Sephora wow’ed us with their collaboration with Pantone Universe earlier this year with the Tangerine Tango releases for Spring & Summer, and now they’re back for Fall! From the new collection, the Sephora + Pantone Universe Alchemy of Color Eye Shadow Palette ($34 USD / $41 CAD) features 10 eyeshadows in a beautiful, sleek white compact. The palette shades are inspired by the Pantone View Color Planner for Autumn/Winter ’12-’13.

The eyeshadows are baked in pure mineral water to deliver a unique, Italian-inspired formula that glides on beautifully with high pigmentation. I actually notice a significant improvement in these eyeshadows as compared to the previous Sephora + Pantone Universe eyeshadow palette (remember the Shades of Nature palette?), these ones are much more pigmented and smooth.

The box… so pretty!

Magnetic compact lid comes off completely!

The palette has a similar sleek white design as the previous one, although this one is much smaller.  The square compact has a magnetic lid (with an embedded mirror) that comes off entirely (think of the INGLOT freedom system palettes), which I honestly don’t like. I find it a little awkward, but some may actually enjoy the design.  The eyeshadows are split into two pans, one on the top with pinks and purples, and one on the bottom with blues, browns and greys.

While the texture is beautiful, I find that the eyeshadows are quite hard to apply because they are all joined together, and the different sizes of eyeshadows has a cool visual effect, but its such a pain in reality.  Some of the shades are so small, even my pinky finger couldn’t pick up that shade alone without getting some of the other color on it too. Annoying, but if you can get past the extra care and effort you need to actually use the palette, you’ll probably really like the shades.

Revealing the Sephora + Pantone Universe Alchemy of Color Eye Shadow Palette

Sephora + Pantone Universe Alchemy of Color Eye Shadow Palette

All of the shades are a bit pearly, but some more than others. I wouldn’t consider any of them matte (perhaps a couple satin shades, but overall shimmery).

The shades include:

• Sand Storm: A small strip of shimmery, golden bronze
• Peach Purée: The largest shade in the pinks/purple side, a beautiful light shimmery, champagne pink.
• Bordeaux: A medium-sized strip of deep, satin purple
• Purple Heart: A medium-sized strip of periwinkle, also more of a satin texture
• Amethyst: A super skinny strip of rich pink-purple
• Graystone: A super-skinny strip of deep, shimmery navy blue
• Rain Drum: A medium-sized strip of mid-tone, cool brown
• Acorn: Also a medium-sized strip of mid-tone brown, but much warmer than Rain Drumn
• Taupe Gray: The largest strip on the blues/browns/greys side, a super shimmery pale silver shade
• Alloy: A small strip of shimmery, icy blue.

If I had a pick my favorite shades, I’d say Peach Purée, Purple Heart, Acorn and Alloy are my favorites! I’m impressed with the consistency of quality in the palette, but it’s not the most user-friendly in terms of packaging and layout.

(L-R) Sand Storm, Peach Purée, Bordeaux, Purple Heart & Amethyst

Swatches (L-R) Sand Storm, Peach Purée, Bordeaux, Purple Heart & Amethyst

(L-R) Graystone, Rain Drum, Acorn, Taupe Gray & Alloy

Swatches (L-R) Graystone, Rain Drum, Acorn, Taupe Gray & Alloy

Summary

• Price: $34 USD / $41 CAD for 0.7oz / 20g
• Availability: Sephora
• Overall: I’m happy with the shades, quality and textures in this palette, but the packaging is very inconvenient. From the construction of the palette itself to the layout of the eyeshadows (joined together), the palette isn’t the easiest to use, yet it does ‘look cool’.
• Rating: B+ (If I was rating the quality alone, it would be an A)