Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

The Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette ($60) launches on May 1st to coincide with Disney’s sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass that will be in theaters May 27th. Urban Decay has teamed up with Disney on three separate occasions to create palettes inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Oz the Great and Powerful. So, Urban Decay is absolutely no stranger to creating whimsical packaging and bright, vibrant colors to do Wonderland justice.

It’s a funny thing about the Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow, as this takes us back to some of Urban Decay’s first larger Book of Shadows Palettes. Many of the new Vice Palettes and even the Glinda and Theodora Palettes all have newer more modern packaging that’s either plastic or metal. With this palette, we take a step back into Urban Decay’s past as it is cardboard and is fairly larger and bulky. You’re either going to adore this little nod to the past, or you’re going to hate it as a minimalist.

As an avid collector of makeup and an Urban Decay fan, I love it. It’s just what UD is known for! It also happens to make me smile. As someone who is running out of ways to store my massive makeup stash, well, that’s when I think to myself, “God, this is huge! Where am I going to put this?! And ugh, I can’t travel with it!” So, the packaging is a double edged sword.

This is the same standard size as all Book of Shadow Palettes and includes a mirror with a pop-up butterfly adornment located at the top of the palette with a pull out drawer below it that holds 20 Urban Decay Eyeshadows that are 0.04 oz in size. The original Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows was $52, and it included 16 Eyeshadows which were 0.3 oz in size and it also included a mini Primer Potion Primer. This palette is made within the US. The palette also includes a double-ended eyeshadow brush.

I think the design on the original palette was a little cuter as it did have a pop up of Alice wandering through the Mushroom Garden. This palette does not have Alice nor any other characters but merely sports a pop-up butterfly located on the top portion of the palette which is hidden behind two doors that are imprinted with “I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours” The mirror has an etching that reads, “Were all mad here!” The palette has a few different psychedelic prints going on. The front features a kaleidoscope design where as the inside flap where the mirror is located has melting time pieces. The pull out draw has a quote as well that says, “I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I must have changed several since then.” If there wasn’t a face plate saying, “Alice Through the Looking Glass” located on the front you might not even realize it was inspired by the film if you didn’t read the book and recognize the quotes.

The palettes are arranged in columns, bottom to top, to represent each character.

Alice’s Eyeshadows:

• Looking Glass (pale pink demi-matte)
• Reflection (soft peach matte)
• Dormouse (warm brown matte with floating gold micro-sparkle)
• Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue with micro-sparkle)

Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Looking Glass, Reflection, Dormouse, Metamorphosis)

Mad Hatter’s Eyeshadows:

• Hatter (vibrant green with tonal micro-sparkle)
• Gone Mad (aubergine with pink iridescent pearl)
• Paradox (vibrant orange with gold pearl)
• Cake (saturated blue-pink with silver micro shimmer)

Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Hatter, Gone Mad, Paradox, Cake)

The White Queen’s Eyeshadows:

• Lily (opal pink pearl)
• Duchess (peach with pink shift and micro-sparkle)
• Kingdom (copper-bronze pearl)
• Chessboard (medium brown matte)

Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Lily, Duchess, Kingdom, Chessboard)

The Red Queen’s Eyeshadows:

• Head’s Will Roll (vibrant turquoise with gold micro-sparkle)
• Bandersnatch (deep teal matte)
• Salzen Grum (metallic crimson)
• Royal Flush (pale beige shimmer)

Time’s Eyeshadows:

• Time (black-navy satin with soft iridescent micro-sparkle)
• Dream On (metallic purple-silver)
• Chronosphere (metallic deep bronze)
• Mirror (gray-taupe satin)

Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Time, Dream On, Chronosphere, Mirror)

It’s funny how fitting the quote is on this palette as it is kinda how I felt after swatching and trying out the eyeshadows, “I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I must have changed several since then.” Ahh yeah so, I thought I knew Urban Decay Eyeshadow but now I don’t so much. It’s interesting that on my press release as well as in many details and descriptions I’ve seen for this palette not once have I seen the eyeshadows refereed to as having Urban Decay’s “Pigment Infusion System.” These eyeshadows are not really like the permanent collection’s formula nor are they like ones I’ve seen in past palettes. This comes as no surprised since the last few palettes from Urban Decay I felt the formula differed slightly from what I normally know from Urban Decay. However, this is, even MORE, different regarding consistency and texture.

Many of these shades do not have hardcore glitter or shimmer which is a common trait with UD eyeshadow’s formula. This should be cause for excitement for many who prefer more mattes as this palette contains contain a good deal of them along with satins. Sure, some shades contain shimmer but not dramatic disco ball shimmer or glitter.

The formula is disappointing on some levels. Urban Decay is well known for a super pigmented eyeshadow formula with a creamy, velvety consistency that applies very well with or without primer. This palette is filled with a good deal of shades that require primer or some sort of cream base to get the smoothest finish, best wear, and color intensity. I struggled with many shades because they adhered so poorly to my drier lids. This is typically not a known issue I’ve had with single eyeshadows from Urban Decay in the past.

A few examples….

I wanted to do a Hatter, and Heads Will Roll look as this is a great turquoise that would blend well with a green to get that mermaid kind of look going. These were difficult to blend together! Hatter kept sheering away as I blended and I could get no definition or contrast when I applied Heads Will Roll. It came out such a mess that I ended up removing both shades without bothering to attempt it on my second eye.

Paradox is another shade that’s gorgeous in the pan but blends out sheerer with a frosty finish that doesn’t adhere well to eyes and ends up looking very patchy. This is the case with many, many shades. But by far the worst was Dream On which was very gritty with chunky glitter and sheer color pay off.

There are some keeper shades in here like Salzen Grum, which had a soft, velvety consistency. I used it in my look below along with Paradox!

The mattes are quite soft and silky but they do have a sheerer color pay off in many cases, or they apply a bit patchy. So that’s a mixed bag as well. It just seems like many of the shades applied muted and soft versus pigmented, vibrant, and intense.

The Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette is more of a collectible palette in my opinion. It’s something you’re going to want to own because you’re an avid fan of Disney or Lewis Carroll. Or perhaps you want it because you collect Urban Decay. I think the formula is lacking here in many shades. Don’t get me wrong; there are some good ones, but they bad seem to outweigh the good. It’s also a palette that doesn’t have a lot of rhythm or reason (but hey, neither does Wonderland right?) as you might struggle a little with color placement and what shades will look good together. For example, I’m doubtful I’d combine all of Mad Hatter’s shades and wear them to work! And Alice’s colors start off nice enough but don’t exactly work well in a single look!?

All in all, I liked the original palette but the sequel, I’m sad to say, not as much. I’m glad to have it, and if I didn’t get a press sample of it, I’d likely have purchased it myself just because I’m a magpie that likes to collect bright, shiny things, and I’m also a terribly big fan of Carroll’s works. But as a palette, I’d reach for daily? Not so much!

Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette launches May 1st at urbandecay.com and should arrive at Sephora, Sephora.com, Ulta, and Ulta.com in and around May 12th.

What do you think of the palette so far?