Today's post was unplanned until I found myself furiously placing an order on my phone in the Kohls app while standing next to the tester. And at this price, I had to hurry up and play with it to share my thoughts with you.
After not owning any Cargo palettes, this is my third purchase in a little more than six months.I posted a review of the You Had Me At Aloha Palette, but didn't share the awesome TJMaxx find that was a sealed Around the World Palette. Where Ahola was warm with a few pops and Around the World so wearable with cool neutrals, Getaway feels cool-toned with a couple of purple pops.
And we know how I am with purples.
Something about this (perhaps it's the abundance of that color we've come to know as Radiant Orchid) makes me feel like it's an older release. It's the same size as the Around the World Palette, but the newest of the trio (You Had Me At Aloha) is slightly smaller, less boxy.
This is a bit of a rushed review- think playing with it for 2 days and posting my initial impressions. I don't believe in first impressions-type posts unless there's a good reason. There is here. It's still listed at full price ($34) on Cargo's site and in-store at Kohls. However, if you purchase online (even if you do in-store pickup like I did!), it's a cool $17 right now. Score. I wanted this post to go up while the palette's still on sale.
The palette has twelve shadows (the brand suggests 3 quads on the back) that weigh in at 0.8g each. This is a Mica-based formula, and I also spot dimethicone in the list of ingredients. The palette was made in Taiwan, and I see seven shimmers out of the 12 shades.
Nestled in the cardboard packaging there's a small but functional mirror and a small brush. I'm sad to say that I'm not as big of a fan of this brush, but the in-palette brush from the Aloha palette is actually really good and usable.
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| Top: brush from You Had Me at Aloha (awesome) Bottom: Getaway Palette brush |
Clearly there's a difference. I don't purchase palettes for brushes, but I thought it was worth noting.
Let's jump into the palette, shall we?
Since Cargo is insisting that this is really four quads, I'll treat it as such.
Quad 1:
Quad 1 consists of Roadtrip, a shimmery, cool silver lilac (I love these types of shades); Journey, a mid-toned amethyst shimmer; Map, a grey-purple matte; Tour, a matte eggplant. Note: my lights pull things brighter and cooler.
Roadtrip and Journey were both dry for shimmers and a bit patchy- but they can easily be built up. My swatches are dry, on an unprimed hand, and using a synthetic brush to swatch (hence the clean edges). I made both of these work nicely as lid shades with a bit of Glitter Glue and with a dampened brush. I tend to foil most shimmers these days, so this wasn't something I was averse to. Map and Tour were the two worst mattes in the palette- they're both very dry and patchy. They blended better on the eyes than they swatched, but this is what happens with purples a lot of the time, sadly. (That's why Lila is so magical.)
Quad 2:
Quad 2 consists of Luggage, a white shimmer; Route, a matte pewter gray; Resort, a classic mid-toned silver metallic; Vacation, a deep charcoal shimmer.
Luggage is sheer but workable; I tend to like it as an accent or foiled on the lid over Glitter Glue. Route is sheer but a better matte formula than anything in the first quad. It's very workable and buildable. I enjoyed blending with this on the eye. Resort is a good shimmer- but a sheer, buildable shades. Vacation is an oddball- it's really more like a black matte that's packed with silver glitter. It's got the stiff texture of some of the mattes in the formula with specks of silver glitter when swatched.
Quad 3:
Quad 3 consists of Passport, a matte mustard brown; Flight, an olive shimmer; Traveler, a cool greigy taupe shimmer; Highway, a deep olive matte.
Passport is the best matte in the palette. It's very creamy and great- the perfect transition shade. It reminds me of the mattes in subsequent palettes. They hit on something with this formula. Flight is sheer but buildable. It's creamy and one of my favorites in the palette- I'm obsessed with olive shadows right now. Traveler is unique in that it's more like a sheen than anything else in the palette. It's a fabulous formula but not necessarily the most flattering shade on my complexion. Highway is the best dark matte in the palette in terms of formula and performance.
Now that you've seen the shades and my swatches, let's talk about the palette as a whole. I understand why they're promoting it primarily as three quads; there's not much cohesion overall. I also don't think there's enough mattes to do many complete looks- something I really want out of a palette this size.
Is it the best palette I own? Absolutely not. Am I sorry I purchased it? Not at all. There are enough shades that I find lovely that I'll get my $17 out of it. These aren't that large of pans so I may try to pan a few of them next year. I do see evidence of the brand's formula improving between palettes.
I purchased this as a purple-toned palette but quad #3 was far superior to the others- go figure.
This is one that I'd recommend swatching in-store before placing an order. Please note that this generally produces more subtle eye looks; that's something that I've noticed about the brand as a whole. These work better on the eyes with primer than swatched. That said, I'd hesitate to fully tell everyone to grab it. It's worth checking out and I feel I got value for my money.
Since Cargo is insisting that this is really four quads, I'll treat it as such.
Quad 1:
Quad 1 consists of Roadtrip, a shimmery, cool silver lilac (I love these types of shades); Journey, a mid-toned amethyst shimmer; Map, a grey-purple matte; Tour, a matte eggplant. Note: my lights pull things brighter and cooler.
Roadtrip and Journey were both dry for shimmers and a bit patchy- but they can easily be built up. My swatches are dry, on an unprimed hand, and using a synthetic brush to swatch (hence the clean edges). I made both of these work nicely as lid shades with a bit of Glitter Glue and with a dampened brush. I tend to foil most shimmers these days, so this wasn't something I was averse to. Map and Tour were the two worst mattes in the palette- they're both very dry and patchy. They blended better on the eyes than they swatched, but this is what happens with purples a lot of the time, sadly. (That's why Lila is so magical.)
Quad 2:
Quad 2 consists of Luggage, a white shimmer; Route, a matte pewter gray; Resort, a classic mid-toned silver metallic; Vacation, a deep charcoal shimmer.
Luggage is sheer but workable; I tend to like it as an accent or foiled on the lid over Glitter Glue. Route is sheer but a better matte formula than anything in the first quad. It's very workable and buildable. I enjoyed blending with this on the eye. Resort is a good shimmer- but a sheer, buildable shades. Vacation is an oddball- it's really more like a black matte that's packed with silver glitter. It's got the stiff texture of some of the mattes in the formula with specks of silver glitter when swatched.
Quad 3:
Quad 3 consists of Passport, a matte mustard brown; Flight, an olive shimmer; Traveler, a cool greigy taupe shimmer; Highway, a deep olive matte.
Passport is the best matte in the palette. It's very creamy and great- the perfect transition shade. It reminds me of the mattes in subsequent palettes. They hit on something with this formula. Flight is sheer but buildable. It's creamy and one of my favorites in the palette- I'm obsessed with olive shadows right now. Traveler is unique in that it's more like a sheen than anything else in the palette. It's a fabulous formula but not necessarily the most flattering shade on my complexion. Highway is the best dark matte in the palette in terms of formula and performance.
Now that you've seen the shades and my swatches, let's talk about the palette as a whole. I understand why they're promoting it primarily as three quads; there's not much cohesion overall. I also don't think there's enough mattes to do many complete looks- something I really want out of a palette this size.
Is it the best palette I own? Absolutely not. Am I sorry I purchased it? Not at all. There are enough shades that I find lovely that I'll get my $17 out of it. These aren't that large of pans so I may try to pan a few of them next year. I do see evidence of the brand's formula improving between palettes.
I purchased this as a purple-toned palette but quad #3 was far superior to the others- go figure.
This is one that I'd recommend swatching in-store before placing an order. Please note that this generally produces more subtle eye looks; that's something that I've noticed about the brand as a whole. These work better on the eyes with primer than swatched. That said, I'd hesitate to fully tell everyone to grab it. It's worth checking out and I feel I got value for my money.
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