Urban Decay’s Alice Through the Looking Glass Palette
As little girl, I fell in love with Wonderland. Everything from the White Rabbit, to the Mad Hatter, to the Chesire Cat and hookah smoking Caterpillar had me captivated. Alice, with her curiosity and sense of adventure lured me right in and Lewis Carroll’s stories of Alice and the quirky characters she crossed will always be some of my very favourite.
So naturally, when I saw that one of my all time favourite brands, Urban Decay were collaborating with Disney’s ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ film on a collection, I was a little beside myself. I don’t think I’ve ever torn into a package so quickly as I did this one, and have been so eager to collect some thoughts and swatches for you!
“I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours”
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast”
Alice: “How long is forever?” White Rabbit: “Sometimes, just one second”
The Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Palette* is a piece of work all on its own. In true Wonderland fashion, it is slightly extravagant, boldly colourful and without a doubt memorable. In true Urban Decay fashion, it is jam packed full of colour, buttery smooth shadows and varying textures. It’s no doubt to me that this will be bought as a collectors piece, what with the gold foiled quotes and the pop up butterfly in the lid – it’s just special.
The palette houses an incredible 20 shadow shades which are all new to the palette and limited edition. It also has a brush like many Urban Decay Palettes do, but I find this one much softer than previous brushes! The shadows are a range of mattes, satins, metallics and glitters, and while there are a few underperformers, most live up to Urban Decay standards as far as I am concerned! each shadow is 1.3 grams of product (the standard UD shadows are 1.5 grams) making the value on this pretty epic if you ask me.
At first glance, I didn’t think I would use half the shadows in here, but after swatching I’ve come to realize it really is a very wearable palette for day to day with the inclusion of some whimsical brights that I’m sure the Red Queen herself would be happy with! Out of all 20 shades, I would say the top 3 performers were: Time (a stunning blackened navy with shimmer), Salazen Grum (a coppery cranberry metallic) and Dormouse (a classic tan transition/crease shade). The one shade that I felt really underperformed was Dream On (a glittery charcoal that felt gritty and lacked pigment).
As per Urban Decay standards, this shadows all blend beautifully (minus the glittery bomb of Dream On) and retain pigment when doing so for a vibrant, long lasting effect. I try and keep my swatches realistic for you guys: one swipe of the pan directly onto an unprimed wrist/hand. There is no re-swatching or multiple passes over the product to build up colour. While you can build with this to gorgeous opaque colour, I think it’s honest to show how they apply upon first swatch.
So if you couldn’t tell by now, this is a HUGE hit for me. While I’m obviously in love with the theme, I had legitimate concerns that the quality would let me down as sometimes themed collections can, but that just isn’t the case! If you’re initially spooked by the bright pops of kelly green and periwinkle blue, I urge you to really look at how many incredible neutrals there are. The inclusion of peaches, warm navy and plum make this an incredibly versatile palette!
The Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection is available NOW on Ulta’s website, will be available on Sephora’s website May 5th, as well as UrbanDecay.com.
“If Everyone minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does”
