Hey everyone!I have an exciting (and long, and picture heavy) post for you today. I know it is a little late, but I have swatched and reviewed the
'Dark Shadows Crimson Amulet Palette' by NYX. This bad boy has 24 eye shadows, 5 blushes, a highlighter, 4 lip colors, primer, and liner. This retails for
$28, at Ulta, and is inspired by the recent Warner Brother's movie.
So let's get to it!
Make sure to click on the pictures to see all the loveliness up close! The packaging is really awesome. The palette comes housed in the decorated box as seen above.
The back has a description of all of the products as well as ingredients.
The palette is magnetic and opens up like a book. The front left hand side has 24 eye shadows and 4 double sided applicators. There is also a nice sized mirror.
The back section has three looks from the movie, the primer, liner, lipglosses, and blushes. The background of the inside has a creepy picture of Collinswood manor. It was clear there was a lot of thought put into the packaging here.
Here are the first 12 shadows. Please be aware that they ARE NOT named by NYX, I gave them fun names from the movie to describe their colors and make it easier or the swatches. I loved the movie so I had fun with this.
Here are the last 12 shadows, once again, named by moi.
Swatches of the shadows and everything else after the break! Keep reading!L to R: 'Stuck in a Coffin' which is a basic matte black. I wasn't too impressed with pigmentation.
'Angelique': a sparkly cream glow. Not very opaque.
'The Wharf': A dusty purple with pink shimmer. Interesting color, not great pigmentation.
'Dr. Hoffman': Vibrant pumpkin orange, so creamy. A winner from these four.
'Courtship': A dusty rose with lots of shimmer. Pretty decent.
'Elizabeth': A muted, taupe olive. Nice wash of color, lots of shimmer.
'Vicky': Neutral beige with shimmer.
'The Curse': Dark sapphire with blue and silver micro-glitter. Black base. A little tricky to work with.
'Willie': A denim with purple glitter, very sheer and streaky.
'David': Emerald green that turns grey on the skin.
'Roger': A burnt sienna with gold glitter, decently pigmented.
'Barnabus': One of my favorites. A lush violet color with lots of sheen.
'Carolyn': A matte off-white. NYX does not do mattes well, unfortunately.
'The Manor': A matte brown. Ditto.
'Untimely Death': Matte taupe. Double ditto.
'Victoria Winters': Love this shade. Snow white with lots of glisten.
Sorry this swatch sucks! My camera was revolting against me.
'Ghostly': A shimmery light brown. A nice staple.
'The Forrest': Dark matte brown, streaky and awful.
'Sickly Pallor': A shimmery pale pink.
'Just a Bat': Deep deep matte brown. Nearly black. Tough to work with, would be a good brow color though.
And the last four...
'Hidden Secrets': Great shade, light beige with pink sparkle.
'Playboy': Even lighter beige with a hint of pink, these two are very similar.
'Collinwood': My other favorite. Rich, coppery, shimmery. Perfect.
'Gilded': Light yellow shimmer.
The set comes with a mini version of their HD Shadow Base (which I love) and a black liquid liner for creating a strong cat-eye. Both products are good and don't seem to be different formulas from their original sizes.
The primer is nice and creamy and the liner SUPER black, I love it!
Now for the blushes. Once again, I gave these pretties my own names.
'Innocent': A light matte pink.
'Dangerous': A true matte red blush. These are hard to find!
This kinda makes the palette worth it in my opinion, I mean, just look at that pigmentation and matte finish!
The next two blushes are shimmers.
'First Love': Is a peachy, golden blush. Almost a NARS Orgasm dupe.
'Vampire Blush': Is a lighter version of 'First Love'.
They are both pigmented and lovely. A little shimmery though.
This last blush is nearly full-sized and I called it
'The Seventies'. It is a blush, bronzer, and highlighter seemingly all mixed into one.
This is very bright and sparkly. Pretty on my hand...not sure about my face...
The highlighter shade is a creamy, nearly opaque off-white with shimmer. I called it
'Not Edward's Sparkle' because Barnabus is cooler.
Blended into the skin, it is very golden and pretty. It has a lot of shimmer but not outright glitter.
The lipglosses come in dual pots like this. They are kinda sticky and need some warm up time.
'Bloodlust': Is a bright cherry, no visible shimmer.
'Amulet': A dark blood red in the pot, a deep cherry stain on the skin.
They are both highly pigmented, but sticky.
'Just a Kiss': A coral that is bright and summery.
'Undead': A nice brown-tinged nude.
These need frequent application, which is a bummer.
So...what do I think?
I think that the Crimson Amulet palette is fun and designed very well. Only about 8 of the 24 shadows are good enough to put into my everyday routine. The primer and liner are keepers. All 5 blushes and the highlighter are of really high quality. The lippies I could do without. And honestly, it was ten times more fun because I named my own shadows...but you don't get to. Or you can, if you want to be weird like me.
Final Thoughts:Price: 8/10
Staying Power: 7/10
Packaging: 10/10
Color/Wearability: 7/10
Quality/Branding: 8/10
Total: 40/50 = B- = Kinda Satisfied Panda
So, are you still interested in this palette? Would you want me to create some looks with it? Drop me a comment and let me know!
xoxo PrettyPanda
