Ulta Complete Eye Palette Review and Swatches

Ulta's birthday gifts vary depending on what month your birthday is. This year's birthday gift from Ulta for January-March birthdays is the Complete Eye Palette in Indie. (You also  receive a $10 coupon to Ulta as well as double points during your birthday month.) I received this last month for my birthday but didn't get the chance to try it out until now. When the Ulta employee handed me my gift from behind the register, I was surprised at how decently sized this palette was. I've never tried any of Ulta's eyeshadows before but this looked promising.

The description from Ulta says:

"Transform your look with these customized eye shadow palettes. These 5 in 1 eye shadows let you line, highlight and illuminate your eyes while creating endless looks for day and night. Coordinated shades in each eye shadow quad takes the guesswork out of finding shades that go well together. Brush not included."

This palette has four shimmery shades and one matte shade. The darkest shade has specks of glitter in it as well. When I swatched the colors on my arm, I found the powders soft and buttery but I had to really layer it on for the colors to show up. The lightest shade is barely visible on my skin, the matte shade wasn't completely matte, and the darkest shade is poorly pigmented.

When I applied it onto my eyelids, I found the color payoff to be super disappointing. Eyeshadow primer is a must but even so, I had to really pack on the colors just to get a decent look. Also, there is a lot of fallout! This is not what I had expected.

I must say, I was really disappointed when I heard my Ulta birthday gift wasn't going to be the CK One Color mascara, which retails for $18. This was something I was really looking forward to, and receiving this $12  eye palette was a huge disappointment. Good thing it was free. Luckily, it looks like the birthday gift for April-June babies is now the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil (trial size). I wish I got that instead of this palette. Oh well. Hopefully my Ulta birthday gift next year is better!