WARNING: This will be a long post containing an excessive amount of exclamation points and pictures.
This has been a long anticipated review if not for you all but for me! I've been excited about this product, heck collection, ever since I heard the rumors that Ariel may be the next princess in the crazy coveted Disney Collection by Sephora. My excitement grew even more when I saw the promo that Sephora released for it. In all honesty I just lost it. I was excited, and completely jealous that I wasn't asked to be the mermaid. This is an entire collection dedicated to probably the world's favorite and most famous mermaid, Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I, being a mermaid ;), couldn't wait to see the blues and greens used in the packaging and in the shadow colors! The last two collections (Cinderella and Jasmine) have been absolute hits (the Storylook palette's and compact mirrors, especially!) I was lucky enough to snag this palette when it was "accidentally" released back in the begining of June. The whole collection is now up on the website but I'm afraid the Storylook Palette, along with the compact mirror are now sold out ): But keep your eyes peeled in stores!!
This palette is the third volume of the Storylook Palette's in the Disney Collection by Sephora. In this big palette you get 20 wonderful shades of shadows (for $55) in various finishes that reflect the colors, things, and places of the movies. It's been a super big deal that there wasn't any inclusion of a red eyeshadow to represent Ariel's fiery locks and Sebastian's shell. I'm not to floored by it as I understand it's not the most practical of colors. It would have been cool to see but I honestly wouldn't know what to do with it. It
would, however, have been awesome for them to include a bright yellow shade for Flounder. Marvelle, from
Blog of Shadows, mentioned it in her review and I thought that that would have made a great addition! To make sure I properly review this for you all I've separated the review into sections. Nothing too crazy, just packaging and each row of colors! Not all the colors are spectacular, I will admit (even though it PAINS me to) and some are really fantastic so I'll go row by row and you can jump to the row that maybe has a color you're interested in! I won't be describing the color, as I'm rubbish at it, and I'll have swatches below of every color! I kept them very true to swatch :)
Packaging The packaging of this palette is bar-none (is that how you say it?) It's the most detail orientated package I've ever come across from the palette to the actual box it comes in! The outer packaging is so ornately decorated with the massive shell at the top, the seahorses to the sides and even the border around it all is decorated with seashells. The blue gradient in the background is just absolutely breathtaking, YES, breathtaking. Just look at the (massive amounts of) pictures below of the packaging. The back packaging has little Ariel's that depict the 20 shadows inside. Even the bar code is designed with a seashell and flanked by two mermaids! It's amazing! My favorite part is at the top flap that says 'dare to dream'. It resonates with me in so many ways!
The palette itself is crazy amazing to look at. It's got the tiniest of holo shifts when tilted up and down in some sunlight. It's completely flat but it does give off the impression of a glimmering ocean or the rippling water. That could just be down to the fantastic artwork! The front of the palette depicts the scene in The Little Mermaid when Ariel is wanting to be "part of their world" Girl, I want to be a part of your world. Anyways, haha, the surrounding detail is done in a silver-ish paint that depicts all her "gadgets and gizmos a'plenty" including her dinglehopper! It's so stunning and you can see the time and effort that went into creating it.
On the side there's a small, silvery tab that you can pull to reveal the palette's wonderful eyeshadows. You can remove the palette from the velvety box and use it as a keepsake if you'd like. I'll probably end up doing that when I've finished a good portion of the shadows! I like having the option of removing the shadows because it makes it much easier to hold!
Row 1 Shadows (Blue Lagoon, Scuttle, Flounder, Sebastian, Flotsam) I had no trouble with Blue Lagoon, Scuttle, and Flotsam. These three colors were very buttery to the touch and super pigmented. They lost some of their pigmentation while transferring to eye, but still looked nice. I wanted to really love Flounder and Sebastian. Both are matte colors and I find they're best at diffusing the brightness or darkness of some of the other colors. They're very light and definitely need to be built up. These two are also a bit more powdery which makes them hard to use besides as a blending color.
Row 2 Shadows (Seashells, Les Poissons, Caspian Sea, Your Voice, Unfortunate Souls) Seashells is a lovely shadow that's not too buttery and not too powdery. It makes for a gorgeous inner highlight. Les Poissons is so buttery my brush sometimes creates a bit of a dip if I dab to hard, but other than that it's nicely pigmented. Caspian Sea and Your Voice have somehow secured themselves as my favorites of the bunch. Caspian Sea is smooth and pigmented and so beautifully shimmery. Your Voice is pigmented but contains large sized glitters that would look beautiful if they bothered to transfer to the eye!! This one shadow is absolute fall out city so make sure to give this a good tapping before applying to your eyelid. Unfortunate Souls seems to be getting a lot of flack for being a "blah" color, but I love it! It's matte, albeit a bit powdery, but it's such a nice shade to use in the crease and decently pigmented!
Row 3 Shadows (Atlantica, Fins, Sick of Swimmin', Ursula, Shalala) I have no complaints for this row of shadows. Some do lean towards the powdery side but nothing a good primer can't fix. Sick of Swimmin' is my favorite of this bunch for the simple fact that it's got a gorgeous blue/green shimmer shift in it. Makes for such a unique and "mermaid-y" highlight. I've yet to use this all over the lid but I just might real soon! I also wanted to give an honorable mention to Shalala because that was a brilliant name for a shadow!
Row 4 Shadows (Triton, Wanderin' Free, Jetsam, Sea Witch, Treasures Untold) Okay, last row! I've got a bone to pick with Triton and Wanderin' Free. They are such wonderful shades that are pigmented and smooth but oh my lanta, why so much fall out? The colors are so lovely that I'm willing to work that extra minute with them but ugh, so much excess with just one tap of the brush! Jetsam, along with Flotsam are so cool because at first glance they look like similar shades but when swatched there are different colors pulled from each. One of them has a midnight blue and the other a teal and they're so fun to use with a smokier look! Sea Witch is a glorious purple that is pigmented and smooth, an overall great shadow. Treasures Untold is also a nice shade but I felt it was waaaaay too similar to Seashells :/
Is it worth it if you're a fan of The Little Mermaids/Ariel/Mermaids? Absolutely, without a doubt 100%, yes. There are so many fun colors to play with and the packaging alone will be worth it. It's a great collectible for anyone who is a makeup junkie and a fan of the films or mermaids. It does state 'Ariel' on the box, as it is her collection, but any mermaid fanatic will enjoy the silhouettes and all the oceanic detail.
Is it worth it if you're not a crazed fanatic? If you're not a crazed fanatic, but just a fan or someone looking to get a new palette I would say it was worth it if you're look to try some fun colors as well as neutrals. It's an overall nice palette, you can't knock the packaging! Some of the shadows are not up to par but some are above and beyond, so it's a real toss up. If the shades tickle your fancy then by all means, yet it's worth it! The shadows can get a bit powdery but nothing you can't work through. Just do you eyes first and then apply your foundation! Problem solved :) Now if you can't nab it, do I think it's worth buying off of eBay for crazy prices? Definitely not, unless, like I said above, you're collecting it, but even still - it's gorgeous, but let's not go into bankruptcy!
PHEW! That was a lot to take in, wasn't it? So ... what do you all think? :)
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