Urban Decay's 15 year Anniversary Palette.. review & swatches!

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After my last UD post where I rambled on about the new Fall 2011 products, I decided to leave the 15 year anniversary palette to a post of its own!

I've been excited about this palette for a while now.. after seeing the tester and feeling the buttery texture of the eyeshadows for myself, I was desperate to own one and fast.
This palette is unlike any of Urban Decay's other ones; from the packaging to the eyeshadows, Urban Decay have made it a must have collectors item for all true fans.

This limited edition palette is available for £39 currently at Debenhams and House Of Fraser stores, so be sure to get yours before they run out of stores like the Anniversary pencil set earlier this year!


Packaging
Encased in a velour box, the metallic lid with "UD" jewelled logo stands out, showcasing it's premium-ness in comparison to all other UD palettes.

Past the outer velour box, the sides of the metallic lid have a cut out design, in a very Urban style. One downside to this almost mirror like lid is the amount of fingerprints you will attract.. not that practical!

The actual eyeshadows are held in a metallic-looking purple plastic casing, all of which are totally new Urban Decay shades. So due to this, there's no fear of buying a product with repeats of a shade from another palette. There's a nice even mix of neutrals and bright colours, but this palette stands out to me personally because of colours like Junkshow, Omen, Evidence and Deep End.

Top half of the palette:

L-R: Top row: Midnight Rodeo (peachy brown with silver), Tainted (matte lilac with golden shimmer) Deeper (golden chocolate brown)
Second row: Midnight 15 (pearly oyster shimmer), Junkshow (bright pink with blue tones), M.I.A (mousy brown, similar to Underground 24/7 eyepencil)
Third row: Vanilla (creamy ivory gold), Omen (two-toned purple-pink with blue), Ace (charcoal grey; darker than Gunmetal eyeshadow):

Fourth row: Flow (peachy shimmer), Evidence (deep navy blue shimmer - like Goddess but without microglitter), Blackout (matte black, darker than Perversion)

Fifth row: Chase (bronze-gold shimmer), Deep End (turquoise-teal shimmer), Half Truth (aubergine/eggplant purple):

This palette also holds a second use once the eyeshadows have been used.. making it a collectors item to be treasured long after the palette is finished. By using a fairly pointed object, the bottom right corner of the palette can be lifted out:

..to reveal a velour bottomed tray underneath. This makes a great gift for UD fans as well as a general present for anyone who could make use of a trinket box/ shallow jewellery holder. Personally I think this idea is cute and clever and being a fan of purple, I see myself using this feature (if I can bear to finish the eyeshadows!)

 

Eyeshadows
As aforementioned, the eyeshadows are all completely new shades, some may be similar to other eyeshadows from UD's range but I can assure you there are slight differences! The shimmery eyeshadows are more creamier and buttery in texture and highly pigmented, making it a dream to apply and blend, but also needs to be only touched lightly, or you will end up with a great dent in your eyeshadow! The more darker shades and matte shades are less creamier and pigmented, but with more than one swipe you can gain the pigmentation you need.
On to the swatches:

L-R: top: Midnight Rodeo, Tainted, Deeper, Midnight 15, Junkshow, M.I.A, Vanilla, Omen, Ace, Flow, Evidence, Blackout
bottom: Chase, Deep End, Half Truth

And up close: 

 

What do you think of this palette? Are you planning on getting it, or if not, why?


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