One of the times I was questing at Walgreens (for the new Maybelline "The Nudes" palette, which I finally found at Ulta; review soon!) I spotted a display that caught my eye. Now last Halloween (or maybe two Halloweens ago) e.l.f. did a collaboration with Disney and had some gift sets based off of villains. This is a similar concept, except with Ariel! Truth be told, I'm actually not a HUGE Little Mermaid fan, but the packaging and the concept suckered me in and I ended up with two kits; a lip set (review to be coming) and this "Treasure Within" Beauty Book. The packaging of this is GORGEOUS, can we just take a minute? I'm so in love with the aesthetic aspects of this palette. But how do the products inside stack up?
(I'll be including page anchors so if you just want to see swatches or read about just one part, you can skip to that particular part and not have to fuss around, since I can get...really verbose, especially when talking about so many products in one mega-post.)
FTC Disclaimer: All of the product(s) shown in this review were purchased by me, with my own money. I am not affiliated with e.l.f., nor am I being compensated or sponsored for my review. All opinions are, as always, my own.
This palette seems pretty sturdy. If you've owned any previous Beauty Books from e.l.f., you know that the packaging is normally pretty slim; this has a thick foam piece surrounding the products, and is the size of an average book. There's a plastic slip-cover protecting the product, and the other side unfolds to show a couple of face charts. There is also a mirror. I wouldn't think this would be especially good for travel; it looks pretty sitting out on a vanity, but there is a lot of wasted space and it would take up some room.
This palette contains 9 eyeshadows (1.1g per shadow), 2 bronzers (3.3g per bronzer), and a mini lip gloss (0.03g of gloss), along with an eyeshadow brush, and a bronzer brush. This set retails for $10 and the only place I've come across it is at Walgreens.
e.l.f. doesn't show this on their website, but according to the back of the palette:
This limited edition Disney Ariel Beauty Book is a collectable item that is sure to reflect your inner pretty princess.This all-in-one book includes the must have makeup essentials to create your favorite Disney look so you can be speechlessly beautiful for any occasion."
First off, the bronzer brush is completely useless. It's small, rough, and applies the product very streaky. I'm keeping it, just in case, but I can't foresee ever reaching for it. The eyeshadow brush, however, is fantastic. I love the e.l.f. Essentials shadow brushes anyway; they're only a dollar and I own at least ten. Now, I have noticed that the quality control isn't that great in the normal line...I have one that is super scratchy and sheds like CRAZY but the other ones are great, so I'm not sure of the quality of each brush in these kits (YMMV) but I love this one. It's longer than the original brush and has a gold ferrule, feels solid, hasn't shed, and is soft and dense. Also, the shape of the bristles is slightly different; it's shorter, closer in shape to the $3 Studio "C" brush.
Let's talk about the shadows first; this palette contains 9.9 grams of product and 9 different colors. Considering that a typical full size eyeshadow contains 1.5g, 9 shadows at 1.1g per pan is pretty darn good!
Ingredients
Mica, Talc, Magnesium Stearate, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Polyisobutene, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Dimethicone, Silica, Phenoxyethanl. MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (Cl 77891), Iron Oxides (Cl 77491, Cl 77492, Cl 77499), Red 40 Lake (Cl 16035), Ultramarines (Cl 77007), Manganese Violet (Cl 77742), DC Black #2 (Cl 77266), Yellow 5 Lake (Cl 19140), Blue 1 Lake (Cl 42090).
Certain ingredients that could be of a concern to some people are definitely mica, talc, mineral oil, and dimethicone. These don't stain, and I haven't noticed any spots or bumps around my eye (which can sometimes happen to me when products contain mineral oil).
Overall, I like these shadows. They're not chalky or powdery, like e.l.f. shadows can sometimes be. They apply nicely over a primer (not as great color-payoff-wise without a primer; plus they fade fast by themselves on my oilier eyelids) and blend well. The purple and blue shadows are the weakest links but you can definitely work them (I had to pack on the purple like crazy for the look I did; I recommend using a sticky base underneath if you want super vibrancy). There is a nice mix of neutrals and colors and they all have some level of a satiny finish to a more frosty finish. The purple looks the most matte on the lids.
The major downside would be that there are no mattes (and this is only a downside depending on your personal preference - for me, I only use matte highlight shades, so the two colors in here, which are pretty shimmery, won't cut it, in terms of what I prefer for my browbone) and the lack of depth colors. All of these shadows, besides the two highlights, are of a similar medium tone. The grey, which can be used to get some depth, is still not super dark, so if you prefer more contrast, you will need to dip into other palettes and shadows.
The shadows and the shadow brush are the best parts of this palette for me, but if it's the ONLY part you like, I'm not sure that buying this whole set for ten bucks would be worth it.
Left side is swatched on bare skin, right side is swatched over Too Faced Shadow Insurance.
Now onto the bronzers. There are two in this palette, 6.6 gram total, so each pan holds 3.3 grams. They're a pretty decent size.
Ingredients
Talc, Mica, Magnesium Stearate, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Polysobutene, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Tricontanyl PVP, Sodium Dehydroacetate. MAY CONTAIN: Iron Oxides (Cl 77491, Cl 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Cl 77891), Red 40 Lake (Cl 16035).
Again, these bronzers contain mica, talc, and mineral oil. I didn't notice any spots on my cheeks, but I also don't have super acne-prone skin.
Overall, I like these. They both contain shimmer, but the darker one, for me, makes a pretty decent contour. These apply smoothly and evenly, no patchiness, and the lighter shade makes a pretty highlight for the cheekbones, if you're medium to deep in skintone. They do fade throughout the day, but there is still color on your cheeks at the end of an eight hour day. I notice more of a glow with the lighter shade. The pigmentation is pretty darn good.
These don't feel powdery or chalky and you won't get a big dust cloud when dipping your brush in either.
For some reason I flip-flopped the swatch picture while editing, so the darker shade is on the right and the lighter shade is on the left.
Finally onto the lip gloss. This contains 0.03g of product, so it's definitely a mini gloss. The packaging has it labelled as "Go On and Kiss the Girl", but the actual lip gloss tube just says "Pink". I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a specific lip gloss equivalent, I think it's just a basic gloss.
Ingredients
Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Polysobutene, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Eythlparaben, Butylparaben, Propyparaben, Isobutylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum), Aspartame. MAY CONTAIN: Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Cl 77891), Iron Oxides (Cl 77491, Cl 77492, Cl 77499), Red 27 Lake (Cl 45410), Red 40 Lake (Cl 16035).
So, if you like to avoid parabens...welp, this lip gloss is NOT FOR YOU. Also contains mica, mineral oil, and aspartame, all of which can be irritants/allergens.
This gloss is both sheer and yet thick. I don't personally feel like it's sticky, but it's thick. You KNOW you have this product on your lips. The color is a sheer milky pink. The scent is interesting. To me, it smells like the roasted cinnamon almonds you get at fairs and sporting events. Yeah, it's interesting! It's not a bad scent for me, but it's a bit strong, so I could see other people being bothered by it.
I tend to be more of a lipstick/tinted balm girl, so this is probably my least favorite part of the kit. I don't get long wear on the color at all; probably about an hour, even though the feeling of the product lingers for a couple of hours. If you don't like thicker glosses, you probably won't dig this one too much!
Now onto the looks I tried!
The first look I did was the full face, so lip gloss, I used the darker bronzer "Conch Shell" as a contour and the lighter bronzer "Tan Lines" as a cheekbone highlight. For the eyes I did the purple "Seashell" all over the lid, "Siren Song" (rusty copper) in my socket, and a bit of the grey "North Star" in the outer corner. "Sand Dollar" (the lightest shadow) on the browbone, and a mix of "Tropical Wave" (lighter blue) and "Seaweed" (the green) along the lower lashline.
The other look I did when I first got the palette, and I just used the shadows.
I used NYX Jumbo Shadow Pencil in "Milk, a mix of "Seaweed" and "Brilliant Sea" (the darker blue) on the lid, and "Seashell" in the socket, but the purple wasn't as vibrant as I had wanted, so I did throw a bit of Urban Decay's "Jilted" and "Urban" in the mix as well. I used "North Star" in the outer corner again, as well as "Sand Dollar" as the highlight.
This looks incomplete because it was, lol. I took this photo before I had finished my face makeup, hence why I didn't have anything going on with my lower lashline but I lined the whole lashline with the "Tropical Wave" shadow.
Wow, okay, sorry for the super long review, if you read this whole thing, you're a trooper! Hopefully you found this somewhat helpful, or at least the page anchors made it easier to jump around and avoid my excessive rambling! :)
