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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Swatchfest: Wet n Wild Limited Editon Coloricon Baked Eyeshadow Palettes

PLEASE READ: these are Walgreens-exclusive palettes and part of a larger display called Walgreens Beauty Bar (click here for a pic of the display). I cannot give you an exact release date because all locations put things out at different times (some readers have already spotted these in-store, so they should be nation-wide soon). The retail price per palette is $4.99.  I will create an interactive sightings map this weekend for this and the other LE holiday collections.

I received all three of the Wet n Wild Limited Edition Coloricon Baked Eyeshadow Palettes in the mail today (along with some of the other LE holiday goodies, which I'll show you soon). I was so excited to play with these that I literally couldn't even wait for the clouds to clear up before I took my photos (which explains why some of these pictures look a bit dark, but I assure you I edited them for color-accuracy).

After playing around with these palettes for the better part of the day, I have LOTS to say about them (which I'll get to a bit later). Usually, when I receive a new collection, I'm pretty good at picking out the "runaway hit" that everyone will seem to want the most (such as last year's Night Elf palette). But after swatching these colors, I honestly can't say that one will be more popular than the others. Each one contains some truly unique (for the drugstore at least) shades that would easily justify a purchase. But more on that later--let's get to the pics!

All photos taken outdoors with natural lighting unless otherwise noted:

Bake-Off Contest



 Baked, Not Fried

 Baking a Cake

Let's start with Baked, Not Fried:


 Here's the back of the packaging (which is the same for all three):


These palettes each come with a mini Kohl liner in a corresponding shade that would work with any of the shadows in the palette.


The palettes themselves are a departure for WnW in terms of packaging. The lids are fully removable; they don't swing open on a hinge like the other Coloricon palettes: 


The back of the palette (this looks the same for all three):



 Here's a photo I took for size comparison; this is Baked, Not Fried next to a standard Coloricon Trio:


 This photo was taken indoors, with flash:


Hopefully you can see in the above pic that these shadows do contain sparkle. But PLEASE NOTE: the sparkle is more visible and abundant in some shades, while in other shades it is hardly noticeable. I really had to look closely to see it in some of these colors, especially when the shadows were applied wet. When wet, some of these eyeshadows look like traditional shimmers (no sparkle) and some have a matte finish.

For all of these swatches, the first swatch was done using the shadow dry with no primer. The second swatch was done wet (by dipping my brush in water) with no primer:


In the above pic, you can see that the deeper blue shade has a lot more visible sparkle, while the sparkle in the other two shades is barely detectable at all.


In this second group of swatches from the Baked, Not Fried palette, there was a BIG surprise that I didn't anticipate when looking at the shadows in the pan: LOOK AT THAT GORGEOUS, ICY SILVER TAUPE!


 I swear, this taupe is even more stunning in person.

 Next, let's take a look at Bake-Off Contest:




 

 This photo was taken indoors with flash:




The bottom shade above has a Stila Kitten vibe to it.


I think I spy some MAC and/or Urban Decay dupes here!

 I'm loving that deep reddish brown, and also the peachy-champagne shimmer.

And finally we have Baking a Cake:





 The following photo was taken indoors with flash:



ANOTHER taupe! But unlike the one in the Baked, Not Fried palette, this is a pink-tinged, warmer taupe.


The only problematic shade of the entire collection was the bright magenta (above). The texture of the shadow is on the harder side and when applied wet, it seemed to disappear whenever I would go over the swatch more than once. So my best advice would be to pack this shade on, as opposed to brushing it on. When I packed it on with my fingertip, the pigmentation was MUCH more even and vibrant.


The biggest surprise for me of all three palettes was this beautiful periwinkle shade. Looking at the color in the pan, it appeared to be a standard purple. But once on the skin, it morphed into what I would call an electric-periwinkle. It's so vibrant and beautiful and original. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a shade like this at the drugstore. My photos do not do it justice.



Here's quick summary:

  • All of the shades in these palettes seem to contain varying degrees of sparkle. However, when applied wet, the sparkle seems to complete disappear for certain shades, while in other shades the sparkle is more visible. 
  • Unless you're looking for a soft wash of color, these shadows work best when applied wet (although I have not yet tried them dry on top of primer). When applied wet, the pigmentation and vibrancy come alive. Also, when applied wet, some of these shades look like traditional shimmers with sparkle, others look like traditional shimmers (no sparkle) and others look completely matte.
  • The texture of the solid shadows (the ones without any veining) is a bit hard, which is to be expected (most solid baked shadows I own from the drugstore are hard). The shadows with veining are softer than the solid shadows, but none of them are so soft that they're crumbly.

If you can only buy one palette, hopefully this might help make the decision a bit easier:

  • If you love warm AND cool shades, get Baking a Cake--it's got that warm taupe and that stunning periwinkle. 
  • If you love earthtones, get Bake-Off Contest (I'm convinced there are some MAC and UD dupes in that one, and possibly a Stila Kitten dupe too!).
  • If you love cooler tones and icy taupes, don't hesitate to get Baked, Not Fried.

I never thought I'd be more excited about an LE collection from Wet n Wild than I was with last year's Pixie Holiday palettes, but I really think WnW knocked it out of the park with these. The more I play with them, the more I love them.

Have you spotted the Walgreens Beauty Bar at your local Walgreens yet? Is any palette in particular jumping out at you? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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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59 comments

  1. i am loving all of these...i will definitely be on the lookout for them!

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  2. Will these be available anywhere other than Walgreens? Thanks!

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  3. lisa.maria: No, like I said at the very beginning of this post, this is a Walgreens-exclusive.

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  4. can't wait til the sightings map is up! im going to stalk that map and my local walgreens!!

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  5. are all walgreens gonna carry these or will it just be select ones like the pixie palettes last year?also when will the glitter palettes be out are they wags exclusives too?

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  6. I'm so ticked we don't have a Wlagreens or a job would love to have them all thanks for showing they are great
    Thanks
    Teri

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  7. I'm so ticked we don't have a Wlagreens or a job would love to have them all thanks for showing they are great
    Thanks
    Teri

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  8. I was going to pass on this holiday collection but after your swatches I can't. Must expand my WnW family :)

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  9. I need to check all the Walgreen's around here for these. I love them! Especially that neutral palette.

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  10. Oh yeah, I'll be stalking Walgreens for sure!!!

    Maureen @QponCutie

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  11. Thank you so much for allowing the entire post to be read in my newsreader instead of having to click out to your page. I'm hoping it wasn't just a mistake for this post. :-)

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  12. I love these! Thanks for getting swatches up so quickly! I can't wait to get my mitts on them!!! Xo

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  13. The magenta in the third palette looks like a dupe for Junkshow in UD's 15th Anniversary Palette. That's awesome! Thanks for the sneak peak!

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  14. I am for sure buying all three. I love baked shadows, I love Wet n Wild, and I love the colors they put in. Hopefully they do more baked sets. Maybe even something with really vibrant shades.

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  15. I want these so bad, especially Baking A Cake. That periwinkle is making me crazy! I don't have anything like it and it's so freaking pretty. I like the magenta too, and even the neutral shades are quite nice. I'm not getting my hopes up though, since the Wags in my area seem to be behind the curve on WNW stuff-- pretty much none of the LE or fall collections are available near me yet. :<

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  16. I can't wait! I hope they show up in my Walgreen's soon! I like Bake a Cake.

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  18. I remember liking the single baked shadows, can't wait to give these palettes a try!

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  19. OMG!!! I must get all 3 of those palettes! I need to take a trip to walgreens asap! Thanks for the swatches ;)

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  20. Ahhh! I really want the Bake Off and Baking a Cake palettes! So gorgeous! You have quickly become my most favorite blog!

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  21. I visited the 3 Wags close to me this evening and they JUST NOW put out the On The Prowl collection....looks like I will have to wait a long time for them to put out these =(

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  22. i found them last night! as well as the 8 pan all Matte palette! I was about to miss them because they were on the regular display with the trios but after looking closer i found a pleasant surprise. (= i am in love with the I <3 Matte.

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  23. I have to find these. Even if I have to drive into a bigger town. Your swatches all look gorgeous.

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  24. Omgosh G! I'm so excited that the baked palettes are PARABEN FREE! :). The shimmer pencil isn't though. Thanks for posting the ingredients G! I really appreciate it!

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  25. That periwinkle shade caught my eye! When I saw the swatch I thought, "I must have whatever palette that periwinkle is in!!" I have almost all of WnW's Coloricon trios.. along with a bunch of other drugstore eyeshadows but have never seen this shade as a shadow. It reminds me of Revlon's Scented nail polish in Blueberry!

    No doubt I will be hunting for Baking a Cake. :)

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  26. I'm not especially impressed by the pigmentation in these when they're wet. They do appear to have that same sort of "pressed" look I've seen in some other drugstore baked polishes that have really kept me from trying them.

    But, I'm also not a huge fan of baked shadows in general. They look much, much prettier in the pan than they necessarily end up looking on your eye. Between sales and reward certificates, I've collected almost all of Ulta's duos, and they seem to be a bit more pigmented than these.

    I'm interested to see the matte palette, as I'm decently impressed with WnW's non-black matte shadows.

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  27. OMG these are so great! I've already hit about 10 Walgreens but no luck yet. *crosses fingers* I'm really wanting Baked, Not Fried! the most. Those beautiful blues and taupes, oh man so pretty! Though I'd love to nab one of each set. There are so many pretty shades! :D

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  28. OMG! These are really pretty! I will have to start looking for these at my local Walgreens!

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  29. Oh boy, let the stalking of Wags begin!

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  30. OMG!!! These look amazing! There is no question that I *need* all of these...and I will be stalking all of my local Walgreens until I find them. Great preview G! xoxo

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  31. Maybe it's just me... they don't look that great. I think I will pass on all of them :-\

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  32. While not much of an eye shadow wearer, I really like the looks of Baked, Not Fried! such pretty colors and when they are wet! Gorgeous. May have to get them (if i am so lucky as to find them) and use them as an eye liner!

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  33. disappointed in baking a cake - gah! was hoping that one was lovely. I'll be getting them all if i can get my hands on them though. thanks for the swatches!

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  34. I am for sure going to get all of these.

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  35. I cannot wait to find these and get them ALL. :)

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  36. UGH! I NEED these in my life! LOL They are gorgeous

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  37. Although I love the colors in Bake-off Contest, I think I have all of them in one form or another. I really like Baking a Cake, though. I'm just now getting into pink toned eyeshadows, and that palette looks really pretty.

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  38. Hey G! I wanted to mention the 2 middle shades in Baking A Cake are totally from the Summer '10 WNW Solar Heat collection :) (L: Fiery, R: Blaze) (here's my pic: http://i52.tinypic.com/2s5xzlf.jpg)

    The middle ones in Bake-Off Contest look suspiciously like the 2 bronzers (L looks like scorch, R looks like sizzle) from that collection too!

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  39. I found these at the first Walgreens I went to and picked up 3 of each plus the matte palette. This Wags normally doesn't carry the limited edition WnW so I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

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  40. I like Bake-off contest. I'll have to look for it.

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  41. Just found them today at my Walgreens!!

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  42. Oh ok sorry, I guess I just jumped straight to the swatches :D

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  43. Thanks G, once again very helpful and a bit surprising as I'm thinking to myself these look lighter in pigment (or simply lighter shades) than the usual WnW shadows- which for me, may be a good thing. I'm not that talented blending heavily pigmented colors and like to wear washes a lot more often, since I don't have a lot of lid area to put them on anyway, and these may be great for that!

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  44. Yesterday I purchased the Baked not Fried and Baking a Cake palettes. I haven't tried them out, but I was shocked to find them at Wags in CC TX! I didn't like the matte 8 color pan of W&W shadows once I got an up close view. Hope that I won't be disappointed in these palettes.....:)

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  45. Hi I'm new to your blog but I LOVE IT! I've got it bookmarked on my favorites bar! I wanted to let you know that I spotted all of these baked palettes, with 3 of each in stock at Walgreens on Beach Blvd + Slater in Fountain Valley. Also, they were displayed in the Beauty Bar! The WNW products (other than the 6 palette eyeshadows: lust, etc) are fully in stock, organized, etc!!
    Note tho, the single eyeshadows (brulee, nutty, etc) are also fully in stock but the price is $2.49 vs 1.99 at another walmart on Brookhurst + Edinger in FV also.

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  46. HI. I am a lurker, and I have to say thank you for not only the awesome swatches, but for the package photos as well! I seem to be super-allergic to any eyeshadow made in China, so I appreciate the info on country of origin! How great that these are paraben free- I really wish that I could wear them. Perhaps I'll give one a try and see if anything has changed. Again, thanks SO much for all the info!

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  47. Hi! Thank you so much for your review and swatches, I was inspired to run out and pick up the baked not fried palette, can't wait to get home and play with it!

    I also wanted to mention to everyone that I not only found it at my local Walgreens, but it's also on sale for buy one, get one 1/2 off Yay!! I'm in California, not sure if that is the case everywhere, but for those of you who live in Cali, pick them up this week if you can. :)

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  48. I think your palettes are mixed up! The browns/neutrals are the Baked not Fried palette and the blues/silvers are Bake off Contest!!

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  49. If you're from Canada and are looking for these palettes, I've found them at Shopper's Drug Mart! They are from a different brand (The Color Institute), but the company that owns Wet n Wild owns this one as well. I've posted pictures on my blog!

    http://thedailyswatch.blogspot.com/2011/10/wet-n-wild-coloricon-baked-eyeshadows.html

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  50. Wandered into my local Walgreens and wasn't expecting to find the WnW beauty bar.... didn't spot it at first, it was on the end of an aisle, but low and behold, it was there!!! They only had one of each of the baked palette, so i snatched up two of them, and they had ONE Matte palette. Needless to say I had to stop myself from doing a jig in the aisle, but joyfully explained my excitement to the check out gal. Also, my Walgreens was doing the BOGO1/2 off sale, so I got three of the palettes, a single shadow, and some cotton pads, and my total was 16 dollars!!!

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  51. Can you do a blog post about what dupes for Mac and Urban Decay the shadows are exactly? I love those dupe posts. I haven't spotted these at my Walgreens yet. I'm hoping to see it come out in November.

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  52. Wow! I just saw these at my Walgreens today and they were BOGO50% so I picked up all 3 (last ones!) and I didn't know if they were good or not. So I checked your blog and saw the swathes, and I'm so glad I got them.

    Silly question, how are you applying them wet? By using brush or sponge applicator?

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  53. I'm loving baking a cake. But I am definitely getting all of them. Thanks for taking the time to do this for us!

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  54. I only bought the brown shades but it killed me not to allow my self to go crazy and get all of them they are all so gorgeous.

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  55. I got Bake Off and it is labeled Baked, Not Fried. Hmmm

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  56. Yah, the packaging on the brown palette is Baked, not Fried. The packaging is switched on her photos.

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  57. Wet N Wild has confirmed that some of the packaging has been mixed up.

    The blue palette is baked, not fried
    the neutral is bake-off contest

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  58. These colors are amazing I need to get those pallets asap.

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