urban decay

I was 8 when I watched cybernetic Ah-nold pop out his own eyeball in the first Terminator movie, and ever since then I’ve harbored a not-so-secret obsession with science fiction.

Consequently, it probably comes as no surprise that I’m over the moon in love with the out-of-this-world glitter in Urban Decay’s new Stardust Eyeshadows.

—– RANDOM SCI-FI TRANSMISSION —–

Are you watching Caprica, the new Battlestar Galactica spinoff?

In a nutshell, it precedes the near-extinction of humanity at the hands of man-made androids called Cylons.

Stay with me! 🙂

The show’s set 58 years before the events in Galactica, on a near future Earth-like planet that looks oddly like Vancouver, and even though Galactica seemed more shoot-em-up and space invaderish, there are still delightfully scary robots up in the mix (YAY!).

I don’t know if you liked BG, but you don’t have to have followed it to appreciate Caprica. If you like sci-fi, jump in! — and then let me what you think. 🙂

—– END RANDOM SCI-FI TRANSMISSION —–

*BEEP* LOL!

Back to the shadows (ha!). The four cuties I talk about here — Atmosphere, Retrograde, Griffith and Diamond Dog ($20 each) — perform basically the same as the others I tried earlier this month. Like those, they apply with sheer pigmentation while packing of loads o’ glittery sparkle, and they stick to my skin with minimal fallout.

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Unless you’ve been living in a rabbit hole with your Cheshire Cat , you may have heard the surrounding Urban Decay’s new Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows ($52), a limited-edition palette created for Disney to coincide with the upcoming Tim Burton version of the film.

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows, $52

Fifty-two bones gets ya 16 shimmery shadows, two eyeliners and a mini-Urban Decay Primer Potion in a fantastical pop-up box that shows Alice walking through a field of giant ‘shrooms.

Alice fans have been snatching it up (it’s already sold out on UrbanDecay.com)! But never fear. 🙂 You can sign up to be notified as soon as the next round of palettes goes on sale, or wait and find it at Sephora, Ulta and Macy’s beginning early next month.

Now, there’s been some beauty chatter about how similar this palette is to previous ones from Urban Decay, and whether or not they re-named and re-packaged some existing colors. I did take a quick look at Book of Shadows Volume II (from last fall) and did notice some overlapping shades.

A few of the neutrals in Vol. II, like Half Baked, Twice Baked, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again and YDK, do look similar to Alice’s Muchness, Mushroom, Midnight Tea Party and Mad Hatter. And among the brights, Vol. II’s Ecstasy (the shimmery purple) sure reminds me of Underland, while Jinx (the shimmery blue) kinda looks like Alice.

UPDATE, 1/21/2010: Readers Mel, HC and Jen commented to say that all of the new shades are, in fact, repromotes of existing colors from Urban Decay’s previous collections and permanent line, and the company announced some of the equivalent shades on Twitter: “Shades in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland Palette: Underland (Flash), Chessur (Chopper), Muchness (X), Absolem (Homegrown), Jabberwock (Oil Slick), Drink Me, Eat Me (Sin), Alice (Painkiller), Mad Hatter (Twice Baked), Midnight Tea Party (Midnight Cowboy Rides Again), Vorpal (S&M), Queen (Last Call) and White Rabbit (Polyester Bride)” (click here for a full list)

If you already own a fully stacked stash of Urban Decay shadows, it’s just something to consider. Of course, if you’re a rabid Alice fan or hard-core UD aficionado, a few overlapping colors may not matter to you at all, and if they didn’t, I’d completely understand. 🙂

I should say that the colors, no matter what, are up to typical standards for UD — vibrant, with shimmer that’s out of this world! I like what I’ve seen so far and appreciate the number of neutral shades, especially considering they’re from Urban Decay.

Take a look around, and let me know what you think!

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How was your Tuesday? Hopefully smooth and sans any serious drama-for-your-mama. 🙂

My day was filled with website wrangling (YEEHAW!). I was trading emails with the blog’s new web hosting company (servint), but that crew really knows their stuff. It shouldn’t be long before the blog’s loading much faster, and I can’t wait!

So, earlier today I sneaked away to rendezvous with my new secret crushes, the Urban Decay Stardust Eyeshadows ($20). Remember them? You guys met the other day.

I think I REALLY hit it off with 54, the sheer purple (with purple AND hot pink glitter), but Moon Spoon (the sheer grayish taupe with silver glitter) and Space Cowboy (the almost transparent beige with the peachy golden glitter) weren’t too hard on the eyes either.

What I noticed about ’em…

• Sheer-to-transparent color. We’re talking very light pigmentation — no explosions of intense color. Space Cowboy’s the sheerest one; 54 the least.
• Fine glitter. Hooray for fine glitter! The glitter is a dainty bling, kinda like bling-lite (read: the opposite of Degrassi Junior High), small and low in the chunk factor, too. I love it!
• Bad-arse hold. They reached out and grabbed hold of my lids, and I thought they’d never let go! Fantastic wear time here — SO good, in fact, that they were actually a little tough to remove.
• Fallout? Just a tad. In their PR about these, UD claims you won’t see any glitter fallout with Stardust. Well, any’s a tough word to live up to, but I think UD’s mostly right. I think I saw a few sparkles beneath my eyes and around my cheeks, but no big deal at all. It was nothing compared to most of the glittery shadows I’ve used. Really, I feel like I have a lot of control over Stardust, which is a HUGE plus for me.
• Smooth… You know how glittery products can feel rough, like, um, glitter? — all gritty and grainy? Stardust not so much. I think it feels quite smooth for what it is. Another plus. 🙂

Stardust application

I tried it both wet and then dry using my fingers, Urban Decay’s application tool o’ choice for the Stardust shadows.

The dry fingers created a sheer wash of color…

54

Moon Spoon
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