Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

The Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette ($39) is a new, limited edition eyeshadow palette that contains 24 vibrant shades of eyeshadow that Sephora says are “inspired by the live action move with nods to the original cartoon”.

Hmm!

I have to admit the Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette and really the entire Sephora Hem and the Holograms Makeup Collection excited me. I don’t wear bright shades of eyeshadow as much as I used to but I am a huge fan of Jem. It’s a cartoon I recall watching growing up and later in life I had the pleasure of purchasing the DVDs and rewatching the entire series. Like many of you I owned the dolls, accessories, etc…and even wanted to be Jem when I grew up (I also wanted to be Cheetara but that’s a story for another day).

As with many things in life what’s old is new again. The Jem and the Holograms movie premieres on October 23rd much to the horror of fans like myself as we haven’t yet seen it but already after watching the trailer many of us are thinking how truly un-outrageous it looks. Childhood ruined. I’m not going to say every cartoon come move has been a crash and burn but I’d say 99% of them have been and sadly the new Jem film appears to be part of that downward spiral. But who knows, maybe it’ll surprise us and you can dub me an old whiny skeptic.

On that note, of course, they’ll be plenty of merchandise to go along with the film’s release but, wait…actually no there isn’t. I can’t say I’ve walked into Target, Walmart, or drugstores and have had Jem’s image splashed across mugs, t-shirts, band aids, and shower gels (wink, wink, nudge, nudge Star Wars). So really it seems like the only merchandise I’ve seen promoting the movie is, in fact, this makeup collection from Sephora.

Sephora has a bit of a hit or miss makeup collection that’s evolved over the years. There are so many makeup and even skincare products I’ve tried and loved from Sephora. And there are so many I’ve disliked as well. It really depends. A good deal of their makeup collection is quite good and many of the collections they’ve done or collaborated with over the years such as the Hello Kitty Makeup Collection, the Disney Makeup Collection, Sephora’s collaboration with Tokidoki, and even Kat Von D’s own collection has been quite good. The Sephora Divergent Collection which included a selection of makeup inspired by the Divergent film and books was quite well done. I also think Sephora excels at creating excellent Pantone Color of the Year Collections. Many of these collections and collaborations have been either great or good in my opinion so the fact Sephora was taking on a Jem Makeup Collection, well, for me, it was a given they’d likely do a great job with it.

Or not.

I fear the Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette falls victim to just being a rushed release palette to cash in on the sensationalism of a beloved cartoon character. This isn’t to say the entire collection suffers from quality control but thus far the eyeshadow palette sure does sadly.

The Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette comes housed in a glittery black and pink printed compact. This opens up like a wedding invitation and features a generously sized mirror with the 24 eyeshadows inside. Mmm the packaging is debatable for me. It has Jem’s customary star logo with a tiny print of her name in the center and Sephora’s logo off to the side. The pink and black accents are quite nice but uneventful to me. Since this isn’t based off the cartoon I shouldn’t be disappointed that there’s no images of Jem or the Holograms on the compact but for some reason I still feel let down about that. The inside of the palette is printed with pink lighting bolts on a black background. The shadows are named but the names are not printed under the shades but are on the back. Apparently the shades are arranged columns to represent a specific look inspired by each member of the band but I’m unsure who’s column is who’s as none of the shades truly evoke Jem or the Holograms for me but perhaps these are shades and looks that are more about the film characters versus the cartoon ones. There is one hot pink that reminds me of Jem sorta kinda but Jem was really more known for her paler pink hair and eyeshadow and there’s also a purple here that reminds me of Shana and perhaps an orange that remind’s me of Kimber’s hair but I use the term “reminds me of” very loosely here. I just don’t think the palette, aside from the names of the shadows, inspires anything Jem or the Holograms.

Something of interest to mention is the palette is quite small. It’s a little smaller than the Sephora Marsala Eyeshadow Palette. The complete palette with all 24 shades is 1.83 oz so these are pretty darn small. I like the smaller size as it stores easily but if you’re looking for generously sized shadows, well, this isn’t the palette for you. I placed compact on top so you can get a general idea of the size of the palette.

One of the first things I noticed about the palette when I opened it was the fact that the eyeshadows looked so very dull. I expected bright, vibrant eye popping neon shades of color. Not that Jem was all about neon shades but…I dunno that’s what I expected. You’d get more of a wow factor from Urban Decay’s new Vice 4 Palette or the Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment Palette. The top line of eyeshadows is incredibly boring with a majority of paler softer shades like cream, pale pink, and white. You’d think that the first line of the column would be Jem’s look but none of these shades remind me of her at all. So guess that blows the idea of the “each column of shadows creates a specific look inspired by each member of Jem and the Holograms” right out the window.

Misfits, Shana, Pizzazz, Aja

Jemstar, Rio, Stormer, Jetta

Minx, Raya, Gal Pal, Clash

Keytar, Stinger, Jerrica, 1980’s

Kimber, Hologram, Starlight, Mrs Baily

Rockstar, Rockin’ Roadster, Synergy, Cassette

You get a mix of frosts, satin, micro-glitter, and matte finish shades here. The eyeshadows are very soft and buttery and some have a nice velvety consistency. Some of the mattes are drier and apply and swatch very patchy. The micro-glitter shades (there are two here) are quite messy to apply and look patchy even applied over primer. These are all fairly powdery but there wasn’t too much fall out during application. Maybe it’s me here because I read some really great reviews of the palette on Sephora’s site but personally I felt like the palette was ok but not good nor great. It reminded me of E.L.F. Beauty Book Eyeshadow Palettes I have but not something I purchased at Sephora that’s for sure. Many of the shades are frosty and although pigmented when swatched they apply duller and aren’t terribly vibrant or bold. They also tend to fade so you’ll want to use a good primer or cream base to not only add intensity but keep them wearing strong on your lids.

For my look below I used two of the best eyeshadows in the palette which were Keytar (bright green) and Rio (aqua).

So sadly, in my opinion, the Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette is far from being outrageous. To me this might be more of a collector’s piece for a fan of the cartoon. It’s a just palette you feel you have to have as a Jem fan. But if you’re buying it because you’re looking for vibrant, pigmented shades of eyeshadow, well I think you’ll be disappointed.

The Sephora Jem and The Holograms Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette and the entire Jem and the Holograms Makeup Collection is available now at Sephora.com.