ColourPop Sandstone Collection for Fall 2020
Release Date + About the Launch
INTRODUCING THE SANDSTONE COLLECTION ☀️ Our first EVER 18 pan palette inspired by red rock and earthy fall tones ?
9/24, 10 AM PT
Products in the Launch
Editor’s Note: Some indigenous people have pointed out that the use of indigenous patterns/symbols is cultural appropriation (see here and here) on the packaging for this collection, which certainly brings to mind when MAC’s Vibe Tribe released and similar concerns were raised.
For some greater context, Pueblo, which is used as a shade name, can be used to refer to permanent, indigenous settlements or to refer to Pueblo peoples (or Puebloans), who are the indigenous people that populate those settlements in the Southwestern US (like Arizona, where Sedona is home to Red Rock National Park, which is known for vortexes, Bell Rock, and Templeton [Trail]–all additional names found in the palette below) (see an overview at Wikipedia).
ColourPop issued a statement on 9/23: “We want to apologize for the design and names in our latest collection. It was not our intention to offend anyone, and we take your feedback very seriously. We will be updating the packaging design and shade names on the next production run. Thank you for your feedback.”
Sandstone Eyeshadow Palette, (Limited Edition)
- Big Bend (Matte with sparkle)
- Pueblo (Shimmer)
- Open Road (Matte with sparkle)
- Vortex (Matte)
- Quest Crew (Matte with sparkle)
- Bell Rock (Shimmer)
- Westward (Shimmer)
- Red Earth (Shimmer)
- Canyon Loop (Matte with sparkle)
- Spring Valley (Shimmer)
- Oasis (Matte with sparkle)
- Desert Sky (Shimmer)
- Blaze (Matte with sparkle)
- Recharge (Matte with sparkle)
- Wild Creek (Shimmer)
- Big Butte (Matte)
- Grounded (Matte)
- Templeton (Matte)
Creme Shadow, (Limited Edition)
Four shades — light beige, dirty peach, dusty coral, taupe.
Lippie Stix - Blur, (Limited Edition)
Four shades — plums and browns.
Creme Gel Liner, (Limited Edition)
Three shades — green, brown, lighter red-brown.
Colourpop needs to slow down. They’re dropping collections every week! Give us a chance to breathe (and use the products we bought last week).
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Agreed times a million!
Also, I signed up for email notifications for restocks of the Garden Variety and Sunflower full collection sets, and I’m STILL waiting. I really wish Colourpop would focus on restocking what they already have before dropping 4-5 new collections in a row. Or at the very least be transparent about what products / sets are going to be restocked and when it’s happening.
I love the color story in this palette. I could see myself really getting a lot of use out of this one.
Thank you, as always, for amplifying BIPoC voices and your thoughtful commentary!
As a person of Indigenous blood, I find nothing offensive about the use of Anglo terms for places in Sedona, ie; Vortex, Templeton, etc. However, I DO feel that ColourPop ought to have refrained from using a name that connotates a certain group of Native Americans. Of note, it is NOT a Native Tribal name, but a Spanish conquistador name for such peoples, their housing and culture. Not Native, but Spanish.
This looks promising, but with Mother Pat’s newest having a few greens, I’ll wait to see swatches of both. I do love a few of the Lippie Stix, but masks strike down that notion fast!
I mentioned the names vortex, Templeton, etc. to try to help show the context of the palette – that they definitely got a lot of inspo from Sedona specifically, if not the larger southwest (for general context!) but I haven’t seen anything about those being an issue (the name Pueblo and the artwork primarily). It’s good to hear from indigenous folks like yourself on whether they sit right with you or not. Discussions about cultural appropriation are really for those who are having something from their culture taken/used/borrowed from, so my hope is really to provide a place for indigenous readers to express themselves on it, which will obviously help to educate everyone else along the way 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to share, Nancy!
I’m part Native American, even though my people are in Mississippi. For the most part I try to give people (or companies) the benefit of the doubt that they’ve not tried to offend me, just as I don’t go around trying to offend others. For the most part you can get a good feeling for those who are intentionally being offensive/rude/ negative etc. I don’t feel that way with this release.
Thanks for sharing, Shari! 🙂
Pueblo=appropriation of appropriation. Bo Derek is getting retro-flak for having cornrows, yet Caribbean people still fashion braid styles for Anglos on vacay. It’s all in the intent and the respect conveyed. If CP donated 50% of profits to a SW Native American women’s charity, we’d all feel better about the collection. If I order jewelry from the Southwest Indian Foundation, and the group builds stoves and invests in education, I think buying NA jewelry is a good thing. The use of imagery and ‘stuff’ in the global village will involve some borrowing/use. The origins should be acknowledged. If a collection is crass-ish and tied into something that clashes with the culture’s values, like music festivals with NA symbolism, that goes over the line. This collection is not so egregious….. And Sedona is truly awe inspiring.
I agree with you on the importance of origin i.e. purchasing from indigenous creators. I think the braiding thing is a bit more complex because there’s a whole additional set of concerns that go a long with the colonial and neo-colonial forces that have made many BIPOC Caribbean folk dependent on Anglo tourism for their livelihood, even though the industry is inherently exploitative.
I think CP had a whole lot of products in the pipeworks before the virus hit and now they are releasing them pretty quickly.
Normally, I would be all over a release called Sandstone, but this just looks like a few interesting, but mostly easily dupable shades to me. The shimmers look good.
I am wondering if ‘matte with sparkle’ means glitter?
Controversy is free publucity, gets people talking about the brand again. I doubt it was unintentional. They’ve got to make up for lost time and releases.
Thank you for your perspective. I got engaged in Sedona. I named my dog after that awe inspiring place. I treasure my jewelry I got com their. It was such an education when we indulged in the culture there.
It seems like it really would not be too difficult to just hire a Native American artist to do the design when NA inspired designs are what a brand wants to go with. I don’t feel like the backlash against MAC was long enough ago that they could really get away with claiming they didn’t know it would be an issue. I know that this style of artwork isn’t protected and they are under no obligation to seek out NA artists but, really, wasted opportunity to highlight NA art in a way that promotes and celebrates an actual NA artist.
THIS. THANK YOU. It’s Colourpop’s (apparent) obliviousness and disengagement that irritates me. The US is having a Moment right now, a reckoning about all sorts of race and power issues. Since CP is releasing palettes every other week now, how about hiring a native artist and dedicating some of the proceeds to a cause? They could have done that with the coral collection as well (coral reef protection.) It would be nice to see them display some awareness of issues occasionally, and it seems like a simple thing to do.
It’s one of those things where I have to remember this brand was basically founded as a hobby for a pair of very rich siblings. I used to really enjoy colourpop but I haven’t made an order with them in over a year because I’ve just been increasingly turned off by their business model and their repeated lack of awareness. Its a shame that this probably will not be a wake up call for them.
Seeing the American desert region theme and fabric patterns immediately made me flash back to that recent MAC collection. This collection doesn’t seem to perpetuate the same sort of stereotypes that conflate the personality traits of free-spirited (or even “wild”) with Indigenous. ColourPop also doesn’t seem to dress ostensibly white models in Native American-inspired adornments (and with fabrics from multiple cultures, as though the cultures were all the same). The MAC collection made it feel like MAC was using or playing dress up in Indigenous cultures as a marketing tool — and perhaps to make money for a company where the people who derive the greatest profits are likely not members of those cultural groups (as defined by those groups).
For Pueblo people, I know it can be a particularly sore spot for some when their culture is appropriated, because it is very profitable and an ongoing issue like it is for many marginalized groups. For example, Pueblo-made cultural products with spiritual implications (like Kachina dolls), can be very expensive hand-crafted and detailed items, but “Kachina”-looking objects are sometimes made cheaply by other nations (like by the much larger Navajo nation), and then labeled as “Native American”-made — directly undercutting sales by Pueblo people selling items genuinely of their culture. We’ve come a long way since when Littlefeather gave a speech at the Oscars in terms of mainstream Indigenous representation and awareness of Indigenous perspectives, but we still have a very, very long way to go on that front. I really enjoyed reading the Indigenous perspectives here on this collection!
I think this is the prettiest of the recent ones ColourPop has churned out and the cream shadows look just like something my friend was looking for. I’m not sure I can recommend it to her, given the overall way that ColourPop dressed this collection, but I look forward to others’ viewpoints!
You know coming from a indigenous person stop making excuses and profiting off of thing you have no relationship to you don’t even know the meaning you just throw a bunch of designs and hope non indigenous persons go’s and takes pictures for your palette and hope you make big bucks maybe instead of being selfish you should listen to us indigenous people and stop stealing are culture and identity to much had been stolen my cultural is not a trend this may not be offensive to some native but it’s offensive to most I’m from a Pueblo and personal I’m not for this
Christine, I want to say thank you. I’m aware you’ve taken some heat recently from commenters who are so oblivious to their own privilege they can’t even see issues raised without getting all up in their feelings about it and lashing out. Discussions of this sort often involve a lot of nuance, and take some time and feedback. It is ABSOLUTELY worth raising the issue, every time, even if the ultimate conclusion is, well okay on *this* thing we’ve decided it’s basically fine. To anyone who complains, my response is, hey, we’ve lived with and accepted casual racism and appropriation for so long, without a word, that the pendulum swing the other direction is gonna be messy. And “intention” is only part of the equation. I’m sure CP didn’t intend to offend anyone (that’s JS’s territory lol) but that doesn’t mean things aren’t offensive, or that we can’t discuss them and decide to adapt accordingly.
Discussion is good, and it is the only way to allow voices that are often ignored the space to express their feelings–especially when so many brands (and people!) posted earlier this year about “listening” (and many were using the term BIPOC, too!).
I also think that from most readers, from what I’ve seen, are looking for is just brands to be held accountable and to do better in the future. It’s not about “down with XYZ brand” but “Hey, did you know? Not such a good idea, here’s why. Could you, maybe, think twice in the future?”
Lippie Stix! YES! I’m excited that those are coming back. I love the green liner and they got rid of their dark brown Mr. Bing so I’ll be picking up the dark brown liner to replace that one as I’ve run out. I really like the idea of the palette, but I see too many of those micro sparkle mattes which is a huge turn off.
The color story of this palette is really pretty and I also like the quality of Colourpop shadows. Plus, I got married in Sedona. It is such a beautiful and special place, no doubt. I definitely will be picking this palette up.
??? this looks just like an expanded Wild Nothing palette. What is happening.
Agreed
I’m a little upset I bought the Wild Nothing palette now, because this seems like a better palette with more of the depth and tones I was looking for.
I don’t know why I was even surprised when this was announced since they have been releasing palettes every other week. This just looks like an expansion on Wild Nothing. Frankly, I am disappointed by the number of shades that are “matte with sparkle”, especially the lighter shades. I have the Garden Variety palette and find that the mid toned shades that have sparkle are workable but the light peach with sparkle just shows up a smattering. I am still waiting for CP to release a palette that does not have super light cream colors and focuses more on medium tones. No glitter, no sparkle.
I am from Laguna Pueblo, this iconography tells stories, it’s part of who we are as Pueblo people. Diné (Navajo People) also share these symbols with us. It’s offensive to know these sacred symbols are used to make money especially when our communities have the highest rate of COVID19 infection rates with not every household having running water or adequate healthcare- to release this at this point in time is baffling. Other folks who say they have “Indigenous blood”- those of us who care don’t like being erased or silenced. We deserve respect and the company could have at least consulted with Indigenous MUAs, graphic designers, and tribal leadership to raise awareness and be respectful rather than appropriative.
So they went and changed the other names but not Pueblo?? So done.
Have we ever seen the updated packaging for this palette? The website doesn’t show the packaging at all and I haven’t found anyone online talking about what changes they made. I kind of wonder if they still just have it in the original packaging…