Review of Sephora Patone Palette 2016 Modern Watercolors

The package is adorable and for a color lover like me, this palette is a must have.  Or so I thought.  Pastel eyeshadows never really work for me.  I could blame my pale skin, but I’m not sure this eyeshadow would work on darker skin tones.  These shadows all appear a little washed out on me, even with a base.

Sephora Pantone Universe Modern Watercolors Palette

I swatched all the colors but I don’t know that helps.  I just wish these eyeshadows were a little more pigmented.  There are some in here that I feel like should work and just don’t.  I made to example kind of eye looks.  They aren’t great, but most of my brushes are dirty and I didn’t put in any effort into the eye looks.  I just wanted you to get to see how these shadows worked in action.

Row 1:  Bright White, Rose Quartz, Honeydew, Cafe Creme, Mellow Yellow, and Ash

ROW 1

This row is more highlight type colors.

Bright White - This is a matte white color.  It’s on the sheer side.

Rose Quartz - This is a matte pastel pink.  It’s on the sheer side but I found that it went on easier than Bright White and Honeydew.

Honeydew - This is a matte pastel blue-mint.  I really had to build this one up.  I wore it with Nyx Milk as a base and it came off way too light.  I mixed it in with Cascade and it was still too light.  I tried using it wet and the shadow just turned hard.

Cafe Creme - This is a beautiful light shiny brown.  This has a really beautiful look to it.

Mellow Yellow - This is a shimmery yellow shade.  This shade only really works as a highlight shade.  It only gives you a slight shimmer and seems a little multidimensional.

Ash - This is a pastel gray.  It barely showed up by itself.  I used this over Nyx Milk in one of the examples.

Row 2:  Antique White, Mushroom, Pelican, Chinois Green, Cedar Wood, and Citadel

ROW 2

Antique White - This a shimmery white shade.  It reminds me of Mellow Yellow but is slightly more opaque.

Mushroom - This is a silver taupe shade, I almost felt like there was a bit of green in it.

Pelican - This shade is a duochrome light green with gold reflects.  This is the shade everyone is going nuts over.  I wore this over Nyx Milk and it came out really washed out.  I’m going to try a black base next time, but I’m worried it will look to muddy.  I can’t really seem to find a way to wear this that makes me love it.

Chinois Green - This is a dark forest green with a little bit of gold shimmer.  I feel like this is one of the ‘darker’ shades in this palette.

Cedar Wood - This is a brown shade.

Citadel - This is a sheer blue shimmer shade.  This would look beautiful over something else, but it doesn’t really work on it’s on.  I really didn’t feel like it showed up at all in the swatch but I used it in one of the examples.

Row 3:  Oyster Mushroom, Coral Haze, Pale Mauve, Cafe au Lait, Boa, Serenity

ROW 3

Oyster Mushroom - This is a light silver color.

Coral Haze - This is a pastel coral.

Pale Mauve - This is a purpley mauve.

Cafe au Lait - This is a shimmery brown shade.  This really reminds me of Pain au Chocolat by L’Oreal.

Boa - This is a shimmery green.

Serenity - This is a pastel blue.  I feel like this one shows up really well, especially compared to some of the other shades in this palette.

Row 4:  Fruit Dove, Orchid Haze, Cascade, Lantana, Linden Green, and Marina

ROW 4

These are all matte shades.

Fruit Dove - This is a pastel reddish-pink.

Orchid Haze - This is a pastel purple.

Cascade - This is a pastel mint shade, darker than Honeydew.

Lantana - This is a pastel orange.

Linden Green - This is a pastel yellow green.

Marina - This is a pastel darker blue.

Overall, I don’t think this palette is worth the $40 I spent on it.  The shadows just aren’t there.  It’s a cute palette and the colors look really pretty.  I’ve seen pastel eyeshadows done well, I’ve seen matte pastels done well.  But those are shadows that are hard to do and I don’t think they nailed it with this palette. The shadows tend to blend into one another or need a base that changes the color. I also feel like the colors don't have enough tonal range to really make a solid look.  I’d skip it if I were you.

Here are my two examples:

I used Ash over Nyx Milk and put Mellow Yellow on the brown bone just to see how it looked.

I used Citadel on the lid and Oyster Mushroom in the crease.

This is the shade I used as a base for the Citadel and Oyster Mushroom look.  It's from the Maybelline Smokes Quad.