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!