Adorable Napalm: Frugal Friday: Urban Decay Rollergirl Palette Review

Seriously, this is all I could find this week. How sad is that?:

E.L.F.: $1.99 shipping on any order $15 or over with code 199SHIP. Exp. 3/26.
Too Faced: Free deluxe Chocolate Soleil Bronzer with any purchase from the new Summer Royalty collection. No code necessary. Exp. 3/31.

Today's Frugal Friday tip/trick is very simple: Don't forget about brand websites.

You see, I have gotten so dependent upon Sephora and Ulta for all my cosmetic needs, that I sometimes forget that my favorite brands have websites, as well. If there's something I want, I check either Sephora or Ulta, and if they don't have it...well, I guess I didn't need it. Except that sometimes I really do need it, like when my favorite foundation was discontinued. Or, I didn't realize I needed it at the time it was available, and now that I've seen umpteen-thousand reviews on it, my life will not be complete without it, like the Urban Decay Rollergirl Palette. When I checked the specialty stores, I was completely out of luck. However, when I surfed on down to the brand sites, and clicked on their pretty, shiny, SALE icons, I found exactly what I needed, and for much lower prices than I normally would have found. In fact, I saved so much on the Rollergirl Palette, that I was able to pick up a set of insanely-reduced 24/7 Shadow Pencils, too, so...SCORE!

(Actually, in all honesty, the foundation was still a no-go. The brand site did still carry it, though, just not in my shade. That said, the shades that hadn't sold out were marked down to a third of their original price. That's crazy.)

The moral of the story is: Always check the brand websites sale sections. You never know what you're going to find, or how cheap it'll be.

Photo Credit: Urban Decay

Now, with that, how 'bout a review of the Rollergirl Palette? I know, I'm a little (okay, a lot) late to the party on this one, since it's been around for a year; but the pricing hasn't been this good up until now, and I'm not made of money. If you're like me, you've held off on purchasing this, and now that it's only (*gasp*) $13.00 (reg. $32), you're seriously considering it. This review is for you. Personally. I hope you feel all nice and special now.

Okay, first off, I'm a palette junkie. I love having everything neatly organized for me in something I can toss in a purse or travel case. Plus, with palettes, you generally get a lot of product for not a lot of money (comparatively speaking, of course). In this case, the combined retail price of each individual item would have been $73.85 (thank you, Temptalia, for doing all that math for me). Even at $32, that's a deep discount.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. What might those individual items be? Glad you asked! You get four full-sized shadows (okay, so a smidgen less because they're square and not round, but it's a negligible difference. It's the same as the Midnight Emergency palette.), a two-thirds-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Whiskey, and a deluxe sample-sized tube of Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Crush.

Packaging: The palette is economically-sized to hold just what it needs to and not take up any extra real estate. There is a small and, unfortunately, fairly useless mirror on the inside of the hinged lid. I guess it's better than nothing, but if they'd skipped it entirely, I wouldn't feel any worse off. The four shadows are lined up inside, with the liner nestled in an crevice underneath. The lip gloss is separate, and can not be enclosed in the palette. The palette, itself, is constructed of an extremely heavy cardboard, opens on a hinge, and closes magnetically. I would not feel safe carrying this in my purse, because at worst it could fall open and the contents could be damaged. At best, the dust from the eyeshadow could coat everything else floating around in my purse. I do think it would be okay in a well-organized travel case, though. The cardboard edges could get dinged up a bit, but the products, themselves, should be fine. The entire palette is decorated in disco-worth metallics, florals, and photos of some bodacious babe in a bikini. She is wearing roller skates, if that helps. 6 out of 10.

Eyeshadows: The products are where the palette pays off. Starting with the eyeshadows, you get: Darkhorse (deep chocolate brown with bronze shimmer), Suspect (bronze shimmer), palette exclusive Verve (shimmering mushroom), and Woodstock (shocking pink shimmer). That's the surprise inside, folks. One of these things is not like the others, and that's Woodstock. I thought there was no way on God's green Earth I could pull that off, but the other colors were so gorgeous that I figured I could deal with one clunker, and maybe it would come in handy on occasion. Guys, that's my new favorite color to wear. It's beyond amazing, and completely wearable, but more on that in a minute. The shadows are, as per usual for UD, wonderfully pigmented and smooth to apply. I am loving that these are shimmers and not glitters, because hot pink fallout is not a good look on anyone, and there's none of that with this. They're just darn fine shadows. Of course, if you already have the Naked Palette or Book of Shadows Vol. III, you really don't need this, as they contain Darkhorse and Suspect (respectively), and Woodstock is part of the permanent collection. If you don't, though, or just like having coordinating shades packaged together, this is fabulous. 8 out of 10.

Eyeliner: I'm in love. More often than not, I opt for brown liner over black, anyway, so I was tickled to see this shade included. Unfortunately, I've never been able to find a pencil liner that applied easily...until this one. It's like butter, y'all. Better still, after several hours of wear in uncomfortably humid weather, it hasn't budged. At all. I'm sold. 10 out of 10.

Lip Gloss: This was another product I was originally concerned about. I've been burned by hot pink lip gloss before, but figured, "what the hey?" Afterall, it was the shadows I was after, anyway. This was just bonus, and I supposed I could let Mom give it a shot if it didn't work out on me.

Sorry, Mom.

In the tube, the gloss is a scarily bright pink. To quote Temptalia, "It’s almost like magenta met bubblegum pink, and then they had a lovechild." When you apply it, though, it's so sheer that you just get a wash of color. It's not a natural flush, but it's not too far off. This is part of the permanent Lip Junkie collection, so you can grab it without getting the rest of the palette. What's funny, though, is it'll cost more that way. Not too sticky, minty, feels smooth and moisturizing, and it plumps lips. This is a really nice gloss. 9 out of 10.

Final Verdict: 8.2 out of 10. Well worth the $13, even if you just want one item out of the group.

Now, I promised that the pink was wearable, didn't I? Well, here's how I did it:

1. Apply Woodstock from lash to crease.

2. Sweep Verve on browbone to highlight.

3. Shade crease and outer corner with Darkhorse for definition.
4. Layer Suspect over Darkhorse and blend outward.
5. Line lower lashes with Darkhorse, and upper lashline with Whiskey.
6. Brush mascara onto upper and lower lashes.

Behold, the cruddiest snapshot ever!!!