What I'm Not Buying: Too Faced Just Peachy Mattes

At the end of the month, as a part of its "Peaches and Cream Collection" Too Faced is releasing the Just Peachy Mattes palette, a 12-pan all-matte palette filed with neutral shades and riding what seems to be the never-ending coattails of the Sweet Peach palette. 

And I won't be buying. 

(Sigh.)

It's been a while, I feel, since I have talked about Too Faced, but that's not for lack of new product releases or the brand giving "sneak peaks" way too far in advance. It's simply because I am so tired of Too Faced that I am even tired of writing about why I am not going to buy their newest whatever. 

And this upcoming release just really annoys me. But, I feel it is worth an anti-haul post in the hope that I can help someone out who maybe wants to buy this palette but knows they probably shouldn't. 

The reason it annoys me so much is because when I first saw pictures of this palette, my immediate, gut reaction was, "Oo, I want that." And I had that reaction despite Too Faced's deplorable track record, obvious marketing ploys, and the utter unnecessary nature of this release. Because, unlike their Sweet Peach palette, this palette gives the appearance of being somewhat more peach-toned. And I like these colors. 

So I totally get why people are tempted by this and why they are hoping (slightly irrationally) that Too Faced might improve their quality to something almost worth the price tag for this. (Which is $45.) But, even in a perfect world where Too Faced would grant consumers that one pretty basic expectation, I still don't think the vast majority of people who want this palette need it, myself absolutely included. 

First, I'll start with an obvious draw people have to this palette:

Yep. The packaging. This almost feels like "classic" Too Faced to me, before they started going so overboard with the cuteness. This looks to be a nice plastic/metal packaging with gold accents and a glossy finish. This also looks like it might have some weight to it, which inherently makes it feel a little more sophisticated. 

Unlike some of the other peach-theme products, this does not have a childish happy face peach:

And it has a pretty peach/pink ombre. The Just Peachy Mattes packaging seems perfect for people who really love cute packaging (and maybe prefer it over sleek, sophisticated packaging) but who don't like the saccharine packaging Too Faced has been putting out for the last couple years. 

And for people who buy products solely for the packaging, I imagine you don't need to read an anti-haul post on this product. You have very likely already made up your mind on if you like the packaging enough to spend $45 on it. And if that makes you happy, you do you. 

But for everyone else, let's look at the main attraction of this palette: the shadows:

If we could rewind time before I became so grossed out with the rampant consumerism, marketing tactics, and hype surrounding the beauty community, before I became a conscious shopper, and before Too Faced launched the Sweet Peach palette, had this palette been the teased Sweet Peach palette, I would have absolutely purchased—if I could have easily gotten my hands on it. 

I mentioned this in a post recently, but there was only one time that I have ever been a part of a huge makeup release/restock and been on the website at the time the product launched. And that was recently for the first restock of the Colourpop Yes, Please! palette. I did not plan my day around that restock. I saw what time it would be happening, and I put it in the back of my head. As it turned out, I had some free time at the time the palette was restocked, so I went on the website, purchased the palette, and that was that. There was no craziness for me; the website did not crash. It was just a normal transaction. I later read that the palette sold out within minutes and most people who wanted to get it couldn't, and it made me feel bad. I just don't understand why brands do that. 

So given the hysteria that Too Faced created for the Sweet Peach palette, if Just Peachy Mattes had the same low stock/website crashing issues, no. I would not have gone through that to try and buy it. As I've said before, it doesn't make me feel better than others knowing that I was able to get something that other people wanted and couldn't get. And I have heard people say that this is something they enjoy, and, to be frank, I don't find that to be an attractive quality in someone. 

I think if people are really honest with themselves, when they look at Just Peachy Mattes, they will know that this palette is filled with very common shades that are in so many palettes that most people already own several times over. 

Still, I can see these being some reasons people try to give to justify the purchase to themselves:

• It will be so handy to have an all-matte palette!
• It will be so handy to have a compact all-matt palette!
• I could use this to travel!
• I know I have other matte palettes, but the shades in this one are closer to my skin tone and it has all these great transition shades!
• It will be nice to have all these shades together because it is just so time-consuming and awful to reach for more than one palette, and that two seconds of time saved is so worth $45!

And, I'm sure you know this already, but all of those reasons are just complete BS.

Even if Just Peachy Mattes was of incredible quality (the jury is still out on quality, but based on every other Too Faced release of the past two years, it is more likely that the quality will be bad than good), it doesn't take away the fact that there is absolutely nothing special about this palette other than the hype, theme, and packaging.

In addition to the obvious (Sweet Peach):

This palette looks like ABH Modern Renaissance:

And Viseart Neutral Matte:

And Morphe 35O:

And Viseart Warm Matte:

And Urban Decay Naked Heat:

For an incredibly similar option, there's Zoeva Matte: 

From my own collection, I have Colourpop Yes, Please!

And my custom Inglot palette:

And just normal matte singles:

And my strong suspicion is that most people have at least one of the above palettes or their own collection of single shadows that duplicate the shadows in Just Peachy Mattes several times over. 

And, here's the thing with Just Peachy Mattes: there is absolutely no innovation in this release. So while people are excited that the packaging isn't incredibly tacky and hoping this means Too Faced is reverting back to what made them popular in the first place, this is still a boring, tired color scheme. When Colourpop released Yes, Please!, people were really excited because it was something that we really hadn't seen before at such a low price point. Sure, it looks very similar to the Natasha Denona Sunset palette, but those shadows are so overpriced that it's laughable. The color scheme played off of what was trendy (warm naturals), but brought something new to the table. 

Too Faced is not bringing anything new with this palette. They are relying on the fact that they will send out cute PR packages or take influencers on a trip or something like that to get influencers in a place where they feel they need to gush over this palette in order to keep getting PR and sent on the trips, and then impressionable people will want to feel "cool" like the influencers they watch and will feel a need to buy whatever is being talked about at this moment. (If you would like to read more about my thoughts on this topic, I recommend reading a recent post on ABH Subculture). That is really the only appeal I can see in this palette unless you don't already have all of these shades. 

And if you don't already have the shades in this palette and are truly drawn to the color scheme, I would really recommend instead checking out the Zoeva Matte palette. The color schemes are very similar, but Zoeva has truly fantastic matte shadows, and even with international shipping, the cost is still lower. 

To dispel the justifications I mentioned earlier:

• It will be so handy to have an all-matte palette!

You probably already have at least one all-matte neutral palette. You don't need another. 

• It will be so handy to have a compact all-matt palette!

See above note. 

• I could use this to travel!

Most people do not travel enough to really warrant buying a palette with the main purpose of traveling. 

• I know I have other matte palettes, but the shades in this one are closer to my skin tone and it has all these great transition shades!

If you are a makeup lover and are that concerned with having an entire palette of transition shades, you very likely already have plenty of transition shades. 

• It will be nice to have all these shades together because it is just so time-consuming and awful to reach for more than one palette, and that two seconds of time saved is so worth $45!

If you are willing to spend upwards of $50 to save a few seconds in order to not reach for another shadow (in the few weeks this palette will be popular and in regular use in your collection), I guess go for it. But we both know that is silly. 

Finally, I think it is important—always—to weigh the cost of a hyped makeup item against the amount of time that product is really relevant. I really love all the products in my makeup collection, and for the exception of Colourpop Yes, Please!, none of the items I have are ever really talked about. And I don't care. I bought them and use them because I love them. Not because they are popular and people talking about them makes me feel cool. But I know this is not the case with everyone. I belong to too many makeup forums where I read people saying that they don't care if they already have something exactly like it or if the quality is bad—they truly cannot stand not having the cool new thing everyone is talking about. And if I am being completely honest, that mindset makes me sad. Because those are the people these companies are quite literally banking on. And having the newest makeup item should not give someone self-worth. 

Too Faced products are essentially disposable. They are made to catch your eye and make you want to buy it, but they are not meant to be classic products. That's why Too Faced has more limited edition products than most brands. And because this is just a basic matte palette, there isn't a whole lot to really talk about with it. It's got the same amount of peach shades that Sweet Peach had, which is not many. So, despite the name, this palette is just your average matte palette. Hell, the same color scheme at Zoeva is just called "Matte Palette." Despite the nicer than average packaging, this product is just nothing special. I can see what Too Faced is doing with this palette and collection, which is the same thing they always try to do: suck the consumer in with gimmicks. But those gimmicks stopped working on me a long time ago. I have so many matte neutral shades in my collection that I absolutely don't need to add another palette. So I won't. 

What I'm Not Buying: Marc Jacobs Provocouture

Marc Jacobs has released six new Eye-Conic Multi-Finish eyeshadow palettes, and the one I am most drawn to is Provocouture.

But I'm not buying. 

I am currently recovering from surgery, and my very good friend was over visiting yesterday. She lives across the country, so I don't get to see her very often, but she is also my oldest friend, which means she knows all my patterns and quirks and isn't at all afraid to call me out on my BS. While she was here, I showed her a picture of this palette and said, "Isn't it pretty? I really want it." And without missing a beat, she looked at it and said, "You have all of those colors already" and returned to what she was doing. 

And while I was not very seriously considering buying this palette, it was kind of this perfect moment of friendship because she understood my makeup taste and knew what was already in my collection and knew that adding more of the same is not something I'm interested in. And it made me wish that everyone had a friend like her (for a lot of reasons). 

I've wanted to try Marc Jacobs eyeshadows, but have never been compelled enough to do so. And the reason for that is that I thought they were too small, not as great of quality as some of my other shadows, and overpriced. But when I saw that Marc Jacobs dropped the price of these Eye-Conic palettes (but also dropped the shadow size), I thought it might be worth it to try. Marc Jacobs Daisy is my all-time favorite perfume, and the Marc Jacobs blushes have become my favorite blushes, so I'll admit that this only heightened my curiosity. 

Looking at all the new Marc Jacobs palettes:

I have to say that I am actually excited by some of the color schemes that they're releasing. I think most people will be drawn to Scandalust, on the far left, because it is a basic warm-toned neutral palette, but as I've said, I was really drawn to the pinks of Provocouture. 

It's when I look at the swatches, however, that I stopped being tricked by the sleek packaging and the couple pretty colors. 

When I look at this photo, I see that there is very little difference between the first four shades in the palette. And if the shadows look like that in a swatch photo provided by the brand, where they want the colors to look as amazing as possible, that tells me that this would actually be a very real problem for me if I decided to purchase. 

And looking at the above colors, I can also tell you that I only really want the last two colors, and that, as my good friend said, I already have plenty of those in my collection. I have all of these colors, frankly, but I am not even drawn to most of them. I don't need or want a shimmy white shade, a shade that is supposed to look like a light pink but just comes off as another white, a light taupe, a shimmery light taupe, or a dark blackened brown. And at the price of these palettes, that's a ton of money to spend just because I was really drawn to two shadows—that I already have. 

When I started thinking about items in my collection that fit the bill of the pink and burgundy shades, I thought of the Urban Decay Electric palette:

Urban Decay Jean-Michel Basquiat Tenant palette (see this post for my thoughts on this palette):

Sephora Pro Editorial:

Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts:

Depotted shadows from Juvia's Place Masquerade: 

My custom singles palette:

And Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye Quad in Plum:

Outside of my collection, Provocouture also looks like Viseart Nuance:

Dose of Colors Marvelous Mauves:

And Colourpop Belle of the Ball: 

When I saw how many similar of duplicate shades I had in my collection, I wanted to laugh, but I honestly felt a little sick that I even considered buying this palette. What a colossal waste of money it would have been for me. I was drawn in by the sleek packaging and the fact that it's Marc Jacobs, even though Marc Jacobs eyeshadows have never been something I have needed to own. I used the Mac Jacobs eyeliner for years because it was the only thing to ever stay on my waterline, and I thought that absolutely justified the price, but I have since used a Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliner that works great and has replaced the Marc Jacobs. So while I think sometimes the performance of a product can help justify the price, other times, like with this palette, there are just so many cheaper shades that perform just as well, if not better. 

Another thing to note about this palette (and several of the new Eye-Conic palettes) is that the color scheme is so specific that it doesn't have a lot of versatility and therefore doesn't bode well for longevity. With a price of around $50, the fact that Provocouture is mainly pinks is kind of ridiculous. Because unless I'm someone who is truly just all about pink all day every day, that is a difficult color scheme to come back to day after day. For that kind of money, I would like to get some mileage out of my shadows and know that they are something I can continually return to. On the flip side, I would rather get something like the Colourpop shadows that are around $15 for colors that I might not use on a daily basis.

So, I find myself at the end of this blog post being reminded how easily one can fall into a consumerism mindset but feeling happy that I am again on the other side of it in a lot of ways. I have mentioned in a few of my other posts that I am currently recovering from surgery, and if I'm being completely honest, this recovery has not been easy. I have received a bit of makeup as gifts, and I have also purchased some replacements I've "needed" or things I have been meaning to get. And I am reminded, especially since I cannot move around, of how comforting online shopping can be. Think about it. When someone is ill, people tend to bring them something, whether it's flowers or a plant or a book or makeup. Part of that is to show someone that you are thinking of them, and part of it is because getting new things is comforting in a lot of ways. So I need to extra aware right now especially of my shopping habits and really evaluating anything I want to bring in to my life. 

This pink palette from Marc Jacobs seems to only be the surgery, recovery, pain, discomfort, and boredom talking. But, eventually all of this will pass. And when it does, I will be glad I don't have a huge pile of unnecessary makeup to declutter. I absolutely don't need to buy Provocouture, so I won't.

Thoughts on ABH Subculture, Disappointment, and Fandom

This is going to be a different kind of post from me. Before Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture officially launched, I wrote an anti-haul post on it. And in that post, I talked about how I was drawn to this palette because of the colors that I hadn't seen over and over again and—to be completely transparent—the hype. But, like most products, I had to talk myself out of wanting to buy it. And I did so by reminding myself of one important fact: I do not like the formula of ABH palettes. More specifically, I really hated the formula of ABH Modern Renaissance, which made me a pariah of sorts in the beauty community. 

As I said, I wrote that blog post before this palette was released. And since then, a lot has happened with Subculture. And so I would like to return to this product and continue the conversation a bit.

There is a significant amount of drama surrounding this palette, which is kind of absurd to me. I have an entire blog dedicated to my love of makeup and my exhaustion with consumerism, so I really shouldn't be surprised to see the aftermath of this palette release, but at the same time, I always come back to: this is makeup. And there are so many things that are more important happening in the world that people should care about, especially right now. 

And here's the drama: ABH changed the formula of Subculture to be cheaper than what was in Modern Renaissance (though the price of the palette did not change) and it seems to be one of (if not the number one) worst reviewed products of the year or in recent memory. While it seems a lot about the formula has changed, the most noticeable change is that mica was the top ingredient in Modern Renaissance, and talc is the top ingredient in Subculture. 

And consumers have been waiting for certain people to review Subculture before making a decision on it. When one person they don't like says the palette is bad, people have called them liars, all to change their minds when someone they like more reviews it and also says it's bad. And then there are those who are so faithful to ABH and to certain people who praise ABH that they will continue to call those who don't like the palette lairs despite negative review after negative review. 

What's interesting to me about this aftermath is that what people are experiencing with Subculture is a heightened version of what happened to me with Modern Renaissance. You see, with Subculture, there is a ton of kickback of powder when one dips their brush into a shadow, massive amounts of fallout when shadow is applied to the lid, and essentially no blendability. And these were all of my complaints about Modern Renaissance, in addition to the fact that I already had all the colors in my collection. 

Herein lies the problem and what I wanted to talk about today. It's not unheard-of for a brand to have a bad product. In fact, almost every single brand has had some kind of a flop product. Off the top of my head, Makeup Geek had the Sparklers:

Kat Von D had the Shade and Light blushes:

Becca had the Jaclyn Hill eyeshadow palette:

Too Faced had the Nikkitutorials collaboration:

the White Chocolate Chip palette:

 and several other disappointing releases. 

And of these flops, Becca and Kat Von D pulled the products off shelves and Makeup Geek offered a refund of sorts. Nothing happened with the Too Faced products, which isn't surprising as the brand seems to not care at all anymore about quality. 

With Subculture, however, I personally think it is becoming such a huge deal for two reasons:

1. People are (rightfully) disappointed in the poor quality and formula change 
2. People thought ABH was infallible. 

And the second point is the one I would most like to talk about. To be completely honest, I do not understand why Modern Renaissance blew up as big as it did or why people praise it so much. And I understand that I have to tread carefully here because so many people love this makeup item, but that's just it. It's just a makeup item. So I am going to speak freely about it. 

Modern Renaissance to me was nothing special. It looked like a combination of the Lime Crime Venus palette plus the warmer shades in the Kat Von D Shade and light eye palette:

I'm not sure if people forgot or just were not as involved in the makeup community at the time, but the Venus palette was crazy popular. It was constantly out of stock and very hard to get one's hands on. And it was very coveted by a lot of people. And then the Lime Crime website was hacked and the brand did absolutely nothing about it, the brand's owner started attacking people to a degree that I think most people had not seen before, and Lime Crime became one of the most boycotted brands at the time. 

So I think Modern Renaissance was a welcome product for a lot of people who wanted Venus but just could not support Lime Crime. And I get that. But still. As far as color schemes were concerned, Modern Renaissance was not the first of its kind, despite what many of its superfans believe.

I had owned Venus for a while before Modern Renaissance was released, but because of the ridiculous hype, I caved and bought Modern Renaissance as well. And believe me when I say that I wanted to love that palette. But I didn't get the hype. And I think that's mainly because I had owned Venus for a while and had access to all of those red and berry tones. So Modern Renaissance didn't feel all that new to me. It felt very much the same as what I had already been using. And since I'm a person who loves to wear a shimmer on the lid, and Modern Renaissance only had three shimmers (two of which looked too similar on my lid), the palette felt more like a companion palette to me, and I already had that in Venus. And I liked Venus better. Because I thought the shadows blended a lot better.

The formula was the other big reason people raved about the palette. The shadows were endlessly called smooth and buttery and silky. For me, they were too soft to work with. They felt really great to touch with my finger, but that feeling didn't translate when I used it on my eyes. Not only did I get kickback in the pan and fallout on my face, but the shadows were so soft that they either blended away or became very muddy on me. I tried so many looks with the palette and hated each one of them, though I loved the same looks I created with Venus. I finally had to accept that Modern Renaissance just did not work for me, and I returned the palette.

But whenever I talked about the issues I had with Modern Renaissance, people told me that I just did not know how to apply the shadows. I am by no means a professional makeup artist, nor do I consider myself close to having those skills, but I have been a makeup user for over seven years, and I have owned eyeshadow from nearly every major brand. And the Modern Renaissance shadows, in my opinion, were incredibly high maintenance. I was told that I needed specific brushes to use the shadows (which, by the way, did not include the brush that came with the palette). I was told that I needed to tap the shadow off on my hand first before applying to my eyes. And I was told that I needed to apply a base of powder first. But here's the thing. I don't need to do that with literally any other shadows in my collection. And they all work beautifully. So why should I have to put in so much effort just to get a very hyped palette to work for me?

Something interesting to note, however, is that I have a few ABH single shadows, including Buon Fresco, which is in Modern Renaissance:

(Buon Fresco is on the top left)

I really love this shadow, and it works great for me. In fact, I love all of my ABH single shadows. I think they are gorgeous. And I have zero issues with them. They perform beautifully, including Buon Fresco, which did not work at all for me in Modern Renaissance. 

But I think the reason that so many people feel so strongly about Modern Renaissance is because it was the first major makeup purchase for a lot of people. And a lot of influencers really hyped it.  

Let's get back to Subculture:

I read a comment recently about Subculture that largely inspired this post. On the eve of this palette releasing online at Sephora, (it released on the ABH website first), in a discussion about all of the terrible reviews it has received, someone said something to the effect of:

I don't know what to do. The reviews are all so terrible, but this is ABH. I don't want a bad palette, but I don't want to miss out on getting the palette and then be the only person who doesn't have it. 

And that's when it hit me, hard in the face, the impact YouTube, social media, and "influencers" have had. It's the same reason why hoards of people attacked those who had negative things to say about the Jaclyn Hill and Morphe palette. Or why people have excused racism and misogyny in favor of a lipstick. When they watch someone online and follow all of their social media accounts, they feel they know that person, and they want to be that person's friend. And when their "friend" says something is great or had a hand in making it, there isn't room for any other opinion. And when several of their influencer "friends" are all hyping the same item, it is like being in middle school or high school and everyone has this one purse or bracelet or whatever and you don't. And so then all of a sudden you want it—even if you didn't want it before—just so that you can be like these people you admire.

But, and I've said this before, no one is going to know that you are wearing an ABH palette and are therefore "cooler" than if you were wearing Wet N Wild shadows. Sure, you can follow some influencer tutorials, and that might give some happiness, but there will always be other products and other tutorials.

What's odd to me is that now, in addition to people being diehard fans of influencers, they are also diehard fans of brands as well. Following the success of Modern Renaissance, a lot of people really felt as though ABH could do no wrong, even though a lot of their new releases were kind of disappointing. Their stick foundations, for example, did not receive stellar reviews, neither did several of their Glow Kits. But when people heard that Subculture was going to be a "sister palette" to Modern Renaissance, I think people just put blinders on and decided that this product was going to be amazing, end of story. And, here's the thing. If Smashbox released this exact same palette, do you think people would have gone nuts for it? I doubt it.

People bought into the brand, the promise that it was a Modern Renaissance sister palette, and the hype. And now there are countless reviews of people saying that Subculture is essentially unusable. There are photos of brand new palettes covered in shadow dust after one use. There are photos of people using the palette with powder all down their faces. There are videos of people trying to blend the colors only to blend them completely away or have the color stick and not move. There are photos and videos of the shadows oxidizing, which, to be honest, I didn't even know was possible. And there are videos of the shadows all but disappearing by the end of a day of wear. And yet, you still have people picking fights, telling those people that they don't know how to apply makeup, that they need to use special brushes (again, that are not the same as the one included in the palette), and that they need to pat the color off first before applying.

And things are not made better by the fact that ABH has remained silent on all of the terrible reviews and that Norvina (who created Modern Renaissance and Subculture) continues to give special attention on social media to those who praise the palette. In response to one person who hit pan on the eyeshadow the first time she used it (and then made a video showing it), Norvina publicly undercut her by saying that anyone can swirl their brush until they hit pan, and asking, "But why would you want to?" The woman who posted the video then received a ton of hate messages from people telling her she could not do makeup, which was not surprising. Because, for some reason, when a brand fandom grows so big that people think they are infallible, there can't be room for differing opinions. And that is absolutely something that should change.

I don't understand why makeup and this community have to be to this way. Think of how absurd it would be if my friend absolutely loved a pair of jeans and thought they looked incredible on her, but I tried them on and thought they look terrible on me, and she got mad and me and said I didn't know how to wear clothes. It's just utterly ridiculous. And just because I say I don't like Modern Renaissance, that doesn't mean I am saying, "I think you look terrible when you wear that palette." Or "I think your makeup looks like crap and not blended because I didn't like how those shadows blended." But that seems to be the way people take it when others say they didn't like a product that someone else really loves. But then that leaves no room for differing opinions.

In all of the Subculture drama, I have to wonder: Did people really want Subculture for the colors in the palette or because it was the newest ABH palette? And I have to say that I think it's the latter. Because, as I mentioned in my Subculture anti-haul post, there are several palettes that have the same or similar color schemes.

On Temptalia, ever-fantastic Christine posted Subculture dupes, made up of MAC, Makeup Geek, Colourpop, and Make Up For Ever single shadows. But my guess is that most people likely aren't so interested in the colors of the palette that they would make their own palette from singles. I think people just like the status of having the hyped palette of the moment. I've even heard someone say that they don't like how the ABH Master Palette by Mario performs, but they like having it because other people wanted it and couldn't get it. And while I try hard not to judge what makes people happy, that way of thinking just doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

I want to love my makeup and use it and feel creative. I don't care about having a collection of makeup items that will expire that some people in the world could not get. That doesn't make me feel special. That doesn't make me feel good. The only product in my collection right now that is hard to get is Colourpop Yes, Please! And it doesn't make me excited that I have it and many other people don't. In fact, it does the opposite for me. It makes me unhappy and mad at the brand that they can't just have an appropriate amount of stock so that everyone who wants that item can get it.

But Subculture has really shown me how much the makeup community has shifted, and it is not in a direction that I like. On the one hand, people crashed the ABH website to buy the palette the day it released—before reviews came out and before it was available to swatch in person at Sephora—which actually seems kind of crazy to me. I can understand that reviewers would want to get their hands on it so that they could produce content with it, but for the casual makeup owner, the need for immediate gratification was so overwhelming with this release. And on the other hand, when the product did not live up to the hype, and instead crashed and burned, a lot of people seemed unable to accept that reality and picked fights with people who posted negative reviews.

At the end of the day, this was a disappointing makeup product for most people, it seems. The brand changed a formula that people really loved, and they didn't tell anyone. The reason they didn't is because they were making a cheaper formula but were not lowering the price of the palette. And since so many people were crazy about the Modern Renaissance formula, I'm sure they knew that would be a really unpopular decision. And ABH made a palette that looked good when swatched with a finger or a brush. I've said before, but that seems to be a top concern for a lot of brands, even above making a good product. The influencers of the world have made "pigmentation" the biggest deal, and if swatches don't look good, people are less likely to buy something. So then we get a palette like Subculture. If you've seen the swatches, they have incredible pigment. But they don't work as eyeshadows because, from what I have seen, they can't blend whatsoever. But ABH was riding off of their success with Modern Renaissance and the blind faith they knew people had in them. I was impressed when Becca and Kat Von D pulled their flop products from shelves, and I'm disappointed that ABH hasn't yet addressed the atrocious reviews Subculture has received.

I also think it's important to take a critical look at how the community got to the place it is now, and to see how it is necessary to have differing opinions about products. It is also critical that as consumers we don't perpetuate hype and consumerism. Because then brands take advantage.

What I'm Not Buying: Lorac Unzipped Desert Sunset

Lorac has released three new palettes in their Unzipped series, and immediately the one I was most drawn to was the Desert Sunset palette, which is the palette I'll be talking about today. 

Because I won't be buying. 

I have owned two Lorac palettes—Unzipped and Pro 2—and both have been decluttered from my collection for at least a year. I haven't been impressed with a lot of what Lorac has been releasing lately, and feel like a lot of their palettes have been a miss, for me at least, including Pro 3, Mega Pro 3, Pirates of the Caribbean collection, Beauty and the Beast collection, and I Love Brunch. But with the release of their new Unzipped palettes, I think they are doing something interesting. 

Admittedly, the Desert Sunset palette is the least interesting palette offered (even though it was still the one I was drawn to), because it looks like so many other things. But I wanted to write about it precisely because of that. Because I think a lot of people, like me, will be drawn to it because of the familiar colors as well as the one deceiving pop of color. 

Let's look at it closely:

When I look at this palette, I see a lot of colors that I would love using. I see champagne, berries, gold, burgundy, peach, warm brown, chocolate brown, and violet. And with the way that I used to approach buying makeup, that's all I would need to know going in to buying this palette—that I would get use out of all the colors. And then if I found out that the quality was good (and from reviews I have seen, it seems as though the quality is not bad), that would just further fan the fire that I needed this palette. 

But here's the thing. I already own this palette. And my guess is that a lot of people who are lusting after this already do too. 

Let's look at swatches from Lorac:

I've said this before, but I find swatches provided by the brand to be largely unhelpful most of the time because it seems as though product is so heavily applied to show PIGMENT that we actually lose any idea of how these colors might translate onto the eye. But swatches in general can be very deceiving and often don't provide good context for how a shadow will work on the eye. Shadows from Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes, for example, swatch incredible on me but don't at all work on my specific skin and eye shape, while Viseart mattes barely show up in a swatch on me and are incredible shadows to work with. 

Swatches used to be a visual aid to best gauge the quality of something without actually buying it first, but now it seems as though brands just want their shadows to be touted as "pigmented" and they do whatever they can to achieve that illusion. 

But here's the reality with Desert Sunset: if you take the violet shade out, you are left with almost every warm-toned palette of the moment. It looks like so many other plates. 

Like ABH Modern Renaissance: 

And Lime Crime Venus:

Violet Voss Holy Grail:

Kylie Cosmetics Burgundy:

Zoeva Cocoa Blend:

Smashbox Ablaze:

Tarte Tarteist Pro:

Urban Decay Naked Heat:

Natasha Denona Sunset:

theBalm Nude Beach:

And Colourpop She:

And if you take out the top colorful row, it looks like Juvia's Place Masquerade:

From my own collection, I have Tom Ford Honeymoon:

Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts:

A custom Inglot palette:

And one of my custom palettes that includes part of Lime Crime Venus, Natasha Denona shadows, Viseart Neutral Matte, and parts of Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons:

Let's get back to that one violet shade. If you remove the berry shades from Desert Sunset, but keep the violet, you have Too Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly:

For me, when I look at Desert Sunset, the violet shade is what tricks me into thinking that this is a unique color scheme. But it's not. And if you're like me and you have a plethora of warm-toned neutral palettes, but you are still drawn to that one shade (and you don't have Too Faced PB&J), I highly recommend looking into single shadows. 

In addition to the one I have in my custom palette (Natasha Denona Nina's Orchid), I also have and love Ardency Inn Orchid:

For a less expensive option, there's Makeup Geek Masquerade:

I know I've mentioned this before, but building a singles collection can be a much cheaper alternative to buying an entire palette when you know you have the majority of colors in the palette and are just drawn to one or two unique things about it. 

If Desert Sunset was released several years ago, it would have been the absolute perfect palette for me, and I would have used and loved it. So I can certainly see the appeal of this palette, and I think if someone doesn't have a lot of shadows already and is really, really drawn to this palette, this could certainly be a great buy for them. But, I think the majority of people who are interested in this palette are the makeup obsessed, like myself, who very likely already own all the colors in this palette. Because there are just so many palettes out that look like this now, and most people probably own at least one if not more of the palettes listed above. 

As far as Lorac's take on this, I feel two ways about it. On the one hand, I do think it's cool that Lorac is trying to branch out and provide some more interesting color schemes, especially color schemes that will work for people with deeper skin tones. And on the other hand, I feel like I have no idea what Lorac is doing right now. Their Pirates of the Caribbean and Beauty and the Beast palettes looked (to me) uninspired and like an easy way to make money by capitalizing on people's nostalgia. With the I Love Brunch palette, it looked as though they were jumping on the pastel band wagon, but the quality of that palette really fell short. And with Desert Sunset, I feel they are about two years too late releasing this palette. And that's been something interesting for me watching all these brands put out their warm-toned berry palettes because I feel they are so late to the game. But even then, these palettes are selling out. Desert Sunset is currently out of stock online at Lorac and Ulta.  

I am obviously not a person who has a small makeup collection. And while I want a manageable collection, I don't want a "small" collection. I like having tons of different colors, ranging from bright to dark and covering the spectrum. But I don't need to have the exact same colors over and over and over again in different packaging from different brands. And I feel like that is how the makeup community is currently headed. Due to hype, fear of missing out, and marketing tactics that induce both of these things, such as having intentionally low stock, people are buying all these palettes that they just don't need.

To go off on a tangent here about makeup collecting, have you ever seen a foundation collection or declutter video on YouTube? I know for a lot of people YT is either their job or they are trying to make it their job, and as a result, they amass a ton of products to review. But it is a really intense thing to see someone with a collection of 25 or 30 bottles of foundation—most of them largely unused. And the person continues buying more foundations, because they want to try something new or they want to experience a new formula. And if you are a reviewer, I can totally see how having a huge collection is kind of necessary, so that you can compare formulas and give as detailed a review as possible. But for a lot of people, it seems as though they just want to try the new thing and experience different formulas.

And I guess this is what eyeshadow palettes and now starting to look like to me. People who owned Lime Crime Venus and the Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye still purchased ABH Modern Renaissance because of the hype and because they wanted to try the ABH formula. And, sure. Finding the best eyeshadow formula for you is a really great feeling, but I don't personally find that high quality formulas vary so greatly that it justifies (for me, at least) owning multiple palettes with the same colors just to try out the different formulas, especially when you have palettes/formulas that work for you. Because no one walking on the street is going to know that you are wearing Modern Renaissance or Venus or Naked Heat or Desert Sunset. They will likely just notice that your makeup looks nice.

For me, I just don't have any more space in my makeup collection or my mind to own any more warm neutral palettes with some red and berry tones. And I certainly couldn't collect them all. I just can't do it. I would feel so overwhelmed by all the clutter and sameness. Plus, I find building a singles collection to be much more fun and rewarding. I love finding unique colors that I don't see everywhere else, and I like that I don't have to pay for an entire palette that is filled with colors I already have because of the idea that when you buy a palette, it is expected them to be "complete." But I feel like after you own a palette or two, you don't really need a "complete" palette anymore. Obviously this is personal preference as I know plenty of people who have makeup collections much larger than mine who still want a palette to be a complete, perfect palette. But that is not my preference. That is too much repetition for me. I don't want to own fifteen mid-tone warm brown shadows or fifteen cream shadows or whatever. And building a singles collection lets me get all those unique colors without having to amass the same colors over and over.

Desert Sunset is a lovely palette. Really, it is. And as someone originally from the desert, I appreciate the color scheme and how it works with the theme. But this palette is $42, and I already own every single color in it several times over. So while it is pretty and hyped and currently sold out, I don't care. I don't need it, so I won't be buying it.