BOS 4 has been out for a while now, but I thought it might be helpful to review it ahead of Christmas as it's likely to be on a lot of people's Christmas present wishlists.
The first thing I want to say is that this palette is BIG. Compare BOS 4 (on the right here) with the previous editions and you can see that there's been a steady increase in bulk with these palettes over the years, with BOS 4 exceeding BOS 3 both in width and length.
It's not a portable palette by any means, although the BOS format has always been more of a dressing-table piece, so hopefully this won't put people off it.
Design-wise, it's very attractive, with a mix of embossed, holographic and coloured graphics on a black background. On the front cover, linear patterns radiate out from a large UD logo, along with a burst of butterflies, a photomontage of animals and swirling, ethereal shapes.
Inside, the butterfly theme continues, with clear plastic butterfly cut-outs applied around the mirror and on the horizontal surface under the lid. There's also a card in a slide-in holder, and a folded shelf-type thing designed to hold your smartphone. The card features 5 QR codes which you can use to download 5 videos on your phone, each one with a tutorial. The idea is that you put your smartphone on the shelfy bit and play a tutorial as you do your makeup, assisted by the speaker which is included in the box (along with a USB to 3.5mm audio jack and 2-ended 3.5mm audio connector).
I have to say that the speaker doesn't really measure up to the "big sound" advertised on the box - it's not great, pretty tinny and not much better than the speaker already included in my HTC Sensation smartphone. I'm sure the cables are fine, but overall I don't think the multi-media concept is a winner for UD. They would have done better to stick with the intricate pop-ups they've featured in previous Books of Shadows. Makeup is their thing, not hardware - and that's fine.
There are 16 shadows:
Baked (shimmering bright copper)
Bender (shimmering dark mossy green)
Blue Bus (bright blue w/ purple shimmer)
Bust (taupe brown w/subtle gray shimmer)
Cobra (sooty black w/golden shimmer)
Crystal (light silvery blue w/multi-dimensional shimmer)
Gravity (deep vibrant purple w/ multi-dimensional glitter)
Gunmetal (dark metallic silver w/silver sparkle)
Hijack (greyish green w/blue and green shimmer)
Lost (shimmering dark brown)
Midnight Cowgirl (shimmering gold w/gold sparkle)
Midnight Rodeo (metallic medium brown w/silver and gold glitter)
Missionary (light taupe w/pink shimmer)
Sin (shimmering champagne)
Skimp (shimmering ultra-light nude)
Zephyr (shimmering off-white)
(These are all UD's descriptions).
You also get a full-size Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion (black), which is as precise and excellent as its more colourful sister Retrograde, plus a miniature UDPP in the new squeezy tube format, and a small Supercurl Curling Mascara, which I haven't tried yet.
I really like the colours in this BOS. It's the first one in the series that really seems to have a clear colour story to it. Previously, they've been a general mix of colours, but this one is definitely based around purples, greens, blues and neutrals, with colours varying from delicate highlights to vivid jewel tones.
Top to bottom: Baked, Cobra, Gunmetal, Blue Bus
Hijack, Lost, Gravity, Bender
Bust, Crystal, Midnight Rodeo, Sin, Midnight Cowgirl
Zephyr, Skimp, Missionary, Bust (again)
At £46, it's the priciest BOS yet, but given the quantity and variety of products included, it's a definite bargain, and contains everything you need for hours of creative enjoyment and myriad beautiful eye looks.
You can buy Urban Decay Book of Shadows 4 from Debenhams, where you'll currently get a handy 10% off all beauty.
*Disclosure - PR sample
Looks amazing! I love your collection of UD palettes on the bookshelf too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jen. They're books after all... well, kind of :)
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