Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV - Swatches and first impression

Hi everyone,
One of the good-bye presents I received from my co-workers was a Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV.  I'm so grateful to have such kind-hearted people around me.  Anna, who gave me this present, sits in a special spot in my heart.  She was the first person to warmly introduce herself on my first day and remained like a family member until my last day at work.  As much as I like penguins, Anna loves anything butterfly.  I thought this palette was so "Anna" when I received it.  Anna - if you're reading this, thank you again! :D

So shall we start dissecting this palette?



I know this palette was a limited edition late last year, but I think you can still have some luck finding these palettes in department stores.


Here's how the palette looks.  It has two levels, where the first level (lid part) is consisted of a mirror and some pop-up butterflies.
Second level (pull out) has 16 shadows, 1 liquid eye liner, 1 travel size mascara, 1 travel size primer potion, 2 usb connections and 1 mini speaker.
16 shadows look like so.  It's a nice range of colors and different finishes.  The palette has a lot of metallic, frost, some glittery shades and even matte shades.



Row #1

• Blue bus : pretty blue with a strong purple undertone to it.  I love how cool-toned the color is.  The finishing is a frost and the application strength is 3 out of 5. You have to build up the color a bit. { Exclusive }
• Gunmetal : Great gunmetal color for smoked out looks.  There's a nice sheen to the shade, so if you like the liquid-smoked look, this will work great.  Application strength is 5/5.  It goes on like butter. 
• Cobra : Darker than gunmetal and has micro gold glitters in it.  Base dark brown color finishing is closer to matte.  Great color for night outs or parties. 
• Baked : Bronze/copper color with a frost finish. This shade reminds me of so many golden shades I have, but it could work as a great dupe for Dior's Gold Touch (which is one of my favorite golds). 

Row #2

• Bender : Mossy hunter green with a golden sheen to it.  One of the crumbier shadows in the palette.  Application is 4 out of 5, but it has a lot of fall out! 
• Gravity : Frosted purple with a slight red undertone to it.  Application is smooth. Great for mystic purple eyes look. 
• Lost : Brown/bronze with frosted finish.  I LOVE this shade! You can never go wrong with this shade.  Application is 5 out of 5. Great pigmentation! 
• Hijack : Teal shadow with a metallic finish.  Application is 5 out of 5, and the color is very electrifying - great as a pop color.

• Midnight cowgirl : Rose gold color with a tone of glitter and sheen to it.  The fall out is massive and I had a really hard time just gathering the shadow on my application tip.  Other than the difficulty of handing the shadow, the color is a really nice color that could compliment anybody's neutral palette. 
• Sin : A bit more rosy and pink than midnight cowgirl. Very safe color for anyone to use.  Application was very smooth - 5/5. 
• Midnight Rodeo : Taupe! Very stable color and a good balance of sheen as the finishing. Application is 5/5. 
• Crystal : One of the most difficult colors to apply.  The pigmentation is horrible, but the color is an absolute beauty.  It reminds me of Cinderella's dress color + Little mermaid's tail scales. { Exclusive }

• Bust : Tender soft taupe with a slight sheen to it.  There's no glitters and the finishing looks almost matte on the skin.  Great for subtle looks.  Application is 4 out of 5. 
• Missionary : Such a sheer shade. Application is 1 out of 5.  The shadow color doesn't show up well on the skin.  It is a more a beige color with a hint of pink in it. { Exclusive }
• Skimp : You can faintly see the micro glitters to this shade, but the application fails. So hard to even see the color on your skin. { Exclusive }
• Zephyr : Doesn't have glitter, but the shadow does have a bit of shimmer to it.  The color pay off is better than it's neighboring two, but it is still on the sheer side.  Good for highlighting, but keep in mind that it is a bit crumby. 

 The formula is okay, I haven't figured anything spectacular about it yet.  The head is slightly curved with short bristles. This is great for separating your lashes (no clumps!) and doing small lashes, like your lower lashes.  The design of the tube is really pretty. :)



24/7 Liquid Eyeliner

I've tried a lot of Urban Decay's pencil liners (they are sooooo great!), so I didn't expect to get disappointed by the liquid liner.  The formula is a tad bit runny, but not in an excessive way.  The brush tip is extremely thin (thinner than most liquid liners), which makes it great for delicate lines.  As you can see, I drew some pretty thin lines with ease on the back of my hand with this liquid liner.
After the application dries, it's really hard to get the liner off - even with cleansing oil.  I literally had to scratch off the liner when I was removing it.  I'm still a bit on the fence about this product.




Okay guys, hope this review could be helpful.  I wrote { Exclusive } on the end of the colors that are NOT available as single pot shadows.  Most of the colors are available for single pot purchases (you could see all of the available shades here), but the most problematic ones (or the ones that I thought were sucky), seem to have been booted out from further production.

Thanks for reading my long post!! :)

Catalina