Review: Urban Decay NYDC Book of Shadows Vol. III

Hey Everyone,

The Urban Decay Book of Shadows isn’t just a makeup item, the whole lot have easily become the collectibles of the makeup world, making these babies pretty special. Perhaps it was the exclusivity, the mad rush to book a palette, the fact that it was a Disney and Alice in Wonderland collaboration that made the previous book of shadows so successful. Yet, the NYDC palette didn’t really rock the boat and I was surprised to see it still in stores when I came home from Melbourne but knowing that they are limited edition, I quickly swept one off the shelf.

I don’ know what it is, but I keep thinking to myself, “was it just an impulse buy or is the new Urban Decay NYDC Book of Shadows Vol. III really worth it?”

Let’s look at it first. Here, we can actually judge a book by its cover. Cover wise, I say maybe a 7/10.

It’s cluttered and vibrant just like how I remembered New York back when I made my visits there during the summer but some of the sketches seem a little..too sketchy. It could be bettered colored but it lights up, it’s cute. It pushes a “niceeeee” but probably nothing more than that. Unique, but not there yet.

Ok it’s pretty, now what?

From Temptalia, here are some product specifications:

The palette includes 16 eyeshadows (0.03 oz. each, total of 0.48 oz.), 2 miniature-sized eyeliners (0.03 oz. each, total of 0.06 oz.), and 1 minature-sized Primer Potion (0.13 fl. oz.). To break down the value for you, this represents $163.20 worth of eyeshadow ($340/oz.), $25.50 worth of eyeliner ($425/oz.), $6.88 of Primer Potion ($52.94/fl. oz.). In sum, it’s the equivalent of $195.58 worth of Urban Decay products. You will, of course, have to spend much more as individual products are all slightly bigger (e.g. each full-size eyeshadow retails for $17).

What was I thinking, it’s totally value for money. Again. Ok, ok, I know I know, I have a lot of makeup already and I shouldn’t use the volume of product as justification because I already have too much. But, no seriously, good stuff especially if you need eyeshadows and a smoky color palette suits most of needs. Hey, I’m raising my hand. What if you already own the Alice in Wonderland, well the color palette is a little different, Alice in Wonderland is more purple and whimsical, this is more party up blue with lots of neutrals but you can smoke any neutral up with the matte black it provides. You won’t go wrong with eyeshadows from Urban Decay – only the super chunky monkey glitter ones are a let down like the Midnight Cowboy Rides Again – which I am not a fan of.

SwatchFest:

First Row:

Second Row:

Third Row:

Fourth Row:

Liners/Primer Potion:

The palette offers seven new and exclusive shades (Bordello, Kush, Loaded, Money, Radium, Rockstar, and Suspect) and keeps it old school with 7 shades from the permanent line ( Snatch, Last Call, Maui Wowie, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Smog, Perversion, and Uzi). That being said, you do get value for money. You get seven new shades, another collectibles item, quality AND quantity. However, if you already have a lot of things in your collection, unless collecting these babies means something to you, there would be no need to get repeat shadows if you have similar ones from other brands and you don’t use shadows often. On the plus side, there’s many reasons to like this baby, but maybe it’s my own justification for spending 88 bucks.

…now what’s your say?

xx Roseanne