Purchase

I finally found them! I’m talking about Wet n Wild’s Spring Forward Eyeshadow Palettes, which are limited edition for Spring 2013; first spotted several weeks ago, they’ve been quite elusive in my neck of the woods, and I didn’t find them until today.  I bought a set for myself and another set to give away; the giveaway is in a separate post here.

Since I just bought these palettes, this post is pictures, swatches, and initial thoughts, rather than a full review.

First up: Nude Awakening (Note: Do not search for the name of this palette on Google images with Safe Search turned off, at least not if you want to see eyeshadow!).

I swatched by going top to bottom down the left column, then down the right colum.

The left brownbone shade is my favorite shade out of both palettes; it doesn’t show up very well on my skin because of the color, but the finish is gorgeous – it’s almost but not quite matte. It’s a very similar finish to Burberry Trench, though the color is a little lighter. I think it is going to be my new favorite highlight shade, and this shade alone is worth the ($5) price of the palette for me.

Another thing I really love about this palette is that the eyeshadows aren’t overly shimmery; they’re more of a low pearl or satin finish, which I find really flattering. I hate to say it since it’s currently so hard to find, but I think I really love this palette (so far)

Nude Awakening’s color scheme – neutrals plus grey & soft black – is reminiscent of the Urban Decay Naked Palette.  So, I pulled out my Naked Palette to see if there were any actual dupes, and I found some similar shades.

Everyone has different ideas about what they consider a dupe, but I personally think Gunmetal and Creep are duped, and the Buck shade is similar, but not quite a dupe.

Moving on, we have Going in the Wild; I found that several of the eyeshadows in this palette were a bit harder than Wet n Wild’s usual Color Icon formula, and had less payoff than typical.

None of these four shades impressed me very much; the left browbone shade is pretty and sparkly, but not unique.  The matte lavender left crease shade was terrible – very poor payoff (the swatch is heavily layered).

I was also unimpressed by the yellow/gold right brownbone shade – mostly sparkle, little color.  The standout shade in this palette is definitely the mint green, which is gorgeous and very pigmented.  It’s a bit outside of my comfort zone in terms of color, but it’s so pretty that I might have to push myself to wear it!

Overall, if you manage to find these palettes, I suggest that you snap up Nude Awakening immediately! It’s a fantastic palette at a fantastic price.  Going in the Wild is more of an edge case; if you like the mint green, it’s worth it, but if you don’t, I’d probably skip it.

 

*As noted in this review, I purchased both featured products. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.