Review: New Wet n Wild Fergie Centerstage Collection Eyeshadow Palettes

Continuing my series of reviews covering all of the new Wet n Wild 2013 releases, today I'd like to talk about the Fergie eyeshadow 5-pans, which are now available at Walgreens. I've seen some not-so-favorable reviews of these new eyeshadows, so let's see how they worked for me...

Wet n Wild Fergie Centerstage Collection Eyeshadow Palettes

(retail: $4.99 each at Walgreens, 0.19 oz)

Keep reading for my full review...

Notice how the packaging indicates that these palettes contain "intensely-pigmented shadows in a range of textures from translucent highlights to subtle mattes to shimmering glitters." I think it's important to note that Wet n Wild states that some of these shadows are "translucent" and "subtle".

Each compact comes with a curved, double-sided sponge tip applicator, which is nice since some of these shadows apply more easily with a sponge applicator vs. a brush.

There are four different palettes in this collection so let's start with Dutchess Lounge:

Dutchess Lounge

Left: over bare skin

Right: over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

I thought it would be fitting to use the new Fergie primer with these shadows (click here for my full review of that primer). But as you can see, the colors that were already vivid without primer didn't really change over primer, whereas the colors that really could have benefited from a good primer didn't become terribly more intensified with primer. But let's keep in mind that Wet n Wild calls the highlighter shades "transluscent" (see the silver swatch above) and the matte shades "subtle" (see purple swatch above).  I'll further discuss this at the end of my review.

As for the colors in this palette, I was a bit disappointed that the lovely shimmery eggplant shade becomes so dark, when applied to the eye, that it might as well be black. So the biggest disappointment in this palette, for me, was that you essentially get three dark shadows that all look pretty much the same on the eye.

Next up, Desert Festival:

(apologies for this photo--I actually started to use this palette and then instantly remembered that I had not yet photographed it, so any imperfections you see on the surface were due to me and my horrible memory)

Desert Festival

 

Left: over bare skin

Right: over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

Overall, this palette performed better with primer than Dutchess Lounge. I think that most of the shades in Desert Festival became more vibrant over primer, although the champagne nude shade, which I was very excited about, really didn't show up on my skintone at all. Since the highlighters in these palettes are "translucent" and the color of that shadow is already close to my skintone, it's just didn't get any better, no matter how much primer I used or how much I packed it on.

Next up, Metropolitan Nights:

Metropolitan Nights

Left: over bare skin

Right: over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

I wanted to love this palette. But I'm afraid that, without primer, the two colors I really wanted to love the most (the gold and golden-taupe) were so weakly pigmented that even with primer, they didn't work for me. And as with Dutchess Lounge, we've also got a few colors in this palette that are so similar in nature that they both essentially read as black when on the eye.

And finally we have Maldives Sky:

Maldives Sky

Left: over bare skin

Right: over Wet n Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer

The name of this palette is so beautiful and conjures such gorgeous imagery. However, the reality of this palette was quite the opposite for me. Again, I've been keeping in mind that the mattes are supposed to be "subtle" (per the packaging) but I just can't stop myself from comparing them to the Coloricon mattes, which are so much better overall. As you can see above, primer did help boost a few of these shades (teal being the biggest improvement) but I was really expecting a more dramatic increase in pigment when worn over primer.

Texture and consistency: I found the shadows in all four palettes to be quite dry, quite difficult to pick up with a brush (I did have better luck with the accompanying sponge applicator) and chalky when applied to the eye.  There were a few exceptions and I found some shadows less dry than others, but if we're going to compare these to the Coloricon shadows (how can we not?) then I'm going to go ahead and say that they're all considerably more dry in texture and they lack the pigmentation and butter-like smoothness that we've come to expect from Coloricon shadows.

Finish and pigmentation: As I've repeated throughout this review, I believe that Wet n Wild was quite accurate in describing the highlight shades as "translucent" and the mattes as "subtle". However, they also said that these shadows are "intensely-pigmented" and that is where I have to disagree. With very few exceptions, I found these shadows to have weak pigmentation, especially when compared to the Coloricon eyeshadows.

Staying power: Without primer, most of these shadows lasted 2-3 hours on my oily skin before I started to see some major fading/creasing. With the Fergie Primer, however, these shadows performed much, much better, lasting a good eight hours before fading/creasing.

FINAL VERDICT: I think that Wet n Wild may have wanted to separate these shadows from the Coloricon range and give us something special with this collection. However, I think that the attempt to give us something different and great ultimately failed on all accounts. Wet n Wild set the bar very high with their Coloricon shadows, and I think that this line of shadows could have been a huge hit if they had just used the same Coloricon formula, but with new, unique shades that we've never seen before. Instead, it pains me to say that the Fergie Centerstage eyeshadows were a major disappointment for me, with their dry texture and weak pigmentation. They're almost the exact opposite of the Coloricon 8-pans, which, as we all know, generally have super pigmentation and a buttery-soft formula. Sorry, folks, but I just can't recommend these.

The Wet n Wild Fergie Centerstage Collection is a permanent addition to the Wet n Wild line and can be found at Walgreens.

Do you own any Fergie Centerstage eyeshadow palettes? If so, I would absolutely love to hear if you had a similar, or opposite, experience with 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.