Thursday, November 15, 2012

Black Radiance vs. Wet N Wild 8 Pan Palettes

Recently Wet N Wild introduced a seasonal set of 8 Pan Palettes and as usual, none of my local stores are carrying them.  I found myself at Walmart earlier this week checking once again for the limited edition palettes and once again, they weren't there.  But as I looked directly across the isle from the Wet N Wild display, to my amazement and joy, were these 8 pan palettes in the Black Radiance section.  They are manufactured by the same company that produces Wet N Wild, Markwins Beauty, and are packaged identically, even stamped Browbone, Eyelid, Crease and Accent (I think the WNW palettes are labeled Definer).  Here's the thrilling kicker, they are unlike any colors in the Wet N Wild lineup.  They are completely unique colors but the shadows are of the same consistency and quality as their Wet N Wild counter parts.  I felt like a kid in the candy shop and of course grabbed my camera so I could show you guys my beautiful find.  There were three palettes total - Downtown Browns (I purchased this one, pictures of swatches below), Posh Plums and Urban Jungle.  I think I'm going to go back and get the other two.  Here are the pictures of the palettes:

 Downtown Browns
 
 Posh Plums
 
 Urban Jungle
 
As I stated earlier I purchased the Downtown Browns Palette as I felt it had the most unique colors.  It's name, in my opinion, doesn't describe the palette well to me.  I would have called it Lush Velvets or something along those lines, because that is what the colors remind me of.  There is an overall brown undertone to the colors but they come off so lush and velvety in color and texture to me. I found some colors to be taupe, eggplant, cream and burnished gold in tone.  Here are the pictures of my swatches:
 
 
 
 
 
 This set of swatches is from the left side of the palette.  The third color is truly the most unique in the palette.  My picture does not do the color justice as it is duo chrome in nature and that doesn't show up well on camera. I find it difficult to describe, the base color is eggplant but the duo chrome is harder to define.  It's a bit metallic and taupeish.  The first color (Browbone) is an average creamy highlight color with a bit of a peachy undertone to it.  The second color (Eyelid) is a gorgeous taupe also with a bit of a peachy undertone.  The fourth color (Accent) is a very deep bronzey brown.  At first I thought the undertone was black because the brown is so dark.  They are all very well pigmented.  When I first swatched the Crease color I felt that the pigmentation wasn't very good but when I applied it to my eye with a brush I found it to be pretty good.  I think it's duo chrome nature causes it to not swatch well.  When applied over an eyeshadow primer, it goes on quite nicely.



The second row of colors are highly pigmented colors and I can see where they were intended for darker skin tones.  I have this row of colors on today for my FOTD and I had to really work at using a light hand with them because they go on so dark.  I could see where lighter skin tones would have trouble pulling this row of colors off.  For fairer girls this row, with the exception of the browbone color would work well to make a smokey eye look.  The first color (Browbone) again is a typical creamy highlight color and I find it to be whiter in tone.  The second color (Eyelid) looks quite eggplant in the pan but applies with more of a brown tone with a purpley tint to it.  The crease color is again difficult to describe, it's a bit bronzey brownish blackish (hahahaha, hope you like that very technical description).   It applies velvety smooth and very dark.  Definitely use a light hand with this color.  The last color (Accent) is a deep reddish brown with a gold fleck in it.  The gold appears very strong in the pan but goes on minimally on the eye.

Overall I am extremely satisfied with the palette I purchased.  For my skin tone I find it to be a beautiful collection for fall with their rich deep velvety hues.  I would love to see them swatched on a darker skin tone.  I imagine it would bring out a completely different set of tones in the colors.  I fully intend to purchase the other two palettes as they are priced so reasonably, $5.98 each, that I can't resist.  Thanks so much for reading and hope you have a wonderful day!!