Saturday, August 12, 2017

What I'm Not Buying: Moschino X Sephora Collection


Sephora has teamed up with Moschino and created a bear-themed makeup collection. 

And I won't be buying.

If you didn't know, Moschino is a boutique brand where you can buy a sweatshirt for $400. And a lot of their stuff has a bear on it. 

The appeal of this collection, I think, is the same appeal makeup items from Chanel, Dior, and Tom Ford have in a lot of ways. I still remember the first thing I ever bought from Chanel—a black nail polish. I could not believe that there was something from Chanel that I could actually afford and then own. And I felt so fancy. So, my assumption is that there is a similar appeal with this collection. 

Because otherwise, this is just a giant bear-shaped eyeshadow palette with typical warm neutral shadows and "pops" of colors. 

And for a reality check, this is just a giant bear-shaped eyeshadow palette with typical warm neutral shadows and "pops" of colors. 

And if you're after this collection for the packaging (I'm assuming that is the core appeal for people), then that's one thing. But in terms of the makeup, this feels like a very unnecessary purchase. 

Let's talk about the packaging for a moment, because in these anti-haul posts, I typically talk about how buying something just for the packing isn't usually the best reason to make a purchase. If there is a product from Too Faced or Urban Decay or Estee Lauder or Benefit that has "cute" packaging that you really like, and you decide to spend upwards of $50 on it, trying to convince yourself that you will use the product inside even though you really know you won't, then, yeah, I would say you should probably resist the temptation to buy. But for this product—and entire collection—it seems as though the packaging is what makes it Moschino and what makes people who are fans of the brand want it. And I can't really argue with that. 

But here's what I will say: I just don't get it. I don't get why someone who is after packaging of something that has nothing to do with makeup wants to have it as a makeup item. If I was a fan of this brand, I would just want the giant bear for a decoration on my desk. I wouldn't want it to be an eyeshadow palette. Because as an eyeshadow palette, it is so impractical. 

And I guess I can understand the argument of wanting these "special packagings" because it combines two things people like: the brand or movie or whatever and makeup. But I'm having a really hard time imagining that people are going to be using the makeup in this collection, specifically the eyeshadow palette:


When I look at this product, I can't help but be reminded of those giant gummy bears:


And I just can't unseen that resemblance. 

As far as I can tell, this collection also includes a blush/highlighter duo, brushes, and lip products that include a bear-shaped lipstick holder necklace. 

I'm just gonna say it: This collection is about the gimmick/brand, and I don't think the best fit for it is makeup. Everything about this collection, except maybe the blush/highlighter duo and the lip products (outside of the necklace) feels like it is for display more than actual use, which, for me, begs the question: why makeup?

It's honestly hard for me to imagine people pulling out that giant gold bear in the mornings to apply their eyeshadow. That's not to say that people won't, but it feels very unlikely to me. 

Let's look at the colors:


When I first saw the colors in this palette, my immediate reaction is that it looks incredibly similar to the Jaclyn Hill X Morphe palette:


It also looks like Urban Decay After Dark:


And Juvia's Place Masquerade:


From my own collection, it looks like Viseart Bijoux Royal:


I'll just be blunt. There is absolutely nothing unique or innovative or exciting about the actual makeup in this collection. We have seen everything before several times over. The reason I paid more attention to the eyeshadow palette than the other items in the collection is because I think it is likely the item most people are interested in buying, and it's the item, I think, with the most "personality" in terms of the actual shade range. 

But, let's be honest. The people who are just wanting an eyeshadow with this color scheme are not going to see one in a giant gold bear and say, "That's the palette I've been looking for!" They are much more likely to buy the Jaclyn Hill or Juvia's Place palette. This item is specifically for people who want the Moschino bear. 

So, my anti-haul can pretty much end there. I would instead like to talk about the release and reception of this collection. 

At the time that I am writing this post, this collection has yet to become available to purchase. And its release date was supposed to be yesterday. No "official" swatches of anything have been made available, there haven't been many (I only know of one) reviews that talk about the quality and performance of the product, and the prices have all been raised from what they were originally advertised. All that easily makes this a collection that I personally would not want to purchase from. 

There was no announcement that the launch was delayed, and I have read many accounts of people being up all night refreshing the Sephora website in the hopes that they will snag some items in this collection. And, I don't know. This is a tough one for me. Typically I would write about how absurd, frankly, that kind of behavior is to snag an eyeshadow palette that looks like several on the market or a blush and highlighter that look like hundreds of others. But I don't know how to write about that kind of behavior when trying to snag a giant gold bear from a boutique brand. 

And I suppose what I can do is to appeal to what the product is: makeup. At the end of the day, it's an eyeshadow palette. Or makeup brushes. Or lip products. Or a blush/highlighter duo. If you are refreshing Sephora's website every five minutes, you very likely already have several of all of these items, and you probably have some that are your absolute favorites. 

This specific eyeshadow palette is $48. As I mentioned, I saw one review of sorts on the collection, but it was more focused on the packaging than on the products. The reviewer did not provide live swatches, so I don't know the manner in which they were applied (if it was over primer, with a brush or finger, or applied in several layers, etc.), but the swatches looked a little patchy. Now, I have said before that swatches are not absolute in showcasing how a palette will perform (look at ABH Subculture, for example), and since that was the only example of swatches I have seen, I honestly don't have a grasp on if I personally think the palette will perform well. 

But my guess is that because of how overpriced expensive everything from this brand is; and the fact that prices of these products were recently raised; and because in collaborations, since both parties need to be paid, costs of production are usually cut, my guess is that the quality of these products is not likely to be incredible. I could be wrong, since I haven't actually tried the products myself, but that is my educated guess. 

Going back to that Chanel polish I mentioned at the top of this post, the first "luxury" anything I ever bought, the item that made me feel so fancy, after the shine of owning something from Chanel wore off, I realized it was just a really expensive black nail polish. There was absolutely nothing unique about it. And a year or so later, the polish was essentially unusable, completely expired. I had spent upwards of $30 on a black nail polish that was no more special than one from OPI or Essie for $10. I had spent three times as much just to be able to say that I bought something from Chanel. I had a similar experience with the first Chanel eyeshadow quad I ever bought, my first Dior highlighter, and my first Tom Ford quad. (It took me a while to fully learn this lesson.) And of all of these "first" products, I have decluttered all of them. I have since purchased two different Tom Ford quads, and I have to admit that I truly love them, but that first one I bought was absolutely nothing special. 

So I suppose my thought is that no makeup item is worth losing sleep in favor of refreshing your browser. This is consumerism at its finest. People are literally buying (or wanting to buy) things they absolutely don't need because of the gimmick behind it. Because when people wear the products from this collection, there is not a single person who will know it is Moschino. Just like no one knew my nail polish was Chanel. 

I don't want anything from this collection. I don't care if Moschino is a fancy and expensive brand. I've seen a tee shirt riddles with holes for $4,000. You can slap any amount of money onto something, but it doesn't mean anything. While I think the colors in the Moschino eyeshadow palette look pretty, I have very well performing eyeshadows in all of those colors already. And, frankly, I don't like the giant gold bear. This collection is the epitome of consumerism, and I don't want any part of it. So I won't be buying. 

2 comments:

  1. This hasn't even launched in France. I must say, it doesn't scream fancy to me and I am a packaging whore lol. I am rather curious if the palette is made. No one mentions this.

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  2. I'm trying to find reviews of the actual product. I'm not much into labels and I think that you are right, everyone is going crazy because of the name. There seem to be some packing issues as well because a lot of items are coming broken.

    Still think you should buy it though- you could sell it on Ebay for hundreds of dollars!

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