90s week: lime crime pocket candy eyeshadow palette (review)

Lime Crime is still a relatively new brand to me. The first time I ever tried them was at IMATS a few years back where a couple of lip products caught my eye. (You can take a peek at them and my IMATS haul here.) Since I am not one to order makeup online very often...it was a lovely surprise to stumble across the Lime Crime Pocket Candy eyeshadow palette in an actual store. I was doing a bit of browsing at a Winners location downtown when bam! There it was. An eyeshadow palette that looked exactly like a Polly Pocket. It was love at first sight and I bought the palette without seeing the eyeshadow shades inside. So...how is this 90s inspired makeup? Here is everything you need to know.

Packaging and Colour Selection

It is pretty clear that this palette has what I will call curb appeal. The bright colour and Polly Pocket inspired design immediately transports you to another time. You become swept away in a beautiful state of nostalgia. This experience explains why I shelled out cold hard cash for an eyeshadow palette I hadn't even seen the inside of. Well, the wait is over. Once you open up the plastic case, the Bubble Gum palette looks like this.....

Just like the outer shell, the eyeshadow colours inside are bright and whimsical. At first glance, it almost looks like play makeup for children - until you notice all of the lovely shimmer going on. The shades include: Pop (a shimmery rose), Snap (a soft shimmery pink), Bubble (the same baby blue shown on the outer packaging), Blow (a medium purple), and Chew (a light tan). Included in this set of five are three shimmers and two satin finish shadows. At first glance, I was really excited about these colours because some were bold and unexpected while others were quite wearable.

Quality and Overall Impressions

The packaging is amazing. The colour selection is stellar. What about the actually quality of the eyeshadows? Well, this is where things sort of fall apart. Pop swatches decently and has a nice amount of sparkle to it but lacks really colour payoff. It needs to be built up quite a lot to really see any of that rose shade. Snap, on the other hand, is stunning. It swatches well, has an intense amount of pigmentation, and looks beautiful. Bubble performs well, too, with a vibrant baby blue shade showing with ease. Blow, the purple shade, does not work well. The texture is quite dry and you really have to work hard to get the colour to show up at all. Chew falls somewhere in the middle, with that same dry consistency but a little more pigmentation. So....definitely some mixed feelings on the quality of the shadows themselves. A couple are amazing and the rest are lackluster. 

Finished Makeup Look Using the Lime Crime Palette

The first look I created using the Lime Crime palette started with that tan shade in the crease, followed by the soft pink all over the lid. My intention was to create a deep contrast using that purple eyeshadow shade but there simply wasn't enough pigmentation. So built the colour up as much as I could to create a soft and subtle finish. Take a look and let me know what you think of the finished product....

Rating:  3 / 5

While I don't regret this 90s inspired purchase (the packaging alone makes it a must-have), I do wish the quality was consistent throughout. Next time, I plan to stick to Snap and Bubble for a more pigmented - and fun - makeup look. 

Have you tried this palette? What do you think of the packaging?