COLOURPOP ‘ELEMENT OF SURPRISE’ PALETTE ($16)

This is my third Colourpop palette and once again it didn’t disappoint! I really like their powder shadows. They have a soft formula with a good bit of kick up and fallout but they also have nice, buildable pigmentation and they’re easy to blend. CP comes up with some really unique shades and color combinations and best of all they’re cheap af! 

A few things to note here… three of the shadows (Opulent, Blank Canvas, Silk Street) have Red 7 Lake which is a dye that’s not fda approved for use on the eyes in the US. 

Have you guys noticed that a lot of companies have been using these dyes in eyeshadows lately? I know it’s nothing new so maybe I’m just more conscious of it now. Idk. I don’t have a sensitivity to dyes and I’ve never had a problem with using them on my eyes but you should proceed with caution. While looking at the ingredients, I also saw that a number of these eyeshadows are formulated with mineral oil, which is an ingredient I never noticed in CP products before. I mean it’s a $16 palette and I honestly don’t care all that much but I figured it was worth sharing.

 Oh and Labyrinth and Sea Stars are both sold individually as well. Do any of the other palettes have repeats like this? Again, no biggie. I like both colors and I don’t mind owning them twice. Okay on to the good stuff! Let’s look at the colors!

Feels is a shimmery white based duochrome with a pink shift and pink glitter. It’s actually pretty similar to Astral Ghost Orchid from the Pat McGrath palettes.

Late Night is a light rosy copper with a foiled finish.

Silk Street (not eye safe) is a deep fuchsia matte. Think a darker version of 143.

Rayon is a really interesting color. It’s base is a dirty peach shade and it has an iridescent teal overlay.

Go With The Flow is a light orange matte.

Subdue is another stunna shade! It’s a pale bluish lavender with pink duochrome shift and blue glitter. 

Opulent (not eye safe) is a bright magenta pink with a satin finish. 

Labyrinth (also sold individually) is a midtoned, matte dusty pink.

Blank Canvas (not eye safe) is a deep cranberry with a matte finish. 

Sea Stars (also sold individually) is a mid-toned matte brown with warm yellow undertones.

Details is a deep, matte burgundy with hot pink glitter. I really wish this color had a satin or metallic finish. It’s a gorgeous color but I hate glittery mattes. I always end up with more glitter on my face than on my eyes. 

Peace of Mind is a deep cranberry metallic.

Go With The Flow requires some layering on the eyes to get opaque pigmentation and Feels and Subdue are going to perform better if you apply them either wet or with your fingertip. And I already mentioned that Details disappointed me a bit. It’s such a beautiful color but the glitter doesn’t adhere to the skin very well on its own (it’s much more sparkly in the pan than it is in my swatches). Those are the only minor performance issues I came across while using the palette, everything else was smooth sailing!

Regardless of the few things I mentioned above, I do really like this palette. It has some gorgeous duochromes and mattes in shades that I haven’t seen a million times before and I like the mix of warm and cool tones. I really enjoyed using it this weekend and I would recommend it, as long as you don’t have a sensitivity to red dyes. Well worth the $16 in my book!