Urban Decay Summer 2015: New Eyeshadow Shades

Well, now I know what to wear in the unlikely event that Charli XCX invites me to be a backup dancer in one of her videos. This: the new Urban Decay Summer 2015 Eyeshadow shades (arriving April 15 at Urban Decay counters and online for $18 each).

The “shifts,” as they’re called, have a cool 20-something party girl vibe. It’s very “big hair don’t care/let’s get drunk on the mini-bar.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself! — so lemme back up a little.

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The eight new shades join UD’s existing Eyeshadow permanent line. Six of them are “shifts” — duo-chromes that appear to change color in the light, like that holographic thing. The other two are matte browns, about which I have to say, “YAY!” Transition colors. 🙂 LOL! Leave it to me to get all cheerleader-y about the matte browns…

Whatever, I can always use another matte brown. Hand on my heart and hair to the sky, it’s the truth!

As the shades are simply additions to UD’s existing line, they have the current formula, so no new bells or whistles here. Just new colors.

Starting with the mattes (because that’s how I roll), I like both of them, Riff and Beware, but for different reasons.

Warm orangey Riff looks a lot like Texture to me, one of my all-time matte MAC eyeshadow faves. They’re practically sisters from another mister.

If you don’t have MAC Texture, and you do wear a lot of burgundy, plum and reddish purple, then consider Riff if you want a new transition color. Riff will rock as a transition shade with any/all of those colors, buuut, it’s deep, yo. You might want to lay down a lighter warm brown first, or the transition from dark to light could look a little choppy. Go in with a layer of your lighter matte color first, then use Riff for depth.

About Beware, the second matte brown, watch out!

Kidding. 🙂 Get it? Beware?

It’s also warm, but more golden and less orange than Riff, and I like it a lot. Like Riff, it’s deep…so I mostly use it as a second color in the crease to deepen a transition. This one looks a lot like a slightly warmer UD Buck to me.

Urban Decay’s eyeshadows are known for a few things, like 1) an amazing selection of colors, 2) an easy-to-blend formula and 3) fallout.

Yeah…these new shades exhibit some fallout, too, and they can get messy because the powders are almost lighter than air. When I run a brush across a pan, the bristles lift up more than enough shadow.

Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection Eyeshadows: Product pictures

To make your life easier, tap the heck out of that excess once you load your brush. Really, it makes all the difference in the world. The fallout with these and UD’s other shadows is NOT a deal-breaker. I repeat! — NOT a deal-breaker. As long as you get most of the excess off your brush, you’ll be fine. Same with the mattes and the shifts.

The shifts now, like their nickname implies, appear to shift from one color to another, and the shift is pretty dramatic. I like using my fingers to apply them, because it’s easy to get a lot of product packed on there quickly, and it saves from having to wash another brush.

So much lazy. 🙂

My faves are Dive Bar and Lounge (a blue and a green) because I like how they look with my brown eyes.

Think of the shifts as statement jewelry makeup. Maybe one, two on the lids, max. More than that, and things could get a little distracting.

I’m wearing Dive Bar on my lids today, and when I turn my head left and right and look in the mirror, I can really see the color change.

It’s very eye-catching, but not exactly something I’ll wear all the time, all over my lids, at once, you know? I’m more comfortable wearing one or two shades on my lids or along my lash lines with some yummy matte neutrals in the crease. That way I still get a little color, without the shadows taking over.

And these will take over! Just for the heck of it, I threw a bunch of these on my lids at the same time, and I swear I looked like I’d just boarded the next train to Crazy Town.

Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection Eyeshadow: Swatches (for reference, I’m an NC 42 in MAC)

Wear time seems right in line with UD’s existing colors, and props for that. I’ve been wearing these with the newly repackaged primers, and they easily last me eight hours.

Lastly, the packaging. Like Urban Decay’s other shadow singles, these can be popped out of their cases, and popped into Urban Decay palettes, but I’ve always wondered…does anybody ever actually do that? Because I never have. I usually just end up putting the few shadows I need in a bag, along with the Naked Palette, LOL!

Even though I’ve seen some of these colors on other counters before, I like that UD included useful everyday mattes, along with the fun party shades. Try to get a closer look at Beware and Lounge when these come out April 15. Those are the stand-outs for me.

Movie Night!

I saw a great movie last night called Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. It’s about art theft, World War II, justice, Austrian politics, public relations, national pride, legal battles and a famous Gustav Klimt painting (Woman in Gold).

The story starts in 1930s Austria (I think), when a wealthy Jewish family commissions Klimt to do a portrait for them, which the Nazis, as they roll across Europe, steal.

One of the family members, the character of Maria Altmann (played by Helen Mirren), manages to escape Austria as the Nazis are tightening their grip, and flees to America. After the war, the stolen paintings are claimed by the Austrian government.

Half a century later, Maria tries to get the paintings back (there were a number of them stolen during the war), but drama ensues (the movie also stars Ryan Reynolds as Maria’s attorney/family friend).

Anyways, it’s good! Something to see if you aren’t feeling Too Fast, or Too Furious.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen