Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Nudey Tuesday: CARGO Essential Eye Palette in "Dark/Neutral" (Review & Swatches) AND.. MAC Venomous Villains

Repurchase: Yes
Price: $32
Product: 9.5/10
Value: 7/10
Packaging: 6/10
Overall Grade: A-
It's about time I reviewed the CARGO Essential Eye Palette for you. I think this is one of those palettes that every one needs to have in their arsenal whether you're a beginner or pro. This is one of those palettes that will work for any one, any age, any skin tone. The palette comes in 3 different color combinations: Dark/Neutral (the one I have), Warm/Neutral, and Cool/Neutral.

The Packaging: The packaging is a bit too heavy and bulky for my taste. I know this will break easily if I'm not careful. I'm not too keen on the clear plastic but I do like that the eyeshadows are neatly separated inside (unlike some palettes where the shades all together -like Physicians Formula's Shimmer Strips.) There's also a nice, big mirror but like most eyeshadow/blush palettes, the mirrors gets all dirty and powdery so it's not too practical to use.

The Product: Each shade has the "directions" printed on it -letting you know where to apply the shade. Remember, you don't have to follow the directions -this is just a guide.
Prior to buying this, I assumed that this palette contained matte eyeshadows because of the reviews I read. However, these are not matte eyeshadows -they're more of a satin. Each shade contains minor shimmer -some more than others but it'll still definitely work for those who don't like shimmery shades. I noticed that Crease and Outer Corner were more "matte" than Browbone and Lid.
These shadows blend super easily, are longwearing, feel silky, are pigmented, and give off a nice and neat, natural look. There is really nothing negative that I can say about the product. This is just really easy to use -it's a no brainer and I like that!
The Color: All the colors are pigmented, have minor shimmer, and are very natural.
1. Browbone- Light, pearly champagne-like vanilla shade with a nice sheen to it. This isn't super pigmented so it won't look starch white on your browbone. I really like that it's subtle.
2. Lid- Satin-y neutral, medium brown.
3. Crease- Almost matte, warm, tanned brown with less shimmer than Browbone and Lid. Almost no shimmer at all and you'd only be able to tell if you looked closely.
4. Outer Corner- Dark bark-like brown that's cooler than the other 3 shades. Like Crease, this is almost matte and has less shimmer than Browbone and Lid.
For swatches of all 3 palettes, click here.

Swatches..

Above (no flash) from left: Browbone, Lid, Crease, Outer Corner
Above (with flash) from left: Browbone, Lid, Crease, Outer Corner

Overall: If my grade were based solely on the product, this would be a straight "A." However, I do think $32 is too pricey for just 4 shades. Maybe if they offered at least another shade or blush, I'd be more OK with it. I also don't like the bulky, plastic packaging. It's like how Costco packages their makeup -but this is actually part of the actual product packaging. It just looks really cheap. If you can still find this in a kit like this one here, I advise you get the kit instead. I bought mine from that kit (during a 20% off sale) for about $48 and it was a way better value than if I were to buy the palette individually. I bought another one too when Sephora was discontinuing CARGO for about $14 (super great deal!) ..Last I checked, some Sephora stores still have this so be on the look out.
Anyways, I highly recommend this palette and think it's the perfect, basic palette for anyone. Those with neutral or warmer tones and medium or darker complexions should go for Dark/Neutral. Those with warm but light complexions should go for Warm/Neutral and cooler ladies should go for Cool/Neutral.

Onto Venomous Villains..
I was rambling about MAC's Venomous Villains collection in this post awhile ago but recently, I stumbled upon this via Specktra:
"MAC Cosmetics is teaming up with Disney to create a limited edition color collection, intended to launch globally in September in all MAC locations. The products will feature four Disney characters, on which the brand is keeping mum at the moment -although with a collection name of Venomous Villains, it is assumed that we're not talking Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse here. Lipstick, powder, lip gloss and blush shades will be sold ranging in price from $12 to $29.50."
This quote is from WWD and I got it from Specktra here.
I already read this little quote a number of times from various beauty blogs and I knew there would be no eyeshadows (bummer!) but I guess I missed the fact that there would be only 4 characters (they showed us exactly FOUR characters in the little "sneak peek" too.) How can that be?? Also with no eyeshadows and only 4 different products, it seems as though this is going to be a TINY collection. As of right now, I'm a little disappointed because you'd think that since they're joining up with Disney, they'd make the collection really big and spectacular. Anyways, hopefully I'm wrong..... but seriously only 4 characters and only 4 products. What is this?? 1 character per product? I really hope all this info is just MAC teasing us and they'll actually come out with a bazillion products and more characters.

7 comments:

  1. great review. I got some cargo eyeshadow a while back and they're not bad, they last long without creasing. hehe I'm not big on clear packaging either

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  2. I'm thinking they will have the 4 products in different colours for each villian - so 16 products in all - which is still small but not as mini!

    Best, Lisamarie

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  3. i agree with everything you say, especially the pricing and the packaging issues. I love a nude eye and this has been my go-to palette since I purchased it. I have used the outer corner color as a liner and also a brow color in my dark brows. i have the dark neutral and it's perfect for me.

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  4. I'm also disappointed that they won't have eyeshadows for the Disney Villains collection and WHY didn't Ursula make the cut? I'd imagine a Clam shell shaped compact if she was one of the chosen villains.

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  5. @ Pop Champagne.. Glad you had good experiences with CARGO. And don't you hate the cheap plastic packaging?? UGLY!

    @ Lisamarie.. Oh I hope you're right! That sounds decent.. just wish the collection had more characters and was really big. I mean come on.. how many times do you get to collaborate with Disney??

    @ Shrinky Inky.. Ugh I know.. not so great packaging for such gorgeous eyeshadows ..And it's just too overpriced. So glad it works for you -I agree, it's GREAT for a nude eye. I also use the outer corner as a liner from time to time but I've never tried it for the brows! Thanks for the tip. =)

    @ KrySTYLES.. I know.. me too!! I totally imagined some limited edition eyeshadows for the collection ANDDDD I totally agree about Ursula. I would be so happy if the guy from Princess and the Frog (totally forgot his name) was replaced with Ursula. She's one of the STAPLE Disney Villains -plus she wears a lot of makeup LOL.

    That sounds so cool -a clam shell compact!! They should've at least done that for To The Beach.. would've been awesome.

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  6. The packaging does look a lot like the PS shimmer strips, not very appealing! But the eyeshadows look really nice and pigmented, hate it when neutral eyeshadows like these are so powdery and so sheer. I have to check this out.

    Hopefully the Villains collection is better than they're leading on!

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  7. YEA! Ugly packaging. Great neutral shades though -definitely check it out. I'm hoping Venomous Villains will surprise us too! Please please PLEASE MAC Gods..

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