Wet 'n' Wild Baked Holiday Palettes - THOUGHTS and SWATCHES...

Wet 'n' Wild Baked Holiday Palettes

THOUGHTS and SWATCHES...

Wet 'n' Wild has released 3 BRAND NEW LIMITED EDITION Color Icon Baked (mineralized) Eyeshadow palettes for Holiday 2011. This is the first taste of mineralized/baked products that we are seeing from Wet 'n' Wild and they no doubt want in on the baked makeup market.

As usual these have been hard to find! The palettes are a Walgreens exclusive and even so they seem to only be available in limited supply (or beauty lovers are snatching them up left and right) and not available at all Walgreens locations. I found a couple at the first Walgreens I hit up in New Jersey so don't give up hope.

Did you think I would fail you guys? Never! I would have hunted them down if I had to AND taken hostages!

Size: 0.06 oz net wt.

Price: $4.99

The Wet 'n' Wild Baked Palettes are approximately $4.99 for 0.06 oz net wt. of product (0.01 oz per eyeshadow). Since Wet 'n' Wild is considered a drugstore/low-end makeup brand you are sure to be able to grab these on sale (hello buy one, get one) or at discounted prices. 

What threw me with these palettes is the size of the eyeshadows - 0.06 net wt. - a mere 0.01 oz per eyeshadow. Quite a miniscule amount.  In fact, in relation to a previously reviewed higher-end brand - Lorac Ooh La Lace Baked Shimmer & Matte Eye Shadow Palette - is not so great a bargain anymore. Yes you pay very little for 6 eyeshadows but together they amount to the size of a normal single eyeshadow. This may not mean much to a regular consumer but to a beauty blogger the disproportion becomes more apparent. Either way the price is quite low and therefore will stir interest nonetheless.

The palettes are a Walgreens exclusive and are only available in stores. However, they are only available in limited supply (or beauty lovers are snatching them up left and right) and for a limited time! To add to the elusive nature of these palettes they not available at all Walgreens locations. 

The Wet 'n' Wild Baked Palettes are housed in a simple black plastic palette with a clear removable cover. Inside there are 6 raised dome baked eyeshadows arranged in two rows of three. The package is drugstore quality so don't expect great durability here. In fact I quite dislike this packaging. The clear cover is completely removable with no hinges or snap clasp. And it is not the easiest thing to get off either - I had quite a task with opening these palettes (for shame - it was like child-proof or something and I was a toddler). These palettes while not all flimsy are indeed breakable. I already shattered the lids of 2 of them. I would be careful not to drop them or subject them to any kind of impact. In other words...Wet 'n' Wild please change the packaging!

There are no scratchy applicators in these palettes but they do come with a coordinating eyeliner pencil. These pencils are a little bonus I guess but they are low quality and I never use them.

Again there are no names on the palette for the eyeshadows and even the name of the palettes is only on the outer packaging. I know that eyeshadows without names can be quite a hassle especially for Bloggers and YouTubers who create looks - yea ummm...3rd one, top row. But for others this may not be a big deal...you may not even notice. And as far as palette names go...either mark them or rely on memory : )

 

The Wet 'n' Wild Baked Palettes feature 6 coordinating baked eyeshadow shades each following the theme of the palette - blue/silver, pink/bronze, bronze/copper. There are 2 solid highlight colors, 2 solid deeper colors on each end and 2 medium marbled/swirl center shades in each palette. The finishes range from high frost to frost to semi-matte.

Now, I may be a bit bias after using some of the most divine mineralized/baked eyeshadows very recently. But alas, I must be completely honest and objective regardless of my biases right? Yep I will try my best. Right off the bat I will say that I was not impressed or wowed by these palettes. But I can't be overly judgmental as these are after all drugstore level eyeshadows.

Baked Not Fried Palette (bronze/copper)

This palette features bronzes and copper and varieties of earth-tones. The first shade at the top is a high frost white shade with decent color payoff, the top marble shade results in a light peachy melon shade with chunky frost finish, next is a medium brown with pinky undertones and decent color payoff. The bottom row starts out with a chunky flaky orange copper shade, the marble shade again is a light peachy champagne shade, the last color is a deep brown with nice color payoff and a semi-matte finish. Except for the white highlight shade and the deep brown color in the bottom row, this palette is a bust in terms or pigmentation and texture. The chunky shades are flaky and gritty whether used dry or wet and are quite a pain to work with. Using the colors wet does not improve the texture, pigmentation or fallout issues.  
Below Average D

Baking A Cake (pink/bronze)

This palette follows a pink and bronze theme. The first shade at the top is a high frost light ice pink shade with decent color payoff, the top marble shade results in a light icy nude shade with sheer color payoff, next is a light blue with lavender reflect and sheer color payoff. The bottom row starts out with a beautiful fuchsia pink shade with decent color payoff, the marble shade is a light pink shade that leans peachy shade with decent color payoff, the last color is a deep brown with nice color payoff and a semi-matte finish. There are a couple of redeeming colors in this palette such as the fuchsia pick, the light icy pink and the and the deep brown color in the bottom row. If these couple of colors reach out to you then this may be worth a try. Decent/Average C+

 

Bake-Off Contest (blue/silver)
This palette is the saving grace of the collection. All the colors in this palette has decent color payoff whether used dry or wet. The textures while not buttery smooth and creamy are decent enough. They can feel slightly rough on the skin but not as bad as the chunky textures of the aforementioned palettes. The deep blue and black shades are actually quite nice - I like the black very much! And the aqua highlight shade is nice and unique (not a color you see often). The light icy white in the bottom row is the only shade that throws this palette off a bit but the other colors save the day. This one I would say is definitely worth checking out. 
Nice B+

These palettes remind me that drugstore products don't always do well with formulation. And it is also a reminder than cheaper doesn't mean better. A lot of bloggers are raving over these based on the price but I always take a step back and look at quality. These eyeshadows do not come close to high-end brands so I won't even pretend that they wowed me. And the packaging made it even worse. These definitely scream drugstore and even whisper play makeup. For the price they are okay I suppose but nothing I would cry over missing out on. If you get a chance you can try out the blue/silver palette but other than that meeeeh!

What do you think? Have you tried them? Do you want to try them?

Each swatch is applied over a primer. Left side is a dry swatch while right is a wet swatch.

For this palette these colors were packed on very generously to have the color show up as it does here except for the deep brown in the top row.

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Each swatch is applied over a primer. Left side is a dry swatch while right is a wet swatch.

For this palette these colors were packed on very generously to have the color show up as it does here except for the fuchsia pink and deep brown in the top row.

 

 Dry/Wet 

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Each swatch is applied over a primer. Left side is a dry swatch while right is a wet swatch.

For this palette these colors were swatched with one or two swipes to have the color show up as it does here.

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet