Review: Real Colors Aventure Eye Shadow Palette

by - June 23, 2014


Sally Beauty is a great place to pick up at home hair dye. It's where I buy my beloved Queen Helene Mint Julep face mask. The nail polish selection is pretty damn on point, from where I'm standing. However, I've never had much luck at all with their makeup. I tried a few things that ended up being distinctly disappointing and I kind of never really looked again. But then there was a big anniversary sale, and who can resist a big two for one sale? Not I. 

Long story short? I saw this little 5 pan palette and I pretty much had to have it. I mean... So pretty.  This is the Real Colors Aventure Eye Shadow Palette in Music City.


Keep reading for my thoughts... 

The packaging of this palette is simple and servicable, though it feels sturdy and has a small mirror that slides out from the side (a feature that I admittedly hadn't noticed at the time of taking photos for this review.)  The box is made out of shiny black plastic and the lid is clear with a black border and label printed onto it. Though it by no means feels high end, there is a kind of sleekness to the design of the packaging that I like. The layout of the pans is very clean but still kind of interesting, and I enjoy the way the shades are positioned. 

Four of the shades in this palette run very, very shimmery/metallic while the other, I would say, is more of a satin finish. However, the shade with the satin finish is an absolute dud as far as pigmentation and texture go, so it won't get much use. My only big complaint about this palette is that I can't really create a complete look with it. I would have absolute loved if one of the shades (a specific one, more on that below) had been replaced with a deeper matte shade to give this palette some versatility. What I will say, though, is that the colours are beautiful and the quality feels very, very good.

Onto the shades... In the top right corner is a very warm taupey purple shade. Since purple shades are always so tricky pigment-wise, this is definitely an extra special shadow to me. It definitely isn't cool in tone, which I really like. The pigmentation is beauty and the texture is just downright buttery. 

In the top left corner is a beautiful copper. Again, this shade has amazing pigmentation and a beautiful texture. Copper is often a go to for me, since I feel like it has a way of making blue eyes pop while being versatile for day or night, so I do enjoy this shade a lot.

In the middle is the big dud in the palette, which is a shimmery cream shade, nearly white but pulling slightly yellow. The pigmentation on this shade isn't nearly as good with this shade and I find that it's a little bit patchy in application as well as powdery and a little bit crumbly in texture. I also feel like there's something a little dated about a shimmery highlight, so I wouldn't be reaching for this anyway. 

In the bottom left corner is a sandy champagne gold colour. While this shade shares the beautiful pigmentation and texture with the other shades, I wish that it had been replaced with a darker shadow to round out this collection. I feel like this particular shade just won't get used much by me and would love to have seen something else. (Wouldn't it be a cool job to curate eye shadow palettes? Swoon.)

In the bottom right, in a much smaller pan than the other four shades, is an absolutely stunning rose gold. A true rose gold, that doesn't pull too orange or too pink, which is rare.This is my favourite shade in the palette and feels the most unique, which makes me kind of bummed that the pan is half the size of the others. This shade has the smoothest metallic finish and has a beautiful shine. Unfortunately, this is undoubtedly the shade that I'm going to hit pan on first. I wish they sold these in singles.


I don't have my receipt anymore and the Sally Beauty website only has the US pricing, but I'm fairly certain that this retails in Canada for between 9 and 10 dollars, which I feel is quite reasonable for this palette. 

VERDICT: In spite of one dud shade and a bit of issue with curation in my opinion, I think this is a solid eyeshadow palette for the price. Pigmentation and texture is beautiful in 4 out of the 5 shades. The purple and rose gold shades are beautiful and also feel very unique to me, not something I find just every day. All in all, I would recommend this particular palette in Music City, and am curious to try a couple of the other Real Colors Aventure palettes.

XO.

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