Review: Wet N' Wild Limited Edition "The Style Award Goes To..."

I'm reviewing the limited edition Wet N' Wild palettes from their "The Style Award Goes To..." collection for Spring 2014. These are just popping up in Rite Aids around my area, so if you feel like you missed out then try checking out your stores again. This collection came out about a month ago and it seems like Walgreens received these first and now they're popping up in CVS & Rite Aid. Last year, the Spring collection was released twice, again in the summer, because it was in such high demand. So, keep your eyes peeled in July or August if you missed out now.

(Feel free to skip all the way to the bottom to read the Final Verdict and skip the details.)

I purchased these palettes for $4.99 each at Walgreens and they only allowed me to buy 1 of each item from the collection, as they only had 1 display and it was in high demand. When I stopped at Rite Aid this week and saw the collection there, they had no problem with you buying multiples. I guess it just depends on location. - Personally, I love the packaging on these. The white "sparkles" (which really are just white printed images to look like glamour and sparkles) are a nice touch and I've never had a Wet N' Wild palette look this cute before.

There were only 2 eyeshadow palettes released in this collection. On the right you have #34356 "Flirting at the After Party", which features multiple shades of purple. On the left you have #34355 "Walking the Red Carpet", which features neutrals and earth toned metallic colors. Each comes with double-ended brush that has a soft applicator and a bristle brush.

Here are swatches of "Walking the Red Carpet". The top row is the left column. The bottom row is the right column. There are no names for these shadows, which is disappointing, but that's typical for Wet N' Wild. I was most excited about this palette when it came out, because of the metallic glitter-like shades, but this was actually a pretty disappointing pallet. Swatched, the shades do not look so bad. The brow bone colors and the eyelid color from the left column matches my skin tone almost exactly, and they're also not greatly pigmented. Most of this pallet is really powdery and makes a mess. The fallout of this powdery pallet makes for a challenge in applying the shadows as well. The gold color is very stiff and doesn't work for much more than a bright top layer over other shadows. The copper color isn't very bright either. Overall, I was highly disappointed in this pallet.

Here is a look I created using MOST of the colors from the "Walking The Red Carpet" pallet. Overall, I don't feel these shadows performed that well. You get about 4 hours with primer before fading and in my opinion- you can get similar colors every day.

Here are swatches from the "Flirting at the After Party" pallet. This pallet was pretty to look at when I first saw it and it definitely goes with the "Orchid" theme of 2014, but it didn't excite me too much before I opened it. I was more intrigued by the glitter and sparkle of Walking the Red Carpet, but after swatching and using the pallets I changed my mind. This pallet here is the winner and definitely worth the $4.99. The top row is the left column. The bottom row is the right column. Again, no names for the shades. The only real disappointments from this pallet are the "definer" shades -they're not as dark as most would like and they're a little powdery. These shades are soft, pigmented, blend well, and have decent staying power with primer. There is a bit of fallout, but nothing too bad. I was very impressed with this pallet.

Here is a look I created using "Flirting at the After Party". I think it turned out quite well.

Final Verdict

Walking The Red Carpet - I give this pallet a 4/10. The packaging is about the nicest thing I can say about this pallet. The outside is cute, the shades are pretty to look at, but the performance is way below a normal Wet N' Wild pallet. The shades lack pigmentation and are messy. The powdery mess really makes it hard to apply the shades and they do not last throughout the day, even with primer. Unless you're a beginner or a just a collector, I cannot recommend this pallet. The only other reason one would want this pallet is 

perhaps for experimenting or if one does not use these types of shades often.

Flirting at the After Party - I give this pallet a 8/10. For the price, this is a good deal. Aside from the outside being cute, the pallet itself is pretty to look at and the performance of the eyeshadows is very good. With the exception of the definer shades being a little light and hard to work with and a couple of powdery shades, this pallet overall performs well. With primer, you will get a days wear out of it and experience just a little fading. I would recommend this pallet beyond collectors and beginners, because it works well.