Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:00:33 +0000

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette ($36.00 for 0.54 oz.) consists of six full-sized eyeshadows inspired by The Emerald City. They include: Glinda’s Kiss (iridescent white), Silver Shoes (pearlized silver), Dandy Lion (pearlized olive green), Saw Dust Heart (matte deep brown), Ozma (pearlized aqua blue), and Very Wicked (pearlized emerald green).

Glinda’s Kiss is a pale white with a white gold sheen. It has great color payoff, but it is a shade that is dupeable–and Tarina Tarantino has already put similar shades in a few of her palettes. Bare Escentuals One Hit Wonder is creamier, less frosted, slightly yellower. Tarina Tarantino Delightful and Tarina Tarantino Dreamy are more frosted, less metallic, subtler yellowness. MAC Manila Paper much yellower. MAC Nylon is yellower. Bare Escentuals Breathtaking is very similar, slightly less white. Urban Decay Zephyr is less yellow-toned.

Silver Shoes is a dark charcoal gray with a frosted shimmer-sheen. It has excellent pigmentation and a soft, smooth texture. Maybelline Audacious Asphalt is very similar though in a cream form. Tarina Tarantino Lovely has a pretty similar gray shade. Bobbi Brown Gunmetal is slightly darker and bluer-toned. Urban Decay Gunmetal is bluer-toned. theBalm Inspirational is also similar but bluer-toned.

Dandy Lion is a deep olive green with a dirty gold shimmer-sheen. It has intense color payoff and a really soft, smooth texture. Dior Garden Pastels has a lighter, more green shade. Tarina Tarantino Wonderful has a much darker, more cool-toned green. Wet ‘n’ Wild Earth Looks Small From Down Here has a browner, less green-toned version. MAC Sumptuous Olive is browner, less green. Inglot #433 is more golden, less green.

Saw Dust Heart is a dark burgundy chocolate brown with a matte finish. It has rich pigmentation (it applies even better on the lid). It has a similar color to NARS Ponderosa, without the shimmer. Wet ‘n’ Wild We’re Blasting Off is less brown. Wet ‘n’ Wild Comfort Zone is a little lighter and has shimmer. MAC Smut is a little darker and has shimmer.

Ozma is a blue-teal with a metallic shimmer-sheen. The color payoff is rich and intense, and the texture feels like butter. MAC Rain Drop is darker. Milani Primary Runway Eyes has a shade that’s a bit bluer. Milani Teal the Truth is more teal. theBalm Open to Offers Olwen is more frosted, less metallic, but the colors are very similar. Inglot #413 is a bit lighter.

Very Wicked is a dark brownish-green–it has this murky olive brown base with dusted forest green sheen. The pigmentation was spot on. OCC Poison is the closest dupe, though it has a much darker, blacker base color. Make Up For Ever #84 is greener.

Tarina Tarantino’s eyeshadow formula is AMAZING! — seriously one of my absolute favorites on the market and one of the more affordable formulas, too. The color payoff is excellent across the board, and the texture is buttery, dense, soft, and silky smooth. These apply as beautifully as they swatch, too. I wore Glinda’s Kiss, Dandy Lion, Ozma, and Very Wicked together to test out the wear–both with and without a primer–and after twelve hours, I didn’t have any creasing or fading either way. I applied them all dry, though her eyeshadows can be used both wet and dry.

Now, there is one glaring downside to this product, and it bothered me from the moment I opened up the palette: the size is unnecessarily large. There is a lot of wasted space in this palette, and while it’s slim, it’s still obnoxiously large. I was bummed about the packaging, because if it had been tighter and more like her other palettes (or just smaller), this would have been an A+ product all day long. Know that the contents are A++++ and its the size of the palette that holds it back.

It’s made out of heavy-duty cardboard, so it’s not the same plastic compacts that her other eyeshadow palettes and duos have been packaged in. Cardboard has its advantages and disadvantages–it’s much, much better if you’re prone to dropping products, because the cardboard will absorb more of the impact compared to plastic. Cardboard can be tossed around more easily without causing breakage of the eyeshadows, but it will show scuffs, dents, scratches, and wear and tear around the edges while plastic compacts won’t.

P.S. — Both Sephora and the back of the palette itself list the product weight as 6 x 0.9 oz. but also as 2.5g–2.5g is actually 0.09 oz. Based on the size of the eyeshadows compared to her other palettes and the various eyeshadows on the market, 0.09 oz. makes sense. Most eyeshadows are around 0.05 oz. (like MAC and Urban Decay), so six shades at nearly double that size for $36 is a great deal.