What do you think of collections based on movies/shows? Does it just depend on whether you like the movie/show? Is it always gimmicky?
It won’t be enough to keep me from buying a product, but ultimately I’ll be more concerned with quality than anything else. Â There are very few movies/shows that would drive me to buy makeup inspired by one.
Got a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
They can be really fun! One of my favorite companies — Shiro Cosmetics — does collections based off of video games. They have a Pokemon and a Legend of Zelda collection, and I have every single item!
It also helps that Shiro’s products are insanely high in quality!
WHY is this the first time I have heard of this?!?! So awesome!
Woah, that’s awesome!
I’m guessing this went up because of the Tarte/True Blood collection?
Anyway– this is an example of why I’m weary. Those colors aren’t anywhere bold enough for the two most notable make-up wearers on the show – Pam & Lafayette.
It just feels like a cash-in gimmick with no thought to the product. If they didn’t think about it, how can I trust that the product quality will be any good?
So true!! When i saw the photos of the collection my first thought was “this does not look True Blood-ish.” All the colors seem so light and washed out compared to that the main makeup wearers would wear and the characters who do not wear makeup… why would we buy makeup suitable for them they all look (intended to look) barefaced and/or extra pale…
In general i have never really seen a great TV inspired collection, oddly enough the only ones ive seen are vampire related :/
I’m with Carrie on this. It would make more sense if it was the brand used – don’t think so – or shades like on the show.
I think I’d prefer buying the same products that were used on the stars of the show/movie rather than products inspired by it
Agreed!
Honestly, I think it is a bit tacky. I’m not a big TV watcher, so I usually don’t know who they are talking about anyway.
But, I am rather excited about the new Tarte collection. I will probably buy the shadows if they get good reviews. I love the colors!!
why not?!
I only buy things for the colors never the theme.
Kind of gimmicky IMHO. Like you, it wouldn’t deter me from buying the products if they’re good, but I would be hard pressed to buy something just because it came in special packaging w/ special advertising or whatever. If anything, in my mind, the quality of the product has to be extra good to “compensate” for the mild annoyance I feel about being advertised to in such a blatant way.
Oh you mean like UD’s Alice in Wonderland, or Paul and Joe’s Alice collection, or MAC’s Disney with that ugly Cruella? If the product is great, there is not need to inspire us with these LE gimmicks.
When Evita came out, Estee Lauder had a beautiful collection. I remember Evita Plum was my favorite color. But those shades were used in the film. I agree, I liked collections if they were used in the film. Not a fan of gimmicks.
I don’t think it’s any different from any other type of collections. There’s always some kind of a gimmick behind them. As long as I like it and it’s good quality I’ll get it – whether it’s Justin Bieber’s nail polishes, the Sephora/MAC Hello Kitty lines, or Tarte’s True Blood items.
I actually think the Tarte/True Blood palette looks interesting, but I’ve never seen the show and probably wouldnt buy any makeup product with any show theme. I saw some Twilight makeup in Ulta once that looked like it was rejected from the dollar store. Ew.
It depends on the price and the quality. For example the twilight collection…it sucks, but has the name ‘Team ___’ and that makes me want to buy it. However, the quality is lacking and the size is terrible. As for the new True Blood collection, I am not a True Blood fan but the palette looks amazing and I am going to check out the pigments in person.
i love it! i think it’s fun. the products themselves almost always fall flat for me, so i buy them if it’s a movie/tv show that i love (as a fun collection piece).
and yes, i DID just purchase the tarte/true blood collection about an hour ago. one palette to use, and one to keep locked away cause i’m a nerd like that! lol!
reminds me that i still have my melrose place perfume somewhere around here… still in the box. i recall it smelled like a ck1 knockoff. who cares though? melrose place!!! droool!!!! haha
I think if its based off a movie or show with particularly striking makeup or an interesting color palette that’s cool, like the alice and wonderland palette because I spent the entire film admiring the makeup I think it worked. But I don’t need glee nail polish.
It might inspire an interest, but ultimately the products need to be able to stand on their own. I’m far beyond the point of themes & packaging as a reason to buy.
Eh, I’m more concerned with the quality. But, my boyfriends little sister freaked out when Nordstroms had the Twilight makeup collection. I took her to the mall to pick some up, we played around with it. The quality was crappy, but she still had to have some because it had the twilight name on it… I can kinda understand it, cuz I’d be the same way if a brand did a collection of Red Sox themed makeup! lol!!
I think it’d be unfortunate if the Twilight collection was fabulous… I feel like people are either “totally FOR” or “absolutely against” Twilight. What if the Twilight collection had the best hilight ever or something? A ton of people would be reluctant or unwilling to buy it if it had Twilight junk all over it. D:
I can’t think of many other than Venomous Villains and the Glee set by OPI for Sephora… It just depends on if it’s my “style” anyway. I loved VV, but I’m not going to pick up a brightly colored Glee-themed polish. Packaging also matters to me.
I’m not really into those kind of makeup since I know most of the stuff I’m paying for is just for the “hip” and tacky packaging.
Hmm. I think that such media can be just as much of creative inspiration as, say, felines, sirens, or beaches. But if it’s more of just a basic, gimmicky, low-quality translation of an obvious theme (eg. [character] wears blue and red–blue and red nail polish!) than a thoughtful interpretation of important details, then I’ll be less appreciative. (I am fully aware that this view is very elitist-artiste! Ha ha ha.)
I’m usually only interested if it’s a movie/show that I really like. For instance, I love Hello Kitty and Wonder Woman, so I was more excited about the MAC collections than I would have been if it were the same products w/o the Hello Kitty and Wonder Woman themes. It can sometimes be gimmicky, but of course you’re gonna be excited if you love makeup and they put out a makeup collection based on something else you really love.
I love to see that.. I would die for some collections based on a movie I love 🙂 but I would just buy stuff if I like the colours and if the quality is fine =)
I love these collections and I do like True Blood so I’ll might buy something from the collection. But if MAC does a movie or television inspired collection I would buy it because I know the quality will be good.
DuWop’s Twilight-inspired Lip Venom is the one that comes to my mind. From what I’ve read it was a major disappointment, but I’m sure they made a mint. At least it was a new product (albeit not a good one) and not a case of the company slapping some stickers on a product they had lying around.
The Tarte True Blood palette doesn’t work at all. At least the colour of the product for the lip stuff matches the packaging.
When I see these kinds of cross-promotions I’m always very interested to see how well the inspiration gets integrated into the product and packaging. MAC did a terrific job with Venomous Villains. You could clearly see how well the colours and the products themselves reflected each character. Those baked eyeshadows were heavenly.
OPI did a great job with the Shrek nail polish collection. Again, the colours were evocative of the property. I don’t even mind if the packaging is fairly chintzy (Venomous Villains!) as long as the colours relate well to the movie/show and the products are good quality. A good ad campaign can do most of the legwork if a company doesn’t want to alter their trademark packaging (but at least shell out for some pretty cardboard packaging to go around it!) that drastically.
I’m pretty neutral about them…I haven’t bought any Pirates of the Caribbean stuff but I did buy some MAC Venomous Villians but only b/c I liked the products. I wish I’d got UD’s Alice in Wonderland but not b/c of the movie…b/c I’d love to have Mushroom! I do think these tie-ins are a gimmick and will only buy if I really like a particular product.
Oh, man, you know what… I actually did buy the Pirates of the Caribbean mini set by OPI. I think I’m actually going to pick up a full-sized bottle of the purple one…
The OPI Pirates collection was actually very well thought out. I got all but Steady as She Rose. There’s a bunch of unique colors in that collection.
It’s funny you should say this because I bought all but 2 of this collection. When I made the mistake of finally seeing it last week I seriously sat there thinking the OPI collection was the best thing to cone out of the fiasco. I mean Mermaids with FANGS and shooting WEBS?!? No, just, no. I think I may actually have talked back to the screen at that point.
For me it usually depends on what it is. More often than not I’m buying for color, but if it’s apart of the fandom I’m in then I treat it as any other collectible item like an action figure or such.
For example, if I was a huge Alice in Wonderland fan and didn’t care for any of the shadows that UD put out, I’d still get it because it’s AiW merchandise. I won’t do anything with it, but then again you don’t really do anything with other collectibles like action figures or plates, etc.
a whole collection, not a fan…but i do like when particular shades are inspired by something from a movie, if it’s a good product. e.g. sparkle neely sparkle, or nitrolicious:2046….
if the products good, then i’d probably be interested anyway, but when the packaging is overdone, ugly or traumatizing then i would tend to pass it up….
I was very excited when I heard about the True Blood collection. I wont be buying it unless I see one of the guru’s do a review (and if it is worth it). True Blood is my favorite show… I hope that you do the review. PLEASE!!! haha
I, for one, love it if I love the show. I’ve started to collect makeup in earnest since admitting I’m helplessly addicted, but honestly who needs 20 shades of red lipstick? Gimmicky packaging can make it more fun and entices me to buy. Calling it a “cash-grab” is silly. The cosmetics industry is a HUGE moneymaker! We love names for eyeshadow for reference, but also for the fun of assembling an image through makeup. I think this is a natural extension of that. Sorry for the novel!
not even gonna lie to you guys, if there was ever a legally blonde makeup collection, i’d buy two of everything.
YES.
It really depends on the collection. I really enjoyed MAC Villans collection, as well as UD alice in wonderland. I guess it really just depends on the products that come out with said collection. I’m not into True Blood, so that tarte collection just doesn’t appeal to me.
i love them, they are so much fun!! and i’m a big pushover so I usually end up getting them because I’m such a big fan … I have the UD alice palette, and of course some MAC VV items, and yup I just ordered the true blood palette … they got me, what can i say?
It depends on the Movie or Show . I would totally buy a whole collection based on Sex & the City .. So glamerous & fun , Maybe Madmen because it based in the 60’s & the whole cast looks so stylish ..
But I agree that I depends on the show & how it is represented & what cosmetic company represents it …
I love themed collections! Hello Kitty, True Blood, Alice and Wonderland! It’s a great way to combine my various interests and loves! Makeup and whatever collection it is. Fun!
I would never purchase makeup solely for the movie/TV connection, and only rely on quality to make my decision, so if the quality was lacking in any way, I’d pass. On the other end of the spectrum, if I hate the packaging, I wouldn’t buy it either! My only exception is Star Wars. If they made a Star Wars makeup collection, I’d be sold no matter what! Come on MAC 😛
When I see stuff at first, I’m like “OOOOOH, they have nail polish based on Glee!” But then I can usually hold myself back cuz I don’t really need a another blue nail polish just because it’s named Slushied. I do have the Alice in Wonderland Palette from UD but not only do I love AIW but I didn’t have any UD shadows yet and I loved most of the colors so it was a good buy. So I guess I’ll buy stuff if I really like it and it’s good quality and if the theme happens to be something I really like too, then that’s just an extra bonus!
However, I did just see nail polish designed and named by Paramore’s Hayley Williams and I may have to find $50 for those colors!
I think they’re definitely gimmicky, but if it’s a movie or show that I like, then I’ll check it out. Whether or not I actually purchase is based on quality, colour, finish, price, all that stuff.
The True Blood Tarte collection is a good example – I love True Blood, but the colours in the eyeshadow palette just weren’t impressive or different enough to what I’ve already got, so it’s a no-go for me.
my favorite was definitely the Glee for OPI for Sephora
i think themed collections (especially of those with a large fan base) are really fun because so much can be done with color combinations and packaging design… but for me, quality is the make-it-or-break-it.
I find them fun because they’re inspired, and often a little more out there than other collections.
For me it’s awesome! I love movie/tv/books. I really get into the characters. I love soundtracks. So having something you love like makeup together with another favorite movie/tv/book is amazing. It’s fun to have those pieces. I agree with Stacey those are the first ones I thought of and more recent my Wonder Woman for Mac! I haven’t really checked out Shiro’s cosmetics!! I’ll have to check that out!
It depends on the quality and the uniqueness of the colors offered and if it will work with my skintone. I bit the bullet and purchased the palette of True Blood so wish me luck on that one.
I like Tarte but they were not the right company to entrust with True Bloods image. Illamasqua ought to have done it. Sorry ladies but this just strikes me as the safe color pallette for those who might watch True Blood but would never imitate the MU. This palette is very safe and neutral, that is not True Blood. I gag a little when I see the Twilight MU on ACW. It’s just an extension of marketing, great for your average Hot Topic tweaked experimenting with makeup. It’s funny because I just tossed out an old Stila palette associated with the film Vanity Faire. Tarte made a palette Sooki would use and…. That’s about it.
Sorry! Not “tweaked” but tween.
It will definitely make me more interested to look at the items but I will still only buy what I really like.
Hmm… I think most of them are too gimmicky, but I have to confess that I bought few items from MAC Hello Kitty, VV & WW, Urban Decay and Paul & Joe Alice in Wonderland, Rescue Beauty Lounge Spongebob Squarepants, OPI Shrek & OPI Burlesque, etc.
*Out of topic: I’m wondering, other than RBL, why there’s no cosmetic companies who are interested to create another Spongebob collection? This movie/series has a lot of wonderful color, I can imagine coral blush, teal eyeshadow, pink lipgloss, etc… MAC succeed with their Venomous Villain, Hello Kitty & Wonder Woman collections, I hope next summer MAC interested to create Spongebob Collection! 😛
It’s just one more marketing theme that seems to have no end. It’s a win for the TV show or movie usually. Just look at Burlesque! it was a bomb at the box office – but had a lot of tongues wagging from the OPI collection that otherwise would not have. And how many sort of knew who Katy Perry was but not really. Then OPI had the KP collection and even 60+ year old polish holics knew who KP was more than they knew of her before.
I’m still waiting for MAC to do a Disney Princesses Collection. I need some beauty powders and MSFs with Cindy, Bell, Ariel, Jasmine and Mulan on the packaging.
I love the idea and think it makes it unique