Veracious Product Review: Urban Decay Shattered Face Case

I bought my first Urban Decay Face Case when I was 18 years old. Back then, Destiny's Child, Usher, and Sugar Ray were topping the charts and Urban Decay was best known for their Lip Gunks and glitter polishes. At the time, Face Cases took the form of ultra-slim silver cases with 6 shadows, two lip products, and a highlighter. Pretty revolutionary for the time, as the included shades were bold and edgy and make palettes were not ubiquitous in the beauty aisles. They were among my first forays into high-end makeup and they will always hold a special place in my makeup memory.

Given my Face Case nostalgia, I was definitely curious when I learned that Urban Decay had released two all-new incarnations of the palette late last year. After careful inspection of these exciting new offerings, I decided that the updated Face Cases were just as beautiful, functional and fun! In December, I used up some of my Shoppers Optimum Points (glorious things) to bring the lovely Shattered Face Case home with me!

The Shattered Face Case is appropriately housed in a reflective glass-like case with a shattered texture. It includes 5 eye shadows, 2 blushes, a highlighter, an eyeliner, and a shiny gloss pencil. A wonderful selection!

Let's start at the beginning. The box mirrors the shade and texture of the palette itself and includes the brand's logo on the bottom right corner. 

The back of the box provides shots of the products inside, as well as a brief description of what the palette has to offer. 

Here's a peek at how Urban Decay describes this colourful kit:

Here's another peek at the exterior of the palette itself, with the sunshine highlighting its shattered effect:

For a super efficient use of space, this palette has two separate layers of product. Opening the top layer reveals the five eye shadows, the lip pencil, and the eyeliner.

Here's a close-up! The goodies at this layer include:

Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Colour in Lovechild (a cool-toned candy pink)

Eye Shadows in Nameless (a deep grey taupe), Remix (a rich shimmery eggplant), Shakedown (a mid-tone shimmery brown), Minor Sin (a pale peach with gold shimmer) and Bleach (a matte buttery cream).

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (a true matte black).

This layer of the palette also has a large-sized mirror for all of your application needs! ;)

The bottom layer of the palette (housed underneath the first) reveals the same lip pencil (it transcends both layers!) as well as two blushes and a highlighter. It features:

Blush in Overexposed (a neutral tawny peachy rose) and Temper (a cool cheery pink)

Highlighter in Glint (a warm, shimmery champagne)

This second layer also includes a mirror, though slightly smaller due to the placement of the lip pencil:

And now for swatches! Here area all 10 of the shades swatched side-by-side on my inner arm (MAC NC15 skin tone), with the eye products on the left and the lip and cheek products on the right:

A close-up of the eye shadow swatches:

(L-R): Urban Decay Shattered Face Case Eye Shadows in Nameless, Remix, Shakedown, Minor Sin, and Bleach

And swatches of the pencils and blushes:

(L-R): Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero, Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Colour in Lovechild, Shattered Face Case Blushes in Overexposed and Temper, and Highlighter in Glint

And here is a makeup look I created, using all 10 products from the palette!

For the cheeks, I applied Overexposed up my cheekbones, almost as a contour, and popped Temper onto the apples of my cheeks. I then applied a bit of the Glint highlighter to the top of my cheekbones:

For the eyes, I applied Bleach all over the eye from lash line to brow bone as a base. I then applied Shakedown lightly all over my lid, up to the crease. Next, I used some of Remix in my crease for a fun pop of colour. Then, I applied Nameless in the outer corners of my eye for some extra smoke and touches of Minor Sin to my brown bone and inner corners of the eye as a highlight.

I also applied a small amount of Remix on the outer half of my lower lash line for some extra colour. I finished off with some Zero eyeliner on my waterline and winged out on my upper lash line and two coats of volumizing mascara (BeneFit They're Real!).

I completed the look with a generous helping of Lovechild on my lips to give them a glossy, candy-coated finish:

And there you have it- a look using every last shade from the Shattered Face Case. It was so fun to play with!

Overall, I'm totally smitten with this palette. While it obviously doesn't hold the nostalgia factor of the original turn-of-the-century Face Cases, it has nonetheless won me over with its amazing selection of shades, fun, compact packaging, and top-notch formulas. Here's a quick run-down of the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Shattered is perfect for creating a dramatic purple-grey smokey eye, but could  just as easily work for an everyday neutral look
• The shadows are rich, soft, and pigmented (as would be expected from Urban Decay)
• The blushes are smooth and blendable and warm up the face nicely
• The lip pencil has quite decent staying power and leaves my pout moisturized and glossy
• 24/7 Eye Pencil in Zero is a classic black shade and a great inclusion as it works with anything!
• Although not as sleek as some palettes, it does contain 10 products quite efficiently!
• The packaging is unique and cheeky and simply fun to look at!
• All of the shades work quite well together- all you need to add is a base, brows, and mascara and you have a complete look!

Cons:

• The highlighter is on the darker side (at least for my fair skin), so it wouldn't be as easily used on places like the brow bones or the bridge of the nose
• The palette can be somewhat difficult to open, which can be annoying when you're rushing to get ready!
• The shades are quite bold and pigmented, so not the best palette if you prefer a more subtle look.

So there you have it- my full review of the Urban Decay Shattered Face Case. I'd definitely consider this to be a highly underrated product, as it seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle amidst the frenzy of Naked 3. While the Naked Palettes are undoubtedly fabulous, this Face Case is perfect for those who prefer a palette that can outfit your entire face- eyes, lips, and cheeks! The quality of the products is on par with Urban Decay's typically impressive formulas and the shades are lots of fun!

Does this look like a palette you'd reach for? Any other Face Case fans out there?

Thanks for reading! :)