Friday, November 4, 2016

What I'm Not Buying: Estee Edit Gritty and Glow Eye and Face Palette Holiday 2016


Estee Edit, Estee Lauder's attempt to be cool and reach a younger audience and faced by Kendall Jenner, has released a magnetic eye and face palette for the holiday season. 

And I won't be buying. 

But to be honest with you, this is an item that tempted me quite a bit. Before realizing I had a problem buying makeup and before I've started critically evaluating all products that interest me, this is the type of product I would have purchased immediately upon seeing swatches. I would not have considered how often I would really get use out of it or look at my own collection to see how many repeat shades I have. I would have just purchased it. 

I like the eyeshadows. I think they are dark and pretty and an interesting selection of colors. 


Photo: Temptalia

I also think they look really similar to the Estee Lauder and Victoria Beckham eyeshadow palette:



When I looked at swatches of the Gritty and Glow palette, I was really intrigued. The colors look gorgeous. But I also couldn't help but notice the similarities with the Wet N Wild Comfort Zone palette:


Photo: Temptalia

The top two colors in Gritty and Glow look like Eyelid and Crease on the left-hand side, the middle left color looks like the left-hand Definer shade, and the bottom right color (when swatched) looks like the right-hand Definer shade. 

Throughout my entire collection, I have a duplicate of every shadow in the Gritty and Glow palette. And really, it's because the shadows are not that unique. The most unique shade, in my opinion, is the shimmery forest green, but I have a color very similar in the Nubian 2 palette by Juvia's place that is even prettier. Added to that, the black shade would be a waste for me. I've mentioned this many times, but black shadows are not my favorite. I know a lot of people like them and use them as liner or to smoke out looks, but a black shadow will easily be the least used in any of my palettes. So whenever a palette includes a black shadow, I have to factor that in to my decision to buy since I know it will likely never be used. 

I also really liked the colors in the face palette:


Photo: Temptalia

To be completely honest, when I first saw pictures of the Gritty and Glow palette, I was most attracted to the face side, but I thought it was an eyeshadow palette. Estee Edit has remarked that these colors can be used on the eye as well as the face, but it kind of throws me thinking of this as a face palette. 

The main thing that confuses me is the size of it. These are the same sized pans as the eyeshadows, but will be used with a much larger brush. Personally, I would find it awkward trying to cram my blush or highlight brush into one of these pans, specifically trying to avoid the other pans. I know I would either mess up my brush pinching the bristles so that they would fit, or I would swipe blush across my cheeks and find I have a random stripe of bronzer as well. 

As eyeshadows I think these colors would be really pretty, but there are two really similar colors to the eyeshadow side of the palette. So you would only really get four additional shades on this side of the palette. And while pretty, these colors are really not that special or unique. They are pinks, bronzes, and coppers—nothing groundbreaking. 

The palette is $58 for six eyeshadows and six cheek products or 12 eyeshadows. At 1.62 ounces, it has a ton of product, more than double the likes of the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette and a pre-made 15-pan MAC palette. Taking the amount of product into consideration, the price tag seems reasonable, but only if this was the sole item in one's collection to satisfy all eyeshadow, blush, bronzer, and highlight needs. If this palette is just one of the many in your collection, it doesn't matter how much product it has. You're likely never going to get through all of it. So paying more for extra product doesn't really pay off in these cases. And looking at it as getting six or 12 eyeshadows for $58, that's quite expensive and much higher than other mid-range palettes. 

Estee Edit on the whole just doesn't do it for me. This was the first item from the line that genuinely interested me, and I was happy to see that it has received generally positive reviews. The first launch of products seemed really lackluster in terms of quality and presentation, so it's nice to see some progress. I feel like the line on the whole is pretty gimmicky, however, and I don't really understand it. Generally Estee Lauder is thought of to be makeup for "mature" women, so I can see the value in hiring Kendall Jenner to promote the line to younger customers. But the price tag is still very high for Estee Edit products, which doesn't really make sense to me. If you're marketing to younger consumers, shouldn't the price be within something affordable for younger consumers? Typically Estee Edit packaging seems unnecessary or complicated, which I think applies to the Gritty and Glow palette as well. I like the general concept of what is going on in this palette, but think the colors are just not that unique or interesting for me to really get full use out of. And I won't be buying.  

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