Sephora + Pantone Universe review & summer make up look

If you read my shoplog which I posted on this blog earlier this week, you will have seen some of the make up I bought during my vacation in the United States and Canada. Some of the items I bought are part of the limited edition Sephora + Pantone Universe collection. As far as I know, this collection is only available at Sephora in the US and Canada. I don’t know whether these items will be available in the Netherlands.

I bought both the Shades of Nature eyeshadow palette, as well as the blush in Pantone’s color of the year: Tangerine Tango. I decided to review both products and at the end of this post you will find a summer inspired look I did using these new products. Enjoy!

Sephora + Pantone Universe Shades of Nature eyeshadow palette & Tangerine Tango blush

I had never heard of Pantone, but apparently it’s a company that specializes in color. You know those stubs you get when you pick paints for your living room? It’s the people at Pantone who invented that system. They are sort of the color authority you could say and if they say a color is THE color you will suddenly see that shade popping up across the globe in fashion magazines, paints, make up and elsewhere. Pantone’s current color of the year is dubbed Tangerine Tango and the blush I bought is inspired on this color.

Tangerine Tango blush duo

The blush duo consists of a matte orange shade and a shimmery coral shade. Both can be used separately or you can layer the two with the matte shade being the blusher and the shimmery shade as a highlight. Here’s what the Sephora website has to say:

This micro-fine pressed-powder duo delivers unprecedented wear in combination with extreme comfort and color purity. The spirited color combination was inspired by the Color of the Year and each shade can be worn alone or layered for a contoured look. Light, yet creamy to the touch, this translucent powder is packed with brown seaweed extract to keep your skin soft and supple. Smooth away fine lines and blemishes with a veil of natural coverage and give cheeks a warm, energized flush.

Well I can tell you one thing, this blusher is anything but transparent. In fact, both shades are super duper pigmented! The texture is silky smooth and it is easier to take too much with your brush than too little. The packaging is practical: it works similar to the Inglot freedom system palettes, with a magnetized matte lid. The swatches are phenomenal:

Tangerine Tango swatches: matte, shimmery, blended

It may seem as if the matte shade isn’t very pigmented but that’s because the shimmery one is so dense that it nearly knocks you out. Blended together the shades remind me of NARS Orgasm, but what I like so much about this blush in particular is that you can much more easily build the amount of shimmer. You can have part of your blusher matte and than use the shimmery color as a highlight, whereas with NARS Orgasm you always get the shimmer and I don’t always like that. Alright, then from blush, let’s go have a look at the eyeshadows!

Sephora + Pantone Universe Shades of Nature eyeshadow palette

This palette is amazing. I desperately needed some more vibrant colors in my eyeshadow collection and this has everything you need without it being too crazy. As you can see there are always six shades laid out vertically for you that will always match. There’s a row of browns, oranges, pinks, purples, greys, blues and greens: all very wearable and easily combined colors. You can simply stick to the vertical combinations, but you can also try to mix and match a bit more. And oh yea, that blackish background in the lid, isn’t black, but quite possible the biggest mirror I have seen in any make up palette. Here’s an overview of all the colors.

Sephora + Pantone Shades of Nature eyeshadow palette colors

The colors that have been tagged are all trend colors as listed in the Pantone summer 2012 catalogue and they form the basis of the palette. My favorites are the tangerine colors, the purple in the middle, the navy blue, the minty green/ blue and the forest green. This is what Sephora has to say about the palette on their website:

Open your eyes to the sparkling vitality of the season and let vivid sunsets, cool blue waters, and bright flowers inspire your look with this set, including seven gorgeous shades from the Pantone Summer trend book and an additional 28 harmonious hues. The creamy, ultra-fine formulas glide on with a second-skin effect and the pure color lasts all day. The buildable coverage ensures a perfect finish every time, from dazzling, smoldering eyes, to subdued and romantic. The ultra-sleek package is the thinnest palette on the market and it easily slips into your purse for on-the-go beauty.

I would say it’s a bit big to slip into your purse, but the big mirror definitely makes this a palette that is ideal for traveling. Plus, it has all the colors you could possibly need to do anything: there’s a matte black (well two actually, one has a hint of aubergine in it), neutral browns, smokey greys, neutral skin tones, highlighters and of course my main reason for purchasing this palette: brights! The shadows are also silky smooth and super pigmented. There’s mattes and shimmers and the colors are very blendable. The only problem I had with them is that they do cause quite a bit of fall out as the shadows are so soft.

Sephora + Pantone Shades of Nature swatches

Above, I have swatched one shade from each column. This is ONE swipe without a base. The colors are amazing. The pigmentation is amazing. I love how there are plenty of mattes to play around with. It’s usually the very light highlight colors or the very dark smokey colors that are matte, which is a clever move as those are usually the colors you need to be matte for creating eyelooks.

And of course I couldn’t resist to put this palette and blush to use immediately. So today is a pretty nice day with plenty of sun and I thought that this palette would be ideal for a summer make up look.

Colors used:

I used the cream shade as a highlight under my brow bone.The pale purple color is in my inner corner + the first halves of both my upper and lower eyelid. The minty blue/ green color is on the outer half of my upper lid. The dark brown is in my crease, the teal is on the outer third of my lower lash line and the purple is on the middle of my lower lash line. I also used the matte black color with a push or flat eyeliner brush and gently pushed that into my upper lash line for a subtle eyeliner effect.

Eye close up

Eye close up

Full face

Here I am also wearing the blush with the matte color as blush and the shimmery color as a highlight. I only used a bit of my MAC Select Moisture Cover concealer in NW20 and my Mineralized SkinFinish Natural in Medium to even out my skin tone. On my lips is my new Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Cherish Devotion. I will make a post on the drugstore make up I bought on vacation, including swatches, some time next week.