Review: Princessa Palette 02 from Rite Aid

Back in December of last year, I spotted the following display at my local Rite Aid and mentioned it briefly here on Nouveau Cheap:

I talked about how it was fun to see Rite Aid bring us some new, cheapie palettes and I mentioned that I actually purchased the palette on the right side of this picture to review. Well, who would have known then that this would become my most asked-about product that I've ever mentioned in a "Drugstore Sightings" post? Seriously, I am averaging 1-2 inquires a week about when I will be reviewing this little palette!

Honestly, I had every intention of reviewing it back in December, but, if you remember from that time, my giveaways were coming fast and furious, and then the holidays came, and well, little Princessa kind of got lost in the shuffle. But I haven't forgetten about it (partially in thanks to all of your emails and comments and reminders!) so I'd finally like to give it a proper review today.

Princessa Palette 02 (retail: $5.99 at Rite Aid)

As you can see in the above pics, this palette appears to consist of all shimmers and no mattes. But what's almost always the case with cheapie palettes is that the shimmer appears only on the top layer of the shadow, revealing a sort of bland, matte powder underneath. But that's the biggest surprise with this Princessa Palette: the shimmer on the surface actually extends through the entire shadow! No deception here.

(click to enlarge)

As you can see in the above swatches, ALL of the colors in this palette have the same shimmer and it's 100% consistent from color to color. Absolutely no surprises, which I love. I also love how the darker colors are extremely rich and decently pigmented.

Some things I don't love: the powders are a bit crumbly. Not to the point where they're unusable, but compared to the other amazing new drugstore shadows I've been using lately (Wet n Wild, Revlon, Rimmel) the texture of these shadows definitely feels substandard. One other thing I don't love is the fragrance of these shadows which, not surprising given the low price, smells very strongly of baby powder. This clearly has to do with the fact that the main ingredient in these shadows is talc (which is the main ingredient in talcum power, aka baby powder).

Moving along, I would like to show you an eye look I did using both the light and dark silver shades in this palette (I did this look back in December so please forgive me--it was very late at night and my brows are a hot mess):

As you can see, these colors applied pretty smoothly, blended easily, and gave me a subtle, almost sheer wash of color. But the shimmer is definitely still there, and unfortunately, there was a good amount of fallout, which you can see under my eyes.

Would I consider using this as an everyday palette? No. Would I use it when I have some extra time and I want to play with some colors that I normally don't wear? Yes. I was actually impressed that the shimmer is consistent throughout this palette, and that many of the shades have much better pigmentation than you would expect to see from a palette of this caliber. The staying power, especially with the darker shades, was actually pretty decent (most colors lasted on my eyes for about four hours without a primer). For $5.99, I'd say it's a fun, once-in-a-blue-moon type of palette that you might want to play with if you're feeling creative. But as an everyday, wear-to-work palette, I'd say you'd have better luck with the L.A. Looks neutral palette (available at most Dollar Trees) if you're on a very tight budget but want wearable, work-friendly shades. But for playing around and trying bold pops of color, you can definitely use a palette like this to master your skills before you move on to a higher-quality (more expensive) palette.