore any differently than other eyeshadow. I still need a primer to get them to last on me.

This is all four shades heavily swatched, and they hardly show up on my pale skin!

If you couldn't tell from the disparaging comments above, I more or less hate this quad. I don't know if the other shade variations are any better in terms of quality, but I can say with certainty that I won't be finding out, as I will not be wasting any more money on these. I think that drugstore makeup has really stepped up it's game in the past few years, and lately seems to be churning out some innovative products, and legitmate dupes for high end items, which is what really makes this eyeshadow pretty much unacceptable to me. Since you can get amazing eyeshadows for even less money from Wet N Wild, and also some great options with L'oreal, Milani, and even some Maybelline shades, I don't know why Revlon expects to be able to compete with this offering. Sorry to sound so negative, but I really don't like wasting money, even if it is only $5 dollars, and that is what this quad is in my opinion, a waste of money.