Bling Bling! Urban Decay Face Case Palette

I'm doing a lot of traveling this year, and have found, in the past, that palettes are the way to go. Toss one or two in a case, add a couple of brushes, and you're done. My latest palette find came from Urban Decay, and while it's not perfect, it's darn good. Here's the breakdown:

 

Urban Decay Face Case:

3 Eyeshadows (Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Grifter, Twice Baked)

Afterglow Blush (Hookup)

3 XXX Shine Lip Glosses (Love Junkie, Naked, Carney)
Dual-Ended Brush Applicator

 

Now, I caught this item on sale at Sephora Inside JCPenney's for $15. That's a phenomenal price, considering one lip gloss alone is $16. The item is no longer available online at Sephora, Ulta, or Urban Decay, but is on eBay. One listing even comes with a mini Primer Potion. Since this is a little on the difficult side to find, I'm going to review not just the palette as a whole, but also each individual item, in the event you're interested in finding certain pieces separately. The only things I've not seen available on their own are the blush and applicator, but I might have missed them somewhere. 

Alright, on to the review!

 

First off, the case itself is really nice. It's a deep grape color, and about the size of a small credit card holder. The inside of the lid is completely mirrored (YAY!), and the clasp, while not difficult to open, is tight enough to stop any worries of finding the inside of your purse covered in glittery and glossy goo. This could easily slide in a evening clutch, or possibly even a jacket pocket. My favorite part is how the case is rubberized. That gives enough traction to keep it from sliding out of said pocket, and also makes it possible to know you've got your hand on the right thing when you're feeling around the bottom of a dark and messy purse (not that I'd know anything about cluttered handbags...). Final verdict: I've seen some nice purse-sized palettes, but rarely one this well-made.

 

The brush is rubbish. I haven't been able to find it on its own, and that's just fine. The eyeshadow end is too small and stiff to do anything but a Kindergarten-grade job of applying, and you can forget about blending. The lip gloss end is serviceable enough, though. There's no way either end could apply blush, so you're on your own with that, anyway. Final verdict: keep it for touch-ups.

 

Okay, now for the actual makeup:

 

The eyeshadows come in the three shades mentioned above. Midnight Cowboy Rides Again is described on Sephora as "beige with tons of silver glitter". They might as well have just written "no color payoff, but you'll be blinking glitter for the rest of the day". Had it not been for the chunks of silvery beige glitter, I'd have never been able to tell I had any shadow on. I'm not sold on this one by itself, but it works well in conjunction with the other shadows in the palette, and could be a nice accent for a night out, or if you just feel like wearing glitter. I know I have those days. There is a ton of fallout, though, so be prepared.

 

Grifter is described as a "sparkling pale purple". I'd say that's a fair desciption. It's sheer, but buildable, with a very subtle sparkle to it. No glitter chunks to speak of, even though it looks like it would be full of them. This really made my hazel eyes pop, and worked beautifully with the other shadows in the palette.

 

The last shadow, Twice Baked, is a "brownie shimmer", which translates into a rich chocolate brown with a slight bronze sheen. This is beautiful in the crease and as a liner. As with Grifter, there are no glitter chunks and no fallout. 

 

Each shadow is $17, separately, at Sephora. I started out with Twice Baked in the crease, then lightly washed the color over my lids, giving the outside corner a little more intensity than the rest. I then applied Midnight Cowboy Rides Again over the Twice Baked in the crease area, and extended upwards to just under my browbone. Then I filled in the lid area completely with Grifter (the purple adds a pop of color, and the brown warms the lavendar so that auburn lasses, such as myself, don't look washed out). Finally, I lined upper and lower lids with Twice Baked, and was quite pleased with myself, if I do say so. Final verdict: great as a set. Individually, I'd stick with Grifter and Twice Baked, but go with UD's Stardust in Space Cowboy for sparkle. It's the same color as Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, but with much finer glitter and far less fallout.

 

The blush is almost a dead ringer for NARS Orgasm blush. I held the two next to each other, and the only difference is that the NARS has a little more depth to the color, mostly because of some shimmer. The UD blush isn't matte, but it's nowhere near as multi-faceted as the NARS. What this means to me, is I can leave my precious NARS at home when I travel, and not worry about it being broken in transit. Now, application was not as smooth as the NARS, but it also didn't splotch. Final Verdict: fine for travel, but if you're not buying this in palette form, just get the NARS Orgasm blush. They're so close in shade, that you might as well get the gold standard. $17, Urban Decay.  (Also, while Afterglow blush is available in other shades, Hookup appears to be out of stock.) 

 

The lip glosses are extremely moisturizing, minty as all get out, and come in three very flattering, neutral colors that don't try to compete with the blinged-out eyeshadow. Basically, tons of shine, but zero sparkle. The lightest, Carney, is a cotton-candy pink that gives your lips a little polish without looking made up. The next darkest is Naked, a nude-mauve that accentuates your natural lip color. The most intense, Love Junkie, is...well, awesome. 

 

In the palette, it looks scary. It's a wine that's so dark it's almost black. However, it goes on so sheer that it really just gives your lips a sexy, just bitten kind of flush. If you are at all familiar with Clinique's Black Honey Almost Lipstick ($14.50, Sephora), then you know what I'm talking about. The two are eerily similar in hue.

 

My only qualm with the glosses is that they are not long-lasting. That said, they feel like butter, aren't even slightly sticky, and look beautiful on. They're available for a time at Urban Decay ($16), but are on their way out. Final verdict: grab Love Junkie before it's gone, or give the Clinique doppelganger a try.   

 

So, there you have it. Each item, plus the set as a whole. I only wish I'd found this sooner, guys. If you do find the set, remember that these are your colors only. You will still need foundation, powder, and mascara. However, that's a lot less to stuff in a bag and risk losing on vacay.