I’ve wanted to write a review on this palette since I got it in December, but for some reason, I thought that this was a limited edition palette that would have been long gone by now. Instead, it seems to still be on the Dose of Colors website and on Ulta for full price, and I was spurred to write this review after seeing that it would be one of the Ulta 21 Days of Beauty specials.
I’ve never tried any Dose of Colors products before this palette so to be honest, I don’t know much about this brand other than my preconcieved biases (that might be wrong) that it’s what I call and influencer brand. As in, a brand that seems to have shot up out of nowhere due to extensive hyping by influencer, and collaborates with influencer on products. I’ll reserve most of my thoughts about influencer brands from this post, but I will just say that my own preconceived notions prevented me from really trying out any Dose of Colors products.
When this palette came out, I heard so many good things about the formula and quality, and from bloggers that I trusted. Curiosity got the better of me and I eventually ended up buying it. A week into using it, and I was won over.
So what is this palette exactly? I know nothing about Desi or Katy except that they are apparently very famous influencers. I’ve never watched their videos or really known too much about them (does that make me a bad beauty blogger?). But apparently they collaborated together with Dose of Colors on the Friendcation palette, which is available from the Dose of Colors site and Ulta for $55. There are 10 shades for a total of .7oz/19.8g.
On my first time seeing it, I thought $55 was way too expensive, given the price point of other products from Dose of Colors, and especially given that other palettes – Anastasia Beverley Hills, Tarte, Urban Decay, etc – all have palettes with more shades for a lower price range. For $55 I had high expectations.
Did it meet those expectations? Let’s start with looking at the shade range. There are 5 glitter shades and 5 matte shades. The matte shades are basic neutral shades to prep, transition, and deepen your look. The glitter shades are the more adventurous shades that can be layered with the matte shades or mixed together.
The shades are:
- Basic – a matte nude pink
- Cheens – a matte deep brown
- Necessary – a matte camel tan
- Dirty Money – a glitter olive green with a gold shift
- A Moment – a glitter navy blue with purple shift
- Try Me – a glitter rusty red
- Just a Kiss – a glitter champagne
- Girl Bye – a matte burgundy shade
- Churro – a matte chocolate brown
- Game Over – a glitter black with silver
So on first glance, I wasn’t sure if I’d really be able to get use out of this palette. But after hearing that the mattes were great basic tones and buying it to try for myself, I fully agree with other reviews that this palette can, in fact, be very wearable. I can basically get a full look out of using the mattes, and the glitter shades are more approachable than I thought they would be. My most used glitters are Just a Kiss and Try Me, the champagne and cranberry shades, though I have been able to get looks that I still like with the other more colorful shades.
However, what really won me over on this palette was the formula. These shadows are really exceptional – both the mattes and the glitters. The mattes are ultra smooth, pigmented, and The shadows also lasted all day with no issues on my lids. I was super impressed with the formula and really enjoyed using this palette every time I reached for it.
What’s most interesting about the glitters is that they layer well on top of each other, too. I did some playing around to show you how you can get a variety of tones just by combining different glitter shades.
Here are swatches so that you can hopefully see how beautifully pigmented and textured these shadows are:
How gorgeous are these glitters layered with each other?
Overall, this palette really surpassed my expectations and ended up being a well-justified purchase for me. While $55 is a hefty price tag for the brand and comparable palettes, the versatility and wearability of the shades, plus the complexity, really made this palette an excellent one. Since it will be half off for the Ulta 21 Days of Beauty, I would recommend checking it out and trying it for yourself!
Final Rating: 9/10
Packaging: 8/10
Shades: 10/10
Formula: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Have you tried this palette yet? Did my review convince you to try it out at all?
As always, thanks for reading!
Beauty Unhyped 