Good morning my lovelies!!
I just wanted to say THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! I really appreciate your comments and everything you do! I promise, I will continue to work on this blog which includes more reviews, more looks and tutorials with a better photo camera and I swear I will make videos too!
Anyways, I bring you a new review this morning.
Hard Candy is a division of Urban Decay Cosmetics LLC and had disappeared from the beauty market for a while, only to know be distributed again by Walmart, for example. Their products have been praised loud and proud regarding the price-value ratio, and since I’m always on a hunt for cheap but good products I was glad that Franca – a swap partner – gave it to me. so here’s my review.
The Packaging
Hard Candy‘s Kaleidoscope palette comes, unlike lots of other brands’ palettes in a hard-paper packaging. The design of the cover of it stresses the idea of looking through a kaleidoscope with the multi-mirrored images. It uses circles in different colors (neon pink, neon orange, yellow, lime green, turquoise, dark purple) that get smaller to two points on the cover, which kind of represents the feeling of looking into a tube/tunnel. It also different-sized circular viewing “windows”, so the customer gets a peek onto the included colours. The lid is made stay closed when the paletted is shut by a magnetic strip on the inside of the cover. The back of the palette has the same design as on the front, but without the viewing “windows”. It also includes the company’s contact details, and weight information. When you open the palette, the lid opens to the top and reprises the design of the outer layer with more different-sized centralizing circles in the same colors.
The Eye Shadows
All eyeshadows have a shimmer to them, but the Techno #1 in the middle that also has lots of silver glitter. Shades range from classic neutrals to bold bright colors.
The top row includes Fringe #4 (a light gold), Disco 2000 #2 (a metallic taupe with high frost) and Suede #4 (a shimmering beige).
The 2nd row offers Drama Queen #2 (a golden sage), Techno #1 (a black with silver micro-glitter), Delusional #1 (a metallic silver).
The bottom row consists of Star #4 (a irridescent lavender), Suede #2 (a electric blue), Pixie #2 (a bright metallic pink).
The Swatches
As you can see, the eye shadows are quite pigmented. Maybe not as department store brands, but they do show up well and they also blend well. What I loved is, that they blend well and that the micro-glitter in the black shade doesn’t make it more difficult.
I have a very light skin tone, so for me, the Fringe #4 shadow almost doesnt show. it just gives my skin a slight golden shimmer. Same goes for the Drama Queen #2: very light golden color, with a bit of a olive green shimmer to it. My favorites are Techno #1, Delusional #1 and Disco 2000 #2.
The Verdict
I absolutely love this palette. I’ve already bought another one by Hard Candy called Secret Stash, which I will review as well. I don’t know about the actual retail price of the Kaleidoscope, I don’t think they still sell it at all. I couldn’t find any palette of this sort in the Walmart’s sortiment. But I assume this palette could have not been more than $10USD and for that, IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. The colors are vibrant and highly pigmented (maybe not as much as MAC, but they do their job) and they last long as well, especially with the right base applied before. They also blend very well. You can create neutral looks, like I did today with my LOTD, or more colorful, sexy looks for the evening, especially with that micro-glitter black shadow.
