Urban Decay Moonflower Eyeshadow and BYOP Review, Photos, Swatches
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP ($18.00 for 0.05 oz.) is a new design of Urban Decay’s Build Your Own Palette concept, and this version includes one eyeshadow already–Moonflower–which is described as a “light copper/peach shimmer.” It’s a softened, orange-copper with a golden peach shimmer-sheen finish. Cinderella All Aglow is browner. Guerlain Les Fauves #4 is darker. bareMinerals Nirvana is lighter. Urban Decay Penny Lane is lighter and more golden. theBalm Mischievous Marissa is similar.
I like the 4-pan BYOPs more than the 6-pan ones, because they’re more compact and travel-friendly, but I still find the BYOP concept to be overly bulky. I’d also much rather purchase pans of eyeshadow rather than a pot that I can pop out the first layer out of (because you could always do that, you just didn’t have a palette that fit them). I would have loved to see Urban Decay make them magnetic with a pin-sized hole on the bottom, so you could push the pan out if you wanted. I still believe that one of the appeals of having freestyle palette systems is to save on space, save on money, and be able to travel with them more readily. If you drop one of the BYOPs, it does have more security from breaking, because it is more insulated. I do, personally, like the design they chose for the actual palette; very dark, mysterious, and pretty (to me).
Moonflower (the eyeshadow) has good color payoff, a soft, smooth texture that’s dense and goes on evenly. There were a few flecks of sparkle that I saw fall out during application, and after I cleaned up, I saw a couple stray sparkles after wearing it for eight hours. I had some very light fading after wearing it (without primer) for eight hours but no creasing.
Please note: the rating for this product is purely based on the performance and quality of the eyeshadow, not the palette.
Moonflower
DCDiscontinued. $19.00.
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
Urban Decay Moonflower BYOP
It’s a pretty enough shade, but like the other BYOP it’s not a shade that I’d personally get much use out of which again negates the “value” the shade provides.
Also: why is the cost of this 4-pan palette the same as the 6-pan palette? Shouldn’t you be down a buck or two? It just feels like the concentration on this BYOP has always been the shadow with the palette itself an afterthought.
This is my big frustration with UD. (I mean, aside from the sudden interest in boring neutrals.) They came up with this awesome concept for palette-able shades, then made the whole palette concept kind of whomp-whomp. I’m honestly not going to spent $18 to get a palette pan. Especially when it’s trying to push a shade on me that I will not wear, do not want and do not like.
Exactly. UD should have taken their cues from Inglot or MAC on how to do a fill-your-own palette right. These just feel like gimmicks, which is a shame because I was so excited by the idea before I actually saw them.
I think that they advertise it as you buying the palette and getting a free shadow, but I think it’s really the other way around. That would be the only true justification for charging the same amount. The shadows are exclusive to the palettes…and they keep churning them out so I assume the draw for some would be the shadow and not the palette. I don’t like or dislike the palette system. It’s not as massive as some seem to make it out to be…although I get that it is bigger than the slim palettes available via MAC. I haven’t tried depotting UD shadows, but I think if I ever needed another palette (I bought the first one) I would probably go with a Z-Palette and just depot. I agree that it would be nice if they sold pan-only shadows at a slightly cheaper price…I guess the only reason it’s an after thought to me is because I have their pro discount but I’m always a fan of cheaper prices lol
UD frustrates me a lot with their eyeshadow because I personally believe the formulation is fantastic; but I just don’t wear shimmery colors, period.(I actually have a lot of eyelid space and I find shimmers emphasize it too much, especially a light shimmer. The most I do is a slight satin)
It’d be nice to build my own palette using their few matte/almost-matte shades, but I don’t want to buy this and waste $$ on that light shimmery shade that I’ll NEVER use. Why not just sell an empty tin?!
Of couse I know about the Naked Basics palette, and while I think it’s fantastic quality, it bores me and the light colors are all so similar.
I wish more companies made matte, colorful eyeshadows… shoutouts to MUFE for doing just that, though!! They have been uniquely fantastic about offering shades that are colorful AND matte. I wish MUFE made a build you own palette!
if youre looking for matte eyeshadows in bright colors, inglot makes a TON and the quality is right on par with mufe (and much cheaper!)
and you can build customs pallets 🙂
you can build a MUFE custom eyeshadow palette! They have an empty palette on Sephora and you go from there..
You could always re-sell the eyeshadow single. I’m sure there are lots of beauty lovers out there who want this shade but don’t need the palette.
Here is my problem w/UD. I love their colors, but I despise buying premade palettes, I won’t do it. I also don’t like having singles. Now they have this palette system that is bulky and just impractical and expensive.
I’d love to hear if anyone else makes up their own UD palettes using some other system. But then, of course, I’d still be buying a full priced single-paying for packaging I don’t need. Am I just spoiled by MAC’s system?
I think – don’t quote me on this – that UD pans are a similar size to MAC pans? So you could, theoretically, depot and use them with the MAC system.
I do not know if they are the same as the MAC pans, but I often pull out the MAC plastic divider and use the palette to hold other shadows that I have taken the time to depot. You can buy magnetic tape at any crafts store
They fit perfectly in mac palettes. This is what I do. I hate the look of the UD palettes!
I have some old UD singles that I depotted and put in a free palette. They actually work in a magnetic palette by default. I bought some sheet magnet to use for this purpose, and had to use them on other brands, but not on the regular UD stuff. I even have a sample sized Stardust pan that went right in there. For some reason, the mattes needed magnets, but so did my one Mac pan.
I think I’ve got two old singles (from the UD site clearance) and one new (Mushroom) still to depot, I keep putting it off. I don’t own a flat iron, so I have to use the “cautiously melt the plastic with a lighter just enough to deform it and pop out the pan” method of depotting and it’s a pain in the behind.
Thanks everyone for the replies-they were really helpful! I might pick up a few UD shades and try to put them into my MAC palette. Still wish I could get them w/o the packaging at a discount…le sigh
🙂
I wish the palettes didn’t come with a shadow. First off, they would be cheaper. And second, I never use the shadow it comes with. I would probably buy more in UD shadows if the BYOP didn’t come with one already, especially when I know I’m going to toss it aside. But I do like this color, however, I prefer the BYOP’s that fit 6 shadows.
I love the moonflower shade– ive always wanted a dupe of theBalms mischevious marissa but WHY does UD have to put glitter in effing everything. This would have been a purchase if not for the glitter.
is moonflower like a happy cross of sidecar and chopper from n1 and n2?
I would say it’s lighter than both!
UD: Let’s make gorgeous palette casing, lovely colours, and the STUPIDEST BYOP system to hit the beauty world, LOL.
😐
That said… ugh so pretty.
I really like these new palettes. The cases are pretty sturdy, there’s a big mirror and I like the designs. The fact that it comes with an eyeshadow doesn’t bother me at all. All of the shadows have been very pretty and versatile, and I think the idea is that since it comes with an exclusive shadow, it’s like you’re getting the case for free. These are much better than the bulky or flimsy palettes UD used to be known for.
My beef with UD’s Build Your Own palettes is that there is no savings to be had buying the shadows themselves in a less packaged (and less expensive) format, the way you can with MAC’s shadows sold in the “pro pans”. It feels like I’m being sort of doubly gouged!
Christine… Is this similar to their discontinued shade, Blaze? It kind of looks like it – but with more sparkle perhaps. (I think Blaze was frosted.)
I’ve bought every BYOP from UD solely for the included eye-shadow and then I sell the empty palette on eBay. The palettes are study and gorgeous, but I don’t travel that often and they’re too bulky for everyday. Plus most of my UD singles are in the old vintage packaging so for 90% of my stash they’re pointless. I will say all of them have been beyond beautiful – the quality is amazing…but not right for me.
I actually miss their little bitty cardboard palettes. Go figure. They looked like books when all lined up… I don’t really like the zippered ones.
Not as orange as Blaze 🙂
I have Blaze and just recieved this palette yesterday, If you have blaze you def dont need both, they are VERY similar, Blaze is a touch more shimmery bronze to it.
I love urban decay! The quality of their eyeshadows are superb. I almost always find myself buying their premade palettes before any other brand. The BYOP system they have is just silly to me, first of all my biggest problem is that I’m still going to have a ton of extra eyeshadow pots to throw away besides the fact that they are charging full price for single shadows to put in the BYOP. Why? Besides what do I need the extra trash from the shadow pots if I’m buying it to be put in a palette? Lol
I think the idea is that you do this when you are going places/travelling and don’t want a bunch of loose pots floating about in a purse/bag. I don’t have and UD products so I won’t be buying it but it can be practical if you do buy them.
Angelina, that’s my feeling too. They should sell a less packaged option for those who want to put the shadows in a palette, the way that MAC and Inglot do. You also pay a bit less which is nice but it also means you don’t have this packaging that you didn’t want in the first place going into the trash or a land-fill. At least with MAC, if you do have the plastic cases, you can “back to Mac” them.
Def looks too bulky for my taste. I love Inglot’s freedom system and Mac’s palettes as well.
I really like UD’s quality in eyeshadows, however I don’t feel like this is a terribly unique colour. Also agreed, the BYOP system looks bulky.
Pretty color & pretty palette design. But yeah… to me, I’d rather just depot a shadow and stick a magnet to it, then it can fit in my empty palettes, rather than pay for/start a whole new one. to me also, being able to mix brands into one palette is a big draw for freestyle palettes
It’s a really gorgeous palette design.
I love the shade that comes with this system way better than the first one, so I wish I had waited until this came out. Can’t have it all I guess! haha
My ideal palette would be UD shadows in the Inglot packaging and palette tray.
Hi Christine! Do you know if this palette is going to eventually be sold at sephora or ulta?
I don’t know – there is no word at this time that they will be.
Christine is there anyway you can tell how the mini shadow brush that comes with the 6 pan BYOP compairs to the Good Karma shadow brush? I can’t find any stores near me the have test brushes of the Good Karmas. I have the mini from the 6-pan BYOP and its not what I’m looking for in a shadow brush(its too stiff)
I didn’t notice any difference between the travel-size and the full-size!
Totally just bought the Moonflower palette…Uncut, Snare, and AC/DC eyeshadows, thanks to your beautiful swatches 🙂 The bff, who’s a guy, even approved!
What single UD shadows are similar to this Christine? 🙂
Hi Merc!
All possible dupes I could think of are listed in the post! 🙂