Product 411: ColourPop Element of Surprise and You Had Me At Hello Shadow Palettes

Note: So I've fallen embarrassingly behind on products that I've been meaning to review, and instead of just skipping over them entirely, I thought I might do the occasional round-up where I do mini-reviews for multiple products -- sometimes from the same brand, something from the same product category -- in one post. 

That way, I can still share my thoughts on noteworthy items without needing until next Christmas to get caught up. ;)

At this point, I should probably just admit that I'm a dedicated collector of ColourPop's pressed eyeshadow palettes.

I'm pretty sure that I have everyone they've done at this point.

But I can't really feel guilty about it because the quality is always outstanding and the prices can't be beat.

I mean, 12 shadows for $16 (in most cases anyway) -- how can you beat that?

Like all of the the other ColourPop palettes that I've tried, the two that I'm going to talk about in this post feature a pretty great formula. The shadows are all extremely pigmented -- and they're smooth and creamy too.

While the metallic and shimmer are particularly impressive, the mattes feel great too, without any of the chalkiness that more inexpensive formulas seem to suffer from. They can be a little powdery, so fallout may be an issue, but I've found that if I tap my brush off well before applying the shadows, it's not a problem.

Element of Surprise Shadow Palette comes in a cardboard palette like all of ColourPop's palettes, and feature pretty pink, teal, and purple artwork.

ColourPop Element of Surprise Shadow Palette

ColourPop Element of Surprise Shadow Palette

It contains 12 shadows: Feels, a metallic pale opalescent pink; Late Night, a metallic copper with gold duochrome; Silk Street, a matte deep purple-fuchsia; Rayon, a metallic coral with blue-green duochrome; Go With the Flow, a matte peach; Subdue, a metallic lavender with blue-green duochrome; Opulent, a metallic bright fuchsia; Labyrinth, a matte dusty pink; Blank Canvas, a matte deep maroon; Sea Stars, a matte medium yellow brown; Details, a matte burgundy with hot pink glitter; and Peace of Mind, a metallic bright burgundy.

From l. to r.: Feels, Late Night, Silk Street, Rayon

From l. to r.: Go With the Flow, Subdue, Opulent, Labyrinth 

From l. to r.: Blank Canvas, Sea Stars, Details, Peace of Mind

Many of ColourPop's shadow palettes seem to have a neutral or natural color scheme -- and there's a lot of that going on in The Element of Surprise, for sure. But there are a couple of pops of color with Subdue and Opulent.

Subdue is a personal favorite of mine as a lid shade, and I was surprised to discover how well it plays with the other warm neutral shades in the palette.

All in all, it's wearable palette that still leaves room for some creativity.

You Had Me At Hello also comes in cardboard packaging -- with a lovely purple and pink design -- but it's the first ColourPop palette to come with a mirror inside.

Because of that, the palette is $18 instead of the usual $16.

ColourPop You Had Me At Hello Shadow Palette

ColourPop You Had Me At Hello Shadow Palette

ColourPop You Had Me At Hello Shadow Palette

It contains 12 shadows: The Knot, a metallic cool-toned ivory; Moon Struck, a metallic soft gold; Two Peas, a matte peachy beige; Candygram, a metallic pinky red with gold duochrome; Winning Ticket, a matte dusty mauve; FBO, a metallic pink violet; Look-See, a matte cool-toned plum; Fool's Rush, a metallic golden bronze; Pulling Strings, a matte warm saddle brown; Want U Back, a matte dusty mauve brown; DTR, a metallic silvery taupe; and Sparks Fly, a matte deep plummy brown.

From l. to r.: The Knot, Moon Struck, Two Peas, Candygram

From l. to r.: Winning Ticket, FBO, Look-See, Fool's Rush

From l. to r.: Pulling Strings, Want U Back, DTR, Sparks Fly

 I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that of all the ColourPop palettes I've tried so far (and I have several that just came in the last week and I haven't had a chance to play with yet, so this may be subject to change), You Had Me At Hello (YHMAH) is my very favorite.

The shadow formula is the same as all the other palettes, so it's the color scheme that really speaks to me.

I love the slightly cooler shades that we've been seeing in the makeup world lately, especially all the mauve, plum, and taupe-y goodness that the palette does so well.

I've done a bunch of different looks with YHMAH, and I've loved everyone. They've all been relatively effortless too.

It's hard to pick a favorite shade, but I think DTR might be the winner. If you love taupe-y shades, it's kind of a must-have.

Bottom line: I recommend both of these palettes.

You can find them on the ColourPop website -- I'm not sure if any are still going on at the moment, but they've been having a bunch of sales and good deals recently, so it might be the best time to try one of the palettes out if you've been thinking about it.

Have you tried the ColourPop Element of Surprise and You Had Me At Hello Shadow Palettes? What's your favorite ColourPop Pressed Eyeshadow Palette?