Today we are reviewing a palette that I have owned for a while but that I had sort of sitting on the back burner. Mainly because it’s not a palette that I reach for every single day, but even more important: there were other palettes out there that I just liked better. And then Juvia’s Place announced they would be discontinuing their Tribe palette. And then I realized: I have the perfect dupe lying about: OPV Tropical Dreams. Because not only is this a great blue/ green palette, it is also the perfect replacement for The Tribe and this one is still available, quite affordable too and the company is based in the UK so much easier to buy if you are in Europe!
Review: OPV Beauty Tropical Dreams eyeshadow palette
So really this palette has a lot going for it! Let’s talk about the first advantage of this palette. That would be the price point, because this palette retails for £30.00. Which may seem like much, but really €35 for a palette with 18 pans in this range of shades giving you lots of options is a great price point. Because not only do you get quite a few pans, you also get an insane level of pigmentation, meaning a little goes a long way. The brand is located in the UK and so it is much easier to buy from them if you are in Europe, even with the new regulations.
What does this palette have to offer?
As you can see, this is indeed an 18-pan color story. You get a range of green, blues and warm tones in a mix of shimmers and mattes. The Tribe palette is only a 9-pan featuring some bright greens, teal leaning greens and oranges. So this palette gives you 9 additional shades and that’s mainly some golds, bronzes and blues. Now I prefer a more curated color story, but I love how you do get all the shades The Tribe gives you and then some! It just makes for some good options and I think this may be a good palette for people who feel blue/ green palettes are a bit intimidating as this palette is half blue/ green and half neutral.
What is the color story like?
I already pointed out what is similar and different about this palette compared to The Tribe palette, but let’s look at this color story as is. We get 8 mattes and 10 shimmers which is perfect for me as I prefer a shimmer over a mattes. You get some deep teals and dark greens in the top left which even goes into a deep navy. I love how there is no black in this palette, but you do get a nice dark brown. Some of the golds and bronzes look quite similar in the pan and also on the lid I feel they aren’t super distinct, but I love how one is a bit more green tones, another more yellow toned and another more orange toned. This makes them go perfectly with the different tones going on in the palette. What may be good to know is that this palette features regular shimmers and doesn’t have any duochromes.
How does this palette swatch?
But where this palette truly shines is in the pigmentation of the shadows. I mean: just look at these! Now the mattes are a bit sheer, but I don’t mind as I love a more buildable matte formula. It just means I have great control over how pigmented they are and how they go on. The shimmer formula is quite insane though. This is how you do a shimmer! I love how I don’t have to foil these or apply them with a finger. All it takes is a brush. One thing you may want to be careful with is the smell. Now I am not sure whether it is the shadows or the glue that holds everything together but this palette smells rank. At least it’s not floral perfumes, but it smells like chemicals so if you are sensitive to scents this may not be for you.
3 Looks, 1 Palette
As is my custom, I like doing as many looks as it takes to use all the shades in a palette. So with 18 pans, I ended up doing three different looks and in this palette that meanst I could stick to a warm toned look a green look and a blue look.
The first look I did was using all of the warm tones. Not my favorite look on me personally, but I think this looks very pretty. The oranges and golds go really well together and while this isn’t anything too special or unique to this palettes I do think you get enough neutrals to really tie the looks together.
For the second look I used all of the green tones in the palette. I roughly recreated the look I would do with the Tribe palette here and I feel it is pretty much the same. You get very similar greens in this palette and so if you love your grungy greens, than this palette is definitely worth a shot.
However, what makes this palette more unique is the fact that you also get some blues and navys. This makes the palette a little bit more versatile than The Tribe. This was my favorite look I did with this palette for sure and it makes for a great combination with the greens as well.
My final thoughts
I think the OPV Tropical Dreams palette is a great go to for those people who may have missed out on The Tribe palette. But also in its own right this palette is lovely. If you want a blue/ green palette that has some good warm toned neutrals, this palette is an amazing pick. You get everything you need and then some in a stellar quality and from a small European indie brand. What more could you possibly want?
Would I recommend the OPV Tropical Dreams palette?
Yes I would! The quality of these shadows is amazing and you just get a bunch of greens and blues with a good addition of warm toned neutrals that will just make you go for so many different looks. This is versatile not too expensive and it’s got great quality. I honestly don’t mind that Juvia’s Place has discontinued their palette, because I hope that means that more people will discover OPV Beauty.