x Kathleen Lights So Jaded Shadow Palette

1 Review

1. 

   sadRaisins7

   Reply

   While this palette is not without its flaws, I think it is a unique product with good performance worth the increased price from the average expectation with Colourpop. For reference, I have neutral light skin tone, muted coloring, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. I follow the beauty world pretty closely and this has been my first “beauty guru” collab purchase.

   While I know this is very subjective, the most impressive thing to me about this palette is the color selection. In my opinion it stands out not only from the dozens of other colourpop palettes, but from a majority of fall releases from other brands as well. This is truly a palette that takes advantage of the large number of shades it has. I do not find any of the shades to be redundant, unlike many of the Morphe/Too Faced/Tarte “mega-palettes” with multiple browns, mauves, etc. that all look the same on the eye. This palette serves effectively as a rainbow palette, but with a wearable twist by muting down the colors and pairing them with more traditional neutrals. I have muted coloring and opt for colors like olive, mustard, and brick shades a lot, so I love the way these colors are incorporated- it makes this stand out from the other “rainbow” palettes on the market. It also rings true to the “earthy” inspiration for the palette. Every major color is present in this palette in some form or another (i.e. reds, greens, blues, etc.). The only shade that I feel is “missing” that would complement the palette is some kind of pink, as the Rose Quartz, Smoky Quartz, and Moonstone shades lean less pink and more neutral. I really like the glitters as well, as they give you some options to make your look more dramatic for nighttime (I used Opal over a dark smoky eye for a bachelorette party and it was stunning). HOWEVER, they are not labeled as eye safe and I 100% understand that people might find these shades as a waste in an eyeshadow palette if they’re not technically safe for the eyes. While I choose to use the glitters on my eyes and really enjoy them, this is a completely fair criticism and I wish they had used smaller glitters so they could be labeled as safe for use on the eyes.

   For the most part, the performance of the palette is great. I have a lot of Colourpop single shadows, and they mostly stand up to my high end palettes. Except for a few shades, I don’t see a dip in quality from the standard Colourpop formula. The mattes are pigmented enough to have true color payoff without being intimidating or difficult to blend, while she shimmers are rich and smooth, providing a high-impact shimmer or metallic finish. They are easy to use and I’ve followed a few tutorials from YouTube with this palette- I was able to recreate all of the looks without any difficulty. My favorite mattes are Rose Quartz, Carnielian, Jade, and Stoned; my favorite shimmers are Pearl, Tiger Eye, Peridot, and Ruby. Diamond is also super pretty- I’ll toss that on top of any look for a shimmery, etherial finish and it just makes your eyes pop. The main shadows I have an issue with are Fluorite and Ametrine. Fluorite was actually one of the shades I was most excited about- it is really beautiful and unique in my collection. However, it has a harder press and is more sheer than the other shimmers, making it hard to build up to achieve full opacity so that duo chrome can show up. I have to use my finger with this because a brush has a hard time grabbing the pigment. I even wonder if they should have made it into a Super Shock Shadow like Diamond. Ametrine is another disappointment. The gold glitters throughout don’t show up if you use this shade as a matte color- instead they fall all over the face and leave sparse glitter everywhere. I haven’t tried patting this all over the lid to get the glitter to show up, but sparkle dispersed throughout a matte shade is not my favorite look in the first place. I wish it was just a pure matte shade. Otherwise, these colors wear well on me both with and without primer, I have gotten through a 16 hour day of work/baseball game without any fading. I’ve even used the metallic shades to make wings or as accents on the lower last line and they’ve held up through my perpetually watery eyes.

   So, this palette is $39- I was able to use a coupon code and get it for $33ish with free shipping. I know a lot of people were taken aback with the price when this was announced, as it is much higher than the average palette cost from Colourpop. The packaging is pretty average, just cardboard with no mirror or anything extra. However, I found this palette worth the cost- mainly because the color story and quality are what I would expect from a higher-end brand, which I would pay more money for if it was separated from the “Colourpop” name and packaging. I can use the neutral tones for work, and then use it again at night for more bold/creative looks. I know there are other palettes that can do this, but I have more options within each “category”- I’m not stuck with the same 1 or 2 work looks every day, or just a single dramatic nighttime look. Also, like I mentioned earlier, there are not really any redundant/repeat shades- you are truly getting 30 unique colors (if you want to see the opposite, take a look at any Morphe 35-pan palette or the new ABH Norvina mega-palettes, with 6 identical oranges/purples/etc.). I got this at launch and since getting this, I haven’t reached for any other palette.

   Overall, I think this is a fantastic palette that makes good use of the number of shades and has impressive performance across those shades. There are a few shades that could have a better formula, and while I like the glitter shades included, I completely understand that they are a big negative for those who choose not to use them on the eyes. If this color story speaks to you, I would 100% recommend this palette.