Wet 'n' Wild Gilded Age Trio - Review

I remember, fondly, discovering Wet 'n' Wild a long, long time ago. At that time, the quality matched the price fairly evenly, but I could still buy a ton of makeup for very little money. Times have changed only slightly - the quality of today's Wet 'n' Wild is vastly superior to what it used to be.

Wet 'n' Wild recently release a limited edition mini-collection for summer 2011 called "Go for the Gold." I call it a mini-collection because there are only 2 items, a Color-Icon trio (the subject of this review), and a bronzer called "Everything under the Sun," which I also have and am not impressed with. We may discuss this in the future, maybe. If I can bring myself to use it again, that is (yes, it is *that* bad).

The trio, however, is as lovely as all of the other Color-Icon trios - the colors are rich, pigmented, easy to blend, etc. Two of the shades rival some of the best MAC eyeshadows, with the third being nice, but a bit less pigmented than you would expect.

For a product that has a MSRP of less than $3.00, the packaging is flimsy, and very cheap feeling. Since I don't typically travel with my makeup, this doesn't concern me. Wet 'n' Wild kindly threw in a tiny brush and sponge applicator (which will be thrown out shortly). These trios do not include a mirror.

I looked at this palette, after getting it home and swatching it, and thought "I probably have tons of dupes for this already. Why'd it come home with me?" And set about trying to find a dupe for each shade. The "browbone" shade is a frost, peachy highlight. The closest shade I have to it is MAC All that Glitters, but it's not as shimmery/frosty. It definitely reminds me of Stila's Kitten, which was wa-ay to frosty for my liking (and has left this building because of this). The crease color, a shimmery chocolate brown that is lacking in the pigment department, is very similar to MAC's Chocolate Brown pigment, but is not as pigmented. I actually had a difficult time duping the last shade, surprisingly. It's a true, frosty, metallic gold. MAC's Gold Mode Pigment is similar, but lacks the frost finish, and doesn't have the orangey base tone of the lid color. Dazzleray pigment looked promising in the jar, but it much more similar to the highlight shade on the skin.

All of these colors lean warm to me, and last all day on my lids with UDPP and the UD Shadow Pencil in Sin under them. As previously mentioned, they blend nicely. I really wish the middle shade had been matte, though. I really prefer to not have shimmer-city on my lids, and in my crease, and on my browbone. While I'm perfectly aware I don't have to use all three shades at the same time, I can still kvetch about the overly-shimmeriness that is this trio. I find that I'm adding a matte brown to my crease to tone down the frostiness, which is what this trio produces. Especially the highlight shade - heavily applied, it's over-the-top frosty to me. A light hand, however, really makes it look lovely!

Bronzey-golden colors really suit me, being fair and warm-toned with brassy-ish hair. These colors are no different than any others in this family. That being said, I have a feeling that most of us have similar shades in our collections. The only one I didn't have a dupe for is the eyelid shade. While it's nice to have them all in one place, I don't know if this is a must buy for everyone. If you don't have similar shades, I'd highly recommend this trio, if you can find it. If you can't find it, you may wish to look at swatches and other reviews, then compare to your stash. If you really want this, keep looking around. It is limited edition, and may disappear rather quickly. Either way, for $3.00 or so, the quality is fan-freaking-tastic.

Edited 06/05/2011 to add: Would you like to win your very own Gilded Age trio? I happen to procure an extra trio, and I know some ladies are having a tough time finding them. I'll launch a give away in a bit, but... one of the rules will be that you must follow my blog. Additionally, I can ship to Canada and the UK. :)

Edited 06/08/2011 to add: Giveaway is now live!