Review & Swatches: Wet n Wild Coloricon 5-Pan Eyeshadow Palettes

Press Sample 

By now you've probably seen the new (permanent) Wet n Wild 5-pan palettes at your local drugstores (and if not, they should be much more widespread in the weeks to come). I actually received all five palettes a while back for review, but I really wanted to take my time with these and try wearing every shade in every palette before I gave you my verdict. So let's get started!

NOTE: I will be reviewing all of the new-for-2014 Wet n Wild products, including the new Fergie products, in the weeks to come. I have already reviewed the new Coloricon 8-Pan Palette (click here if you missed it).

NEW Wet n Wild Coloricon 5-Pan Eyeshadow Palettes

(retail: $3.99 each, 0.21 oz)

First let's talk about the new formula:

New Formula

Wet n Wild's new eyeshadow formula now contains macadamia seed oil, and it no longer contains parabens. Here's the old formula (taken from one my trios) if you'd like to compare it to the new formula:

Old Formula

When compared to the Wet n Wild trios, the 5-pans are definitely larger (0.21 oz vs. 0.12 oz for the trios). And we're getting a brand new configuration as well. I've been buying Wet n Wild products since the late 80s and I have never seen this configuration before, even in limited edition palettes:

Each palette contains one large and narrow pan (see blue), one large and slightly wider pan (see purple), one medium pan (see orange) and two small pans (see yellow and green).

Art In The Streets

The Art In The Streets palette contains all matte shades. Actually, a few of these could technically be considered satin-mattes as they have a slight sheen to them but, on my eyes, they all pretty much read as matte.

Swatched over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

Some of these shades are more pigmented than others--the orange shade is the most pigmented of all (it's quite impressive). The purple, green and blue shades remind me of the purple, green and blue shades in the limited edition I Heart Matte palette from 2011, so that's nice if you missed out on that one. Overall, I like the texture of these mattes and they're all quite smooth and easy to work with.

I'm His Breezy

I'm His Breezy is the all-blue palette in this collection, without a single non-blue shade in the bunch. There are two shimmers-with-sparkle, two mattes and one shimmer (no sparkle) in this palette. 

Swatched over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

The "browbone" shade (far left swatch above) is the weakest when it comes to pigmentation in this palette, but browbone shades are often designed to be sheer, so that's not a disappointment for me. What really impresses me about this palette though are the two matte shades (second and third swatches above). The sky-blue matte and the navy-blue matte in this palette are totally worth the price of the entire palette for me. They're wonderfully pigmented and they apply like a dream.

Floral Values

Floral Values is not my favorite of the bunch, but you know I don't generally wear purples or pinks on my eyes (they tend to look horrible with my skin coloring). That said, I had a few issues with this one.

Swatched over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

I'm afraid that four of the five shades in this palette are lacking in pigmentation, and the texture is a bit dry and too hard for my liking. But there is one shade in this palette that I adore, and once again it's a matte shade! The matte cream with pink undertones (see second swatch above) is a winner. It's silky smooth, goes on easily and is very nicely pigmented (seriously, it reminds me of one of my Bobbi Brown mattes). If you're looking for a pinky-cream matte, this shade just might make it worth the price of the entire palette (especially if you can grab it when it's on sale). 

Tunnel Vision

There's no doubt that Wet n Wild knows how to do silvers, and if you don't already own any Wet n Wild silver shadows, this would be a nice palette to try. 

Swatched over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

Both of the shimmery silvers in this palette work well for me, but the sparkly charcoal shade (far right above) is a bit too sheer for my liking. Once again, the rockstars of this palette are the two mattes. Both the white matte and black matte (see second and third swatches above) are awesome in both pigmentation and texture. Oh, and just for the record, Wet n Wild often puts black mattes in their palettes, but USUALLY they also contain sparkle. So I'm happy that this one is sparkle-free, which makes it much more versatile.

The Naked Truth

Last but not least, we have The Naked Truth. This is a neutral, earthtone palette, and it's the one that I personally was the most excited to try. This one's got some good and not-so-good things going for it, but overall I think it's worth considering if you don't already have shades of this nature.

Swatched over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

Since this is probably the most talked-about palette in this collection, I'm going to go shade by shade for you. First the browbone shade (far left swatch above). This is quite sheer and, due to the color of my skin, barely shows up on me, no matter how much I apply. It also contains sparkle, and that's about all I see when I wear this color. The two mattes (see second and third swatches above) are--shocker--awesome. Both are smooth, silky, pigmented and easy to work with. Love 'em. The taupe shade (fourth swatch above) is on the sheer side but it's still workable--it actually looks much better on the eye than it does in these swatches. The bronze-y brown shade (last swatch above) is also on the sheer side, and the texture is a bit dry (but still workable). Also, it's not too visible in my photos but this shade also contains gold glitter.

Additional thoughts...

I think there are some great shades here, but I don't think that one particular palette is better than the rest. Each palette contains at least one great shade, and some contain two or three. But I have to admit that the wonderful shimmers that Wet n Wild is known for are a bit lacking in this collection. In fact, it's not the shimmers that stand out here--it's the mattes. That's GREAT if you're a matte lover, but if you were hoping to add more wonderful Wet n Wild shimmers to your collection, I'm not sure you'll find them in these palettes. That's not to say they're not worthy of trying out, but you'll need a bit of patience and you'll definitely want to apply these over primer or you might be disappointed with the pigmentation. I miss the old formula shimmers (see the original Wet n Wild trios, 6-pans and 8-pans) which were soft and buttery, whereas these shimmers all feel a little bit drier and harder in texture.

FINAL VERDICT: If you're a matte lover, there are some treasures to be had in the new Wet n Wild 5-pan palettes. Each palette contains at least one or, in most cases, two fantastic mattes that seriously rival higher-end matte shadows. If you're a shimmer lover, I don't think you'll find these new palettes to be at the same level as the old Wet n Wild palettes. But if you're willing to work with them a bit, there are some pretty shades here that might still be worth a purchase the next time Wet n Wild goes on sale. Either way, I definitely suggest applying primer first--it really helps to beef up the pigmentation and lock these into place.

Have you purchased any of the new Wet n Wild 5-pans yet? If so, which palettes do you own and how are they working for YOU? Remember, these are permanent new additions to the Wet n Wild line, so if you can't find them in your area yet, they'll be there soon!

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.