Urban Decay Mariposa Palette

This review is a looooong time overdue as I have had this palette for a few months now and it is a limited edition palette, so before I get into it, my bad. This palette is still available on Sephora.com for $39 USD and it is exclusive to Sephora. The packaging it comes in is gorgeous and quite sturdy (my 2 year old daughter got her hands on it and it's still in one piece) and contains 10 colors: Rockstar, Gunmetal, Skimp, Infamous, Wreckage, Haight, Money, Mushroom, Spotlight, and Limelight.
 Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own funds, I am not being paid or compensated by the company in question. My opinions are entirely my own.

 As you can see here, the palette is a lovely gunmetal with an embossed butterfly and Urban Decay logo and comes encased in a cardboard box (?) that has a totally beautiful butterfly print. And even the cardboard box thingy is quite durable which I find awesome as it is totally unnecessary and shows their dedication to all around quality.

 On the back of the cardboard packaging is a description of the product as well as a list of the colors contained, and as expected at this point, the presentation is great.

In case you can't read the description on the back, it says, "Within our sumptuous yet versatile array of 10 Eyeshadows (4 never before seen!), neutrals shimmer and bold hits of color pop. slip this sleek tin into your purse, and use the shadow brush to transform any look in SECONDS." And fyi, they are NOT kidding, there are NO matte colors in this palette. If you don't like shimmery shadows, don't buy this! If you do like the shimmer, keep reading and see what I have to say.

I thought I should include this photo of the palette w/o the packaging in my hand so that you fine folk reading this can get a better picture as to the size of the palette. And if you're curious as to the size of my hand, medium gloves (like doctor gloves, not fancy gloves) fit me perfectly. So this is something that you could easily fit into your purse and take with you for touch ups or traveling.
And now onto the product itself. Yay!!! According to Sephora.com this is "a mega-watt eyeshadow palette that includes 10 opulent hues." Ummmm... Yeah. Well, mostly. There are a couple shadows that I don't find to be "mega-watt" and the shadows are definitely "opulent" though most of them kind of pass that and are really quite shimmery. Which I think is great, btw. I am a huge fan of shimmery shadows, so this was definitely something that I liked. And it's good shimmer, not clumpy bits of sparkly stuffs shimmer, and they aren't glittery either, just shimmer. According to Sephora, Gunmetal is gunmetal gray with silver glitter, but honestly I don't see the glitter (this is the only color in the palette that claims to have any glitter, the rest are all described as shimmer or sheen) and I would definitely call it a shimmer, but whatever.

As you can undoubtedly see, all the colors are labeled, so if you decide to buy single shadows of any of these (and there are a couple that I would totally splurge and buy singles of) you'll know what color to buy w/o any guesswork. They took the butterfly print from the packaging and used it on the inside of the palette which is a nice touch and it comes with a little travel size Urban Decay shadow brush which is super soft and looks quite fashionable. It's not my favorite all over shadow brush as the bristles are quite flat, but it's great for creating dramatic lines and it holds color really well. I haven't had any bristles fall out while using it which makes it superior to quite a few of my brushes and based on my experience with this Urban Decay brush, I will probably be buying more of their brushes because the quality is great. The brush also has some cute little purple butterflies on it as well as the UD logo following the theme of the palette.

                                            Again, this is just so you can get a sense of the size.

                        And a close up of the logo, sry it's blurry, my camera refused to focus for this one.

And onto swatches. I did these swatches in the order they appear in the palette, Top Row: Rockstar, Gunmetal, Skimp, Infamous, Wreckage; Bottom Row: Haight, Money, Mushroom, Spotlight, Limelight.

These are just quick swatches with no primer and if you can't tell they do shed their shimmer a bit. Like the color itself stays where you put it, but just the little shimmery bits like to travel a little so if you don't want any shimmer on your cheeks you will want to use shadow guards. The colors on their own do have quite a bit of longevity on their own, but if you have oily eyelids or plan on a long day/night with these colors I would definitely recommend using primer or carrying the palette with you for touch ups. As with most palettes some of these colors stay better than others, but overall they do quite nicely.
Now for my favorites in this palette: Gunmetal, Skimp, Infamous, Haight and Limelight. I like these colors for different reasons and don't hate on me if you like different colors. I enjoy all the colors, these are just my favorites. Gunmetal is great for working a smoky, sultry eye. It has great staying power, it doesn't shed, and it's highly pigmented. I'm grouping together Infamous and Haight because these two I do like for the same reason. They are both highly pigmented and very bold colors. I like Haight a little more than Infamous simply because it looks better on me, but they are both total keepers. Haight also keeps its vibrancy longer than any of the other colors in the palette. Skimp I like because it's just a perfect highlight for me. It's the color I use most often from this palette because it looks looks great on my brow. If you look at the swatches, Skimp doesn't really "show" on my skin it just makes everything balanced, bright and opulent. I love love love this color!!! And Limelight. I think this is just a totally gorgeous shadow, it's all warm and glowy, very shimmery, just a great gold shade. However, this color looses it's luster quicker than most of the shadows in this palette, so if you're going to use this one make sure you apply primer or foundation. It needs something to help it stick, but it is just SO beautiful; I love pairing it with Infamous.
My least favorite color in this palette, also the only color I dislike at all, is Money. When I first saw this in the palette I was intrigued by the color. It just looked like such an interesting take on green, subdued but still vibrant. But when I went to work with it I was so let down. The color goes on really light and you need to apply a ton to get it to show proper, and then once you get it to show the color just falls flat. It's so drab and really boring to look at. It does stay put rather well and has a pretty long wear time, but honestly my dislike of the color really makes me wonder if that's a good thing. I've seen a lot of positive reviews of this color, so maybe it just looks like crap on me, idk. But I don't like the color, it goes on really light so you need to apply multiple layers, but at least it lasts.
The other colors I like, but I'm not in love with. I found that Mushroom, Spotlight and Limelight faded the quickest, but I still like them (well, I love Limelight, it's just so pretty..) I wiped my hand up and down the swatches and none of the colors smeared or even shifted, though my entire forearm is kind of shimmery.

 
In the description of this palette on Sephora.com it is pointed out that "These shadows are laid out in color-coordinated quadrants (sets of four) that look amazing when worn together..." so I've attempted to box out the color quadrants in the picture above. I know it's not the best, but I'm still working on editing pictures and stuff, so give me a break. I don't usually follow these quadrants, but I tried them out and the colors look good together I just prefer doing it my way. Different strokes for different folks and what not.
But overall I think this is a great palette. The colors all blend well and are very pigmented, they last for a decent amount of time, and the packaging rocks. And it's cruelty free because that's how Urban Decay rolls. It's a really balanced palette with a good mix of neutrals, bright colors, dark shades and light shades. I would recommend this palette to anyone as it has a little bit of something for everyone. Unless you absolutely hate all things shimmer and refuse to EVER use anything not matte. I don't know anybody this anti-shimmer, but if that's you, don't buy this. For the rest of us it's a great purchase.