Wet 'n' Wild Desert Festival Photo Op Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:26:27 +0000

Wet ‘n’ Wild Desert Festival Photo Op Eyeshadow Palette

Wet ‘n’ Wild Desert Festival Photo Op Eyeshadow Palette ($4.99 for 0.19 oz.) is a five-pan palette that features a warm-toned, desert-inspired color scheme.

Desert Festival #1 is a pale, warm-toned beige with a satin finish. It had sheer color payoff; the texture was dry and stiff, so it made it harder to get enough product out to see more opaque color. (It looks even sheerer than it is, because it also happens to be nearly identical to my skin color!) MAC Grain is more frosted, slightly lighter. MAC Naked Lunch is a bit darker.

Desert Festival #2 is a brightened, medium orange with a matte finish. It had fairly good pigmentation, though the texture was so soft that it was also a bit dusty. I didn’t have anything quite like this–there’s a very even balance between yellow and red in this shade, so it doesn’t turn too reddish or get too dark, but it’s also not a yellowy orange. Other oranges that are matte tend to be darker and redder.

Desert Festival #3 is a neutral-toned taupe brown with a satiny finish. It was, unfortunately, rather dry and stiff in texture, so the resulting color payoff was disappointing. MAC Nebula is darker. bareMinerals Wanderlust is more frosted. bareMinerals Apropos is cooler-toned. NARS Bali is cooler-toned, grayer. Inglot #363 is warmer.

Desert Festival #4 is a shimmery, lightened, medium-orange with warm undertones. It had a better texture than some of the other shades, so the pigmentation was better. Chanel Pearl River #4 is brighter. Milani Primary Runway Eyes #3 is darker, redder. MAC Fresh Daily is richer in color.

Desert Festival #5 is a grayish brown with a satiny finish. It is just a bit darker than the center shade–more distinctly cool-toned. It had underwhelming color payoff, as it, again, had a stiff and dry texture that made it hard to get product out of the pan. MAC Nebula is more shimmery. MAC Concrete is more matte.

Overall, I was disappointed in the palette, because it had a drier, stiffer texture that resulted in rather low color payoff. The best performing shade was the matte orange, followed by the shimmery orange; the other three shades were hard to work with. Muse had a similar experience, and she and I both expounded the benefits of Color Icon over this. I could not wear this palette without a primer and achieve any semblance of decent color payoff, despite Wet ‘n’ Wild claiming these are “ultra-pigmented” and “crease-resistant.” I did wear the shades as they were without a primer, and I saw fading after six hours. With a primer, I didn’t have trouble with the shades fading. The three drier shades were harder to blend and definitely will take more time and attention to finesse the colors just right. Wet ‘n’ Wild has done better in their Color Icon Trios/Palettes, so I’d recommend checking one of those in lieu of this one.