A Review: Sephora + PANTONE UNIVERSE Elemental Energy Eyeshadow Palette

     Hi all!  Today I thought I would finally do my in-depth review of the Sephora + Pantone Universe Elemental Energy Eyeshadow Palette, which is a product that is still available on Sephora's site (you can get it here), and is on sale for $25. I got this a couple weeks ago, and I have to say first that I am quite new to Sephora's eyeshadow formula. I don't know if the formula of these Pantone shadows is similar across the board to the other shadows they have to offer in their brand, but my overall first impression of this palette was that of pleasant surprise, as many of the shadows in this palette seemed nicely pigmented and the quality seemed to be there. I've had some time to play around with these shadows, and hopefully this review will answer some questions for someone who is contemplating on whether or not to purchase it. Swatches will be towards the end. 

Sephora + PANTONE UNIVERSE Elemental Energy Eyeshadow Palette

Close-ups of Each Quad

Earth

Air

Fire

Water

The palette's official description from Sephora's site:

Elemental-inspired hues in a variety of semi-matte, shimmer, and glitter finishes create multi-dimensional eye looks. The texture of these shadows is thin and rich, providing exceptional gliding quality while the saturated color provides an intense payoff with great adherence. The palette of creamy shadows can be used to create soft, sultry, or smoky looks in colors inspired by the natural elements. Colors can be used individually or combined to create varied looks.

Texture/Finish:

     Well, as a quick gloss-over, this palette is  in fact mostly what Sephora's description claims it to be. Something I noticed right off the bat when I opened the palette to start swatching was  the thin texture of the shadows. The mattes, however, are not what I would call semi-matte, as the description implies. They're pretty much to the standards of what a true, flat matte would be. I could not detect a floating sheen or really anything special of that nature with them. 

There are a total of eight  mattes in this palette, five  smooth, silky shimmers with no  glitter particles, and three  glitter finishes, two with a matte base, one with a pearly base.

Some shades in this palette are more pigment-saturated than others. In each 'element' quad, there are one or two beautifully formulated and pigmented stand-out shades, and at least one in each quad that has a stiffer, drier texture with less color payoff.

     I wouldn't call the texture, or feel, of these shadows creamy or buttery by any standards. If you're an Urban Decay junkie, and you're looking at this palette, and  you're looking for that same buttery rich formulation that UD is so famous for, then honey, just saying, this may not be your cup of tea. The formulation of these shadows reads more silky, sheer in application and even almost mousse-like to the touch to me (the latter being especially for the matte and pearly shades; these are all powder eyeshadows, just to clarify). 

     The three glitter finishes in this palette ('Emerald' in upper left earth quad, 'Potter's Clay' in lower left fire quad, and 'Teal Blue' in lower right water quad) I felt weren't all that special, and in my experience in application they were a few of the more underperforming shades in the palette, and the teal blue and emerald shades (the ones with a matte base) were especially very patchy and dry. 'Potter's Clay' was the most pigmented and workable of the three, as the underlying pearl base gave it a smoother texture.

Blendability/Application:

     How did these pan out when applied and worked with in action? Let's just be realistic here; this palette looks too pretty and aesthetically pleasing to even use. I didn't want to even swatch these shadows when I first opened the palette, as to not deface their texture. Yeah, I had to remind myself that I bought this palette to actually use it. So, do the shadows provide as beautiful and 'artistic' of an effect on the eyes as they do in their pans?

     I will say, the best performing shades in this palette are definitely the shimmer shades (finishes will be indicated in swatches below). The shimmers are smooth, a dream to work with, and very easy to blend. As for the shimmers, a definite A+ from me.

     The matte shades, however, proved to be very difficult to work with upon application. While most of the mattes are silky and pigmented, I could not get them to blend out properly. It didn't matter what method I used, or what tools I used, what base I used underneath; they would always blend out extremely patchy and dotty, especially the darker shades, making them a nightmare to work with. The unfortunate part is, the mattes alone make up half the palette, so that's half the palette I didn't enjoy using. The softer more light mattes, I can work with as highlights, transitions and such, but the darker mattes need to be worn in a more concentrated fashion, as they just don't really blend, and my daily eye makeup doesn't usually consist of a smokey eye, so I regrettably probably won't reach for these much at all.

     The glitter finishes, I hate to say, were also a bit lackluster. The 'Emerald' and 'Teal Blue' have pigments in them that stain the skin, and I used one of them in my eye makeup one day, removed my makeup that night, and walked fresh out of the shower with patchy bright green eyelids. Slept, woke up, still had green-stained eyelids. No, no, and oh heck to the NO for me. The 'Cendre Blue' darker blue matte in the 'Water' quad also has the same staining effect. On a better note, I had no problems with fallout with these glitter shades, and they applied nicely and, much to my surprise, blended a bit better than the mattes. However, this sparkly green and blue are a bit 'festive,' and they just looked out of place with the overall theme of this palette.

Packaging:

      I know that there are people out there who look at some beauty products as artistic pieces to add to their collection and want to keep them in pristine condition by using them as little as possible, or not at all (I'm not ashamed to say that I am included in the people who do this).

     I'm just going to say first that this packaging gets a 10\10, no question about it. The clear magnetic cover is reminiscent of INGLOT's packaging system. The only thing is that over time, the magnet may become weaker. The packaging is very sleek and minimalistic. The only thing though, is that this is actually quite a large palette (all the shadows are full-sized at .08 oz each), so this is probably best as a stay-at-home palette, and not a travel-friendly palette. If you're a collector, and want this palette purely because of the artistic components, then, by all means, it's more than worth it!



Diagram on the back of the actual palette

 Overall, I really think this palette is best suited for collectors, and not so much someone who wants to get a ton of use out of it. When it all comes down to it, it is quite a beauty to behold.

Swatches

Earth: Pebble (M), Emerald (G), Gingersnap (M), Rawhide (S)

 Air: Murmur (S), Mushroom (M), Sea Fog (S), Nutmeg (M)

 Fire: Dawn (M), Potter's Clay (G), Crabapple (S), Aztec (M)

Water: Blue Fog (S), Iron (M), Cendre Blue (M), Teal Blue (G)

💋 xoxo-Cailee