Northern lights: Sephora + Pantone Universe SpectraLight Collection

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Sephora has been partnering with Pantone Universe for a couple years now, and after their flagship Colour of the Year collection was launched earlier this year, the cosmetic giant released a second collection in June  Called the SpectraLight collection, the items connect urban colours to the palette of distant northern lights.

I received a few products from the collection about a month back including the Spectra Eyeshadow Palettes in Day Break and Night Fall, the Light Flicker mascara in black, Light Storm Liquid Eyeshadow in Caramel Cream, a Spectral lacquer in Antique Gold, and the Horizon Light Brush Collection.

Hands down the highlight from the collection would be the palettes.  Both the Day Break and Night Fall palettes contain pearl and matte shades, and are enclosed in a rectangular white container with a clear acrylic lid that magnetizes shut (a la Inglot palettes).  The Day Break palette contains neutral-toned colours, some of which have iridescence to them, whereas the Night Fall palette (which is my fave from the two) contains colours that can be worn either day or night.  There are safe shades (pinks, purples, nudes) and daring tones like mint green and lime green.  Each palette retails for C$46 each.

Sephora, Night Fall, eyeshadow palette

Sephora Night Fall palette

Sephora Night Fall palette

Top row L to R: Gravel, Eggnog, Coral Pink, Crystal Pink. Bottom row L to R: Ocean Wave, Yellow Iris, Persian Jewel, Pink Lavendar

Sephora, Night Fall, Eyeshadow palette, colours

Sephora Night Fall palette back

Sephora, Pantone Universe, Daybreak eyeshadow palette

Day Break palette

Sephora, Pantone Universe, Daybreak eyeshadow palette

Top row, L to R: Navajo, Dew, Jet Stream, Fairest Jade. Bottom row, L to R: Shrimp, Atmosphere, Cloud Pink, Peach Melba.

Sephora, Pantone Universe, Daybreak eyeshadow palette

Day Break palette back

I actually have mixed thoughts about these palettes.  The shadows can be used wet or dry (I’ve only used them dry), but I find some of them very chalky and most of them I have to really build up the colour.  For instance, I really had to layer on the mint green, which is gorgeous to look at, for it to show up.  I also would place a base, either white or nude, underneath for the colour to pop.

Lid: Eggnog.  Crease: Persian Jewel. Lower lash line: Ocean Wave.  Colours from the Night Fall palette.

Lid: Eggnog. Crease: Persian Jewel. Lower lash line: Ocean Wave. Colours from the Night Fall palette.

Lid: Crystal Pink.  Crease: Pink Lavender.  Colours from the Night Fall palette.

Lid: Crystal Pink. Crease: Pink Lavender. Colours from the Night Fall palette.

Lid: Fairest Jade.  Crease: Atmosphere.  Colours from the Day Break palette.

Lid: Fairest Jade. Crease: Atmosphere. Colours from the Day Break palette.

For $46 each, I would rather spend the few extra dollars and invest in a better quality palette, like Urban Decay’s Naked, but then again, you don’t get the fun colours that these have.

liquid shadow shadow wand swatch

A product that I really love is the Light Storm Liquid Eyeshadow (C$22).  I received the colour Caramel Cream, which is a shimmery iridescent copper colour.  The product is dispensed from a flat applicator wand and you only need a little for it to go a long way. Blend the colour in and you are good to go.

I love wearing this either on it’s own, or as a base for eyeshadow (I actually paired it with Coral Pink from the Night Fall palette and loved the two together.  These are long lasting and depending on the angle and lighting, the colour changes colour to create a really unique effect.  This product comes in two other colours, Purple Wine and Waterfall (purple and reddish-pink respectively), and is really the best product of the collection in my opinion.

Sephora, Pantone Universe, mascara Sephora, Pantone Universe, mascara

To round off the eyes, Sephora also released three shades of mascara (Nightshadow Blue, Jet Black, and Ombre Blue).  I received the black one which is encased in a sleek white tube. The mascara is billed as being volumizing and long wearing that uses pearlescent colour with added dimension to provide dramatic impact.  The formula uses real pearls to create a holographic, shimmery lash.  Now I can’t speak for the other colours, but those claims are false, my lashes did not look “holographic” or “shimmery”.  Black is black, and they looked the same as they would with any other black mascara

When I first tried this out I actually didn’t like it much.  For C$22 I would have said save your money, but then as I used it more and more, it actually grew on me.  Be prepared for a lot of product on the brush, but for some reason, it works with the mascara and truly does give you nice lashes.  Have I tried better mascaras? Absolutely, but this one ain’t bad; just don’t buy it and expect “holographic” lashes (seriously, what does that even mean?).

polish nail polish bottom swatch polish

Not one to skip out on nail polish, I was uber excited to try out the Spectra Lacquer in Antique Gold, which is literally the most perfect name for this polish because it really does have that antique-y tint to it.  This is holographic in the bottle (from a brass-y gold to a green), but once it’s painted on it’s mostly gold.  The bottle is gorgeous to look at but I found it quite clumsy to actually actually paint on the colour.

The colour was quite long lasting before it started to chip, so the quality is really good, it just depends on whether or not you like the shade selection.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of metallic polishes, but that’s just personal preference.

This polish retails for C$12 each and is available in two other shades, Waterfall (blue) and Purple Wine (purple, duh!).

Brush pouch

Lastly, I got to try out the Horizon Light Brush Collection, which are usually my favourite products to receive because these sets are usually pretty good value for what you pay.  This is a five-piece brush set and includes an angled blush brush, a large shadow brush, a smudge brush, pointed crease brush, and angled liner.  The brushes themselves have white synthetic bristles and the handles are white, which change colour to purple when in the right light.  They come in green/purple iridescent folio case complete with Sephora x Pantone Collection nameplate.

Brush tips

L to R: Angled blush, crease, large eyeshadow, smudge, angled liner.

brushes

This set retails for C$48 but I have mixed feelings about it.  $48 for five brushes isn’t bad considering that they are a pretty good selection of brushes, however, I feel that Sephora has released much better brush sets in the past.  The affordable brush sets at Sephora usually contain the same brushes but they will just switch up the bag it comes in.  This past holiday season they came out with a five-piece set which came in a gold and black clutch.  That set was worth the money, because I feel like people would buy the product for the clutch alone because it was that cute. For this set, the bag really isn’t anything special and I would say to wait until they release a cuter one.  The brush quality is typically the same, they will often just switch up which brushes you get in the kit.  For example, I have repeats now of the angled blush, angled liner, and eyeshadow brush (all of which aren’t even my most-reached for brushes).

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with this collection.  With that being said, I’m not a big fan of metallic colours, so these isn’t really anything in the collection that I would have purchased.  I really liked the Night Fall palette (although I wish the matte colours weren’t so chalky), and the Light Storm Liquid Eyeshadow.  There is a nice selection of products but I just wish that the quality was a little better (considering how pricey some of the items are).

Other items in the SpectraLight collection include the Astral Lip Glaze Gloss Set, the Solar Panel Bronzer in Toast,  and a Holographic Dobbie.

Is there anything from the Sephora + Pantone Universe SpectraLight collection you are coveting?  Tried the products?  What were your thoughts?

Please note, I was sent these products from PR. All opinions are my honest own.

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