Swatchefest: Wet n Wild Limted Edition Sparkle City Collection

The first of all Wet n Wild Holiday 2011 collections to be spotted by readers, Sparkle City has been out for a while in regions like the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast but, according to the sightings map, it's now starting to pop up elsewhere. Note: this is NOT a Walgreens-exclusive collection.

Let me tell you right up front that I'm not a big cream eyeshadow person. I've got super oily lids and there are very few cream shadows that last on my lids without creasing for more than a few hours and, unfortunately, these palettes are no exception. I think they would work best as a base for other shadows (such as powders) or blended out for a sheer wash of color. Since the formula seems to be very similar to the Fantasy Makers cream palettes (which I showed you here), I also think these would be great for Halloween. Like I mentioned in my Fantasy Makers post, these feel more like traditional Halloween grease paints to me, which are designed to be use all over the face, as opposed to just on the eyes.

Let's look at some swatches:

 Wet n Wild Sparkle City Palette in Main Street Glitz

(retail: $4.99, 0.25 oz)

Here's the back of packaging (same for all four palettes):

And the back of the actual palette:

My favorite of all four palettes (and not just because it contains bronzes!), the reason why I like Main Street Glitz the best is because I find the texture of these creams to be the most consistent throughout the palette (they're all smooth, creamy, highly pigmented) and they're the easiest to work with (more on that later). But one warning: if you already own the Fantasy Makers Rising Star palette, you probably don't need this one because many of the shades seem to be the same.

 Wet n Wild Sparkle City Palette in Tinsel Mall

(retail: $4.99, 0.25 oz)

Looking at the above photo, you can kind of see how some of the colors in this palette have a drier consistency. This is due to the glitter overspray on some of these shades. In other words, the layer of glitter that's sprayed across the top of some of these colors (the glitter in these palettes does not run all the way through--it's just on the top) tends to make the top layer a bit dry. But once you work your way through that top later, you'll see that there's a creamier shimmer shade underneath, like this:

As you can see, some shades are spotty and less pigmented than others. The dry glitter made them a bit challenging to swatch:

But notice how the pink shade, which also has a glitter overspray, doesn't have that dryness like some of the other shades. It's much more like the creams in the Main Street Glitz palette.

 Wet n Wild Sparkle City Palette in Shimmer Station

(retail: $4.99, 0.25 oz)

 Wet n Wild Sparkle City Palette in Twinkle Town

(retail: $4.99, 0.25 oz)

Considering that I adore about 99% of everything that Wet n Wild makes, I'm not terribly bummed that these palettes aren't a home-run for me. I think they're best suited to those who love glitter and bright colors and are willing to play around and try various combinations (or use them for Halloween). I'm more of a slap-it-on-and-go type of gal, so they're a bit too much effort for me personally. The baked palettes are much more my speed.

But if you like lots of color and sparkle and you enjoy playing around with creams to see how they look under various powder shadows, etc., these might be a fun option for you.

Do you already own any of the palettes from Sparkle City? If so, what do you think of them?

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.

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