What I'm Not Buying: Jeffree Star Alien Palette

I conducted a poll on Instagram (a while ago at this point) to see what people wanted to see in my next anti-haul post. Readers selected the latest Jeffree Star palette, called Alien. 

And I won't be buying. 

As I've said before, I have talked about Jeffree's problematic behavior in other posts, so I'm not going to discuss that here. I will say that since I've written my other Jeffree Star posts, his series on Shane Dawson's YT channel came out (and let's call that was it is—a positive PR campaign), which changed a lot of people's opinion on him. I honestly think that all people who have associated with Jeffree are unreliable and manipulative, and I'm just tired of it all, so I have actively stopped reading about any drama surrounding all of these people. I would rather try to buy from brands with way less drama, but that is becoming an increasingly difficult task. 

Let's talk about this palette. 

Obviously everyone has different preferences, but a close friend of mine saw my poll on Instagram, and to this palette, she said, "Those colors are hideous." It made me laugh out loud, and she hit on something so obvious that I just couldn't articulate for myself. I agree. I think this is an ugly color story. And I typically love color schemes with mustard and green shades. But not this one. 

For example, I love Viseart Dark Matte:

I was gifted ABH Subculture, and have come to really like it:

And I recently purchased NYX Grind, which is also a palette that I love:

For me personally and my tastes, these are three palettes with this kind of color scheme that I like and think work. 

And Alien feels like a dull, unsuccessful, and clashing version of it. 

I thought about trying to dupe the palette, but I couldn't with the singles I have in my collection. For some of the shades, like the green ones, while I don't have them a singles, they are all in the Huda Emerald Obsessions palette:

Another reason why I can't fully dupe this palette is because these are not colors that I like. I haven't purchased them—because I don't like them. And I still don't like them, even when they are in a palette. 

This is something that I used to talk about a lot on my blog, and I feel like it's worth mentioning again. Earlier, in my makeup obsession days, I would look at shadows and swatches in the new "it" palette of the moment. And I would give each shadow a "yes" or "no" answer when asked the question: "Would I wear that?" If the palette had mainly "yes" answers, I would buy it. 

Now, when I look at a new palette, I still look at shadows and swatches, but this time, I ask: "Do I have this color already?" 

See, with my old method, if a palette had a matte cream or matte light warm brown, it would make me more likely to buy it because it had two shades in it that I knew I would wear. I wouldn't factor in that I owned at least five of these exact shadows already. But now, if a palette has those shades, I'm less likely to buy it because I have so many of those colors already that those are essentially wasted shadows. 

When considering a palette purchase, I also ask: "Would I buy this color as a single?"

This is a big one for me because if a palette has a significant number of shadows that I would not purchase as singes—either because the color is not my favorite, I already own one like that, or it just is not special enough—then I absolutely shouldn't buy those shadows in a palette. Just because shades that you don't like are grouped together with a few shades that you do like or already own doesn't mean you're going to like those same shades any more. You're won't. Because you don't like them. 

If you find yourself still wanting to buy a palette even after deciding that you wouldn't spend the money to buy the colors as singles, you have to ask yourself: "Why do I want this palette?" And if the answer is because I'm bored or I saw it on YouTube and want to be included or I look up to the brand owner and want to support them or I'm unhappy and this will make me happy—you may want to reconsider the purchase. 

In Alien, the only shades I would buy as singles are the matte mustard yellow and purple. Otherwise, I already have those shadows or I don't like the colors. 

But, assuming I did like the general color scheme of this palette, I still don't think it's worth the $52 (plus tax and shipping) price tag. The palette has 18 shadows, but several of the shadows will look the same when applied to the eye—like the three gray/black shadows; the white, cream, and pink; and the three shimmy golds. On darker skin tones, the differences between a lot of these colors will be subtle or too light altogether. 

Another big negative, at least to me, is the packaging: 

Personally, I don't like bulky packaging. I don't like cumbersome shadow layouts that don't serve the consumer and only serve the packaging. The shape of this palette is awkward, and depending on how you store your palettes, this will be awkward to store. It also bothers me that the layout has three rows of four shadows and then it tapers down. It doesn't feel like a natural tapering, and I just don't like the way that it looks. 

I also dislike the packaging because I honestly feel like this is the laziest and least creative way to approach an alien design. The only thing that sets it apart from every other basic alien design is that it's pink, but even then, the colors on the inside match that same basic design. There are endless ways to imagine an alien, and when it's your inspiration for a makeup product, at least put a little effort into making it look intriguing. But this is just the basic shape with the basic bug eyes. It's not cool, it's not inspired, and it's not interesting. 

I also think that the packaging is very impractical for everyday use, which suggests to me that this palette isn't meant for that. It feels much more like a "Jeffree Star fan collectible" than a functional makeup item. And I say that, especially, because this palette looks a lot like another Jeffree Star palette, Androgyny:

Like Alien, Androgyny has:

• A shimmery yellow gold
• A matte gray
• A matte mustard
• A shimmery bronze
• A yellow-green

So, if you're a diehard Jeffree Star fan—which, let's face it, that's clearly the target demographic here—you already have five shades in Alien that you have in Androgyny. 

I did not purchase Androgyny for many reasons, one of which is that I already owned Viseart Dark Matte, which is one of my favorite palettes. But, when compared to Alien, I much prefer the color scheme of Androgyny. I feel like it is more diverse, and even though there are less colors, it feels like Androgyny offers the potential for more looks than Alien. 

Something positive I can say about Alien is that it has a color scheme that I haven't seen a dozen times over, and it leans cooler instead of warm, which, again, is slightly different.

With that said, when you factor in tax and shipping, Alien costs upwards of $60 domestic, and I just feel that is too much to spend on a gimmick. And the reason I call it a gimmick is 100% because of the packaging. 

I've said this before, but the current trend in makeup seems to be "disposable" makeup that is on trend or has some other gimmick that will make people buy until they get bored with it and buy something new. Alien seems to fit right into this disposable trend. Green and yellow–based palettes are "in" right now, so what sets this palette apart from the others is that it's shaped like an alien head. It's a novelty item. 

And when you look at a brand like Colourpop, which sells "disposable" makeup at lower prices, it makes the $60 cardboard alien head feel like a ripoff. This palette was not meant to be a longtime staple in anyone's collection, but it is priced like one. A lot of that cost goes toward the packaging, which makes the boring design that much more disappointing. 

I don't think this is going to be a palette that people will talk about for very long, and maybe people have already stopped talking about it by now. It isn't meant for longevity—it's meant for diehard fans to collect. 

Personally, there just isn't anything that appeals to me about this palette, from theme to design to color selection. I don't want to pay mid-range prices that swing toward high-end for a palette that I can't even swatch in stores with tacky packaging. I think an alien theme could have been really cool, but this is about the laziest way it could have been approached. I don't like this palette and am frankly tired of internet brands, so I won't be buying.