Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

I feel the opening of my review of the Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette should have the GOT theme music playing. Or better yet, instead of the original soundtrack maybe Peter Hollens can hum through the entire review!

Ok, no dramatics, no crazy intro, let’s just get down to the nitty gritty reviews and swatches of the Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette.

There are many, many fandoms and a few have been represented in the beauty world. Alice in Wonderland, Wonder Woman, the Muppets, Beauty and the Beast, are just a few that have made their way into my makeup collection in the past few years! One of the more epic ones was when Fortune Cookie Soap decided to launch a Doctor Who or as they called it “Man in a Blue Box” Collection.

I personally belong to many, many fandoms and I wish some of my favorite brands would introduce some sort of epic collection representing them. Supernatural Makeup Collection? I’m all over it! Doctor Who Makeup Collection? I AM ON THAT! Iron Man or Flash Makeup Collection? YESSSSSSSSSS! Bleach makeup collection? OMG Bring it! A Harley or a Suicide Squad Makeup Collection? I’d cry and buy.

The thing with makeup and fandoms is no one has quite got down an epic collection yet to really represent the geeks out there. Sometimes they get the packaging right, sometimes they get the colors right but the packaging is all wrong. Also, most times, they aren’t quite the fandoms we really want to see.

In the case of the Urban Decay Game of Thrones Collection I think I can speak for us all and say this is REALLY a makeup collection we wanted. However, there are many miss opportunities here. I recently reviewed the Urban Decay Mother of Dragons Highlighter Palette and come on, that could have been really legendary. However, UD ended up going very safe with the shades in the palette.

With the Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette I’d say the packaging was brilliant if not pretty bulky. It’ll called back days of old when Urban Decay Book of Shadow Palettes were amazing popular and innovative. The palette is rectangle in shape featuring a zoomed image of the Iron Throne on the cover. You don’t actually see the throne but you are privy to the swords that make up the throne which were apparently forged from a thousand different swords according to legend. Flipping it open reveals a generously-sized mirror and a map of Westeros. The right side of the palette has a quote from Daenerys, which reads, “Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell, They’re all just spokes on a wheel. This one’s on top then that one’s on top and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground”. The palette cuts out around the quote and a small ribbon pull will aid in pulling the palette upwards to reveal a pop up of the Iron Throne. Below the pop up of the throne another quote from Tyrion reads, “Never Forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor. And it can never be used to hurt you.”

The actually palette is hidden below all the fanfare. It pulls out with a ribbon tie and can be completely removed for easy application. Yes, the packaging is bulky, it’s hard to store, difficult to travel with, etc…! But it’s pretty darn cool if you love the show. Dude, it’s a makeup palette with a pop up of the Iron Throne how can you not love that?

The palette is divided into three houses with five eyeshadows per house and another five shades which represent the White Walkers (or the free folk if you want!). You’ll get a total of 20 eyeshadows. The houses represented are House Targaryen, House Lannister, House Stark, and our friendly villains, the White Walkers. The shades are all interesting but nothing truly unique or innovative. Also, in many ways disappointing as the shades somehow lose their way and get confused about which house they are representing. For example, I’d probably use many of the Lannister shades in a Targaryen look as they are all fiery shades. The same holds true for Targaryen’s shades! Gold and regal purples make me think more of the House of Lannister. The White Walkers are very accurately depicted with cooler shades of aqua, blue, and frosty white. House Stark, mmmm, I never really associated a color with the Starks but the earthier shades Urban Decay went with do make senses.

On a whole, there is nothing here that really impressed me in terms of colors. The shades are likely ones you own many times over. I wouldn’t call them unique but Bay of Dragons and King’s Landing do stand out as interesting and different compared to other repetitive colors in the palette and in my collection.

I didn’t struggle creating looks with the palette. I thought I would but the five shades all come together well to create one look. And of course, you can mix and match anyway you want! However, the way the palette is grouped is very helpful in creating a contrasting look for each house. I’d say you’re getting four main eyeshadows and the fifth color is more of a sparkly topper shade. I admit I did use King’s Landing and Bay of Dragon’s as a highlighter on my cheeks! Both shades work great that way! And you can likely get away using Hardhome that way as well!

Speaking of these topcoats…..

I actually liked these a lot. They are more loosely packed and very sparkly. They apply best with a finger in my opinion. They add a nice bit of sparkly on top of an already completed look but if you’re feeling frisky you can build them up and wear them all over your lid for a quickie look! Although, I think they work best over a look.

They eyeshadows in the palette are fairly well formulated. All were pigmented, all applied well with some fall out, and all had a good texture. I didn’t feel any shades performed poorly or bad. I didn’t love Stormborn or Dothraki though as they were just a bit too frosty for me! But the formula was velvety and blended easily. I honestly didn’t experience any issues with the performance on these shades. And yes, this surprised me a bit as I feel like some of the latest Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palettes have performed poorly for me!

Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (King’s Landing, Red Keep, Casterly Rock, House Lannister, Lannister Red)

Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Winterfell, Nymeria, Winter is Here, Weirwood Leaves, The Sight)

Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Hardhome, Take the Black, White Walker, Frozen North, Free Folk)

Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Bay of Dragons, Stormborn, House Targaryen, Dothraki, Bend the Knee)

So, the question of the moment is do you need this eyeshadow palette? I’d like to think so if you’re a fond fan of Game of Thrones! But putting that aside, the palette has some very nice shades to create both bolder and natural looks and that might be a selling point if you aren’t a GOT fan girl or guy.

But most important, is there a missed opportunity in the creation of the Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette? Yeah, sort of. I’d love to see something a little more unique, something that popped a bit more, and I’d totally rename some of these shades as well!

It’s not a perfect fan palette but it’s probably one of the better fandom eyeshadow palettes I’ve seen launch in recent years.

Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette is available starting April 29h.

Where to buy

Ulta Sephora Macy’s Urban Decay