So here we are with the start of a new series where I pull out a few palettes from my collection each month and have a play with them. The idea of this project is to use and appreciate the collection I already have, declutter anything I’m no longer feeling – and I may remind you of any old palettes you may have forgotten about too and help find new ways to use them. I plan to have about 4 palettes in each month, but as I only came up with this idea in mid-January, and one of the palettes was a little large – I decided to start with a modest two items from very different ends of the price market.
Colourpop Sol Eyeshadow Palette Review
The palette that inspired the series. This was one of two of the first 9 pan palettes Colourpop released back In 2018. When I was sifting through my Colourpop drawer I found this tucked towards the back and it’s one I must have not used in over a year, but I could see just how well-loved it was with good dips in the pan.
One of the things I love about this is the mix between the oranges and very-warm-toned neutrals. For such a small palette I can create a monochromatic orange, warm neutral or look that sits balanced between.
In terms of formula, at the time these were some of the best from Colourpop, however, I do think that their 9 pans have got a little better as their metallics are often their Supershock Shadow formula which tend to be a lot more foily in appearance. But that being said, there isn’t a bad shade in this palette but I do think the evolution of these palettes has been for the better. Through the month I’ve hit pan on the right in the middle row and the orange on the bottom corner seems to be getting close too. The shade that stands out to me the most in the palette using it this time around is that bronze metallic in the middle on the top row, it’s so reflective and foily on the eye.
Colourpop no longer makes the Sol palette, they do have an all Orange palette called “Orange You Glad” which I highly recommend if you’re after something on the colourful side and they have a lot of warm-toned neutrals and virtually release a new one each week if you want to stay on the more neutral side.
Packaging Comments: I know Colourpop Packaging has some mixed thoughts between their plastic and cardboard usage, whilst it sways me neither way if I want to purchase a palette, I personally prefer plastic for wear and tear reasons. The white is a nightmare to keep clean and the foil logo on the front is wearing away a little.
Price Point thoughts: When these first came out they were $12, CP now tend to be at $14 for their 9 pan palettes (collaborative palettes such as the Mandolorian are more). Personally, I will very rarely buy CP at full price as there’s 30-50% off weekends running every month. CP into the UK also comes with an import charge which does play into the affordability of it and something that is cheap can suddenly become more expensive when you’re only ordering one or two things.
Keep or Declutter: Keep! I really enjoyed using this one and can see Sol being a palette that I could decide to pull out for travel as I can do a lot with it.
Looks Using Sol:
Pat McGrath Celestial Divinity Palette Review
I feel guilty that I never got around to reviewing this palette, it was a limited edition holiday release for 2020. But it’s one if you follow me on IG, that you’ll know I love and use all the time. It is quite possibly my all-time favourite palette, but despite that, I’ve never considered it as a palette that doesn’t have some “problems”.
This is largely a metallic palette with a high foil finish, several of the shades have a duo-chrome effect too, with a variety of colours. Mostly in the purple and warm neutral families, but a few pops of gold and olives in there too. There are three matte shades in the palette, a medium rosy pink which works as a transition shade, a deeper plum shade for outer corners and a deeper chocolate brown also suiting outer corners. Those mattes have always struck me as a little odd, pairing those olive tones with a matte pink has never struck me as something that would work so I tend to use the palette alongside something else – which has been fine as the metallics are just SO spectacular.
With this project, I didn’t want to use another palette alongside it and wanted to find out how those matte shades could work with the ones I thought they wouldn’t. And Pat might just be a genius. The pink and plum mattes work with all of the metallics I’ve paired it with a slightly different hue and other times it looks like a more colourful pop – but it doesn’t look like a horrendous combination which is always what I expected.
I do think the palette could have had one of the shades swapped out for a neutral transition shade and that would add A LOT to the palette and its usability for the average Joe who is maybe a little less colour confident, but despite the fact the pink matte does work as a transition with the gold, if I want to keep a look fully neutral – it would be nice to have that option. I’d probably bin one of those lighter golds from either the top or the middle row as they are almost identical and coping with one would be easy!
Packaging thoughts: I like how lightweight this is, but I wish everything was a little closer together just to make this a bit easier to travel with. This is an 18 pan palette, so I don’t expect it to be palm-sized, but I don’t own a single makeup bag this can fit into. Personally, I would happily ditch the mirror, I never use them. The fully cardboard design keeps it nice and lightweight, although the matte black on the inside is impossible to keep looking “neat”. I loved the design on the front of this.
Price Point thoughts: This format of palettes is easily the best way to experience the PMG formula, the quality is excellent and you get a lot of variety in here. The pans are smaller than the Mothership palettes which retail for around £120 (these come in at about £75), but I’d love a whole drawer of these in every colour-way possible. Sadly they have only released this format twice and both have been at Christmas, so we have a little while to wait until the next one if the format stays the same.
Keep or Declutter: I had no doubt about what would happen with this one when I picked it out! It is probably the easiest keep I’ll ever make. I already loved this palette but love and appreciate it more now I understand the matte shades better by forcing myself to use it as a whole.
Celestial Divinity Looks:
So there we have it, two excellent palettes to have kicked off this series with. I’m having a little of a hard time putting away these into my drawer to concentrate on others during February – particularly this PMG one as it’s one I’ve used at least weekly since I got it over a year ago. I am travelling at the end of February so I’ve purposefully picked out a few palettes with that in mind as I want to be travelling fairly light!
If you’ve been a long time follower and have an interest in me revisiting a particular palette please leave a comment and let me know so I can pick that out for a March.
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What palettes to start with, both are incredibly beautiful and fun to play with! I love the variety you can achieve with the Pat McGrath palette and everytime I see the looks you create I’m inspired to keep perservering and experimenting too. Looking forward to the other palettes you will be revisiting and what you end up keeping or getting rid of xx
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That PMG does strike me as one which the colour story just doesn’t make much sense, but it seems like being bold with the colours and just going for it is the way to go, whilst the pinks and greens feel like they shouldn’t work they just seem to!
I’ve loved the ones I’m playing with this month, it’s a really fun project!