Zoella x Colourpop Collection: Buy or Bye

Hey, everyone!

In today’s post, as you can see from the title, I want to discuss with you about a new launch from Colourpop (CP), which is a collaboration with a British Youtuber, Zoella, called Brunch Date Collection.

I don’t usually write this kind of theme on my blog, but this one is, I don’t know, worth to discuss? There is some sort of controversy surrounding this collection. However, if you come here expecting some kind of bashing or shady comments toward the collaborator, I’m sorry in advance that you ain’t gonna get it here in my blog. This blog is a place where only positivity is allowed. With that being said, I’ll try my best to review this collection as objective as I could.

Of course since I don’t live in the US, and CP doesn’t even know that I’m existed in this world, I haven’t got my hands on this collection. So I’ll be reviewing this collection solely based on pictures, swatches, and videos I’ve seen online floating in the internet ever since CP teased about it on their Instagram account.

Speaking about the teaser, I remembered being so shook when CP first posted Zoella’s photo on their IG account. It was like in the middle of the night here in Indonesia and I was about to sleep when suddenly it popped on my IG notification (and yes, I turned on notification for CP IG new post and story). I know right away that the comment section of that post would be full of people questioning CP’s decision to collab with her. It was just so sudden.

Just for a little background, I know who Zoella is, of course. I subscribed to her channel around 5 years ago, I think. I even bought some of her beauty products back when I was still living in Japan. Yes, I got them sent to my door all the way from the UK to Japan. And I remembered liking them! So, I don’t have any bad feelings or disappointment toward Zoella in particular. I just stopped watching her for almost around 2 years now. Not because I hate her, I just found more informative and entertaining contents from other Youtubers.

As far as I remember from the time I subscribed her and still watched her videos, I rarely heard she mentioned CP’s products. It’s true that she mentioned CP a couple times (CP even made a kind of their timeline with Zoella (maybe) to emphasize that Zoella did mention CP products sometimes on her channel). But she was not like some other Youtubers such as Kathleen Lights, Thatgirlshaexo, Mesijesibeauty, Andrea Matillano, Amanda from makeupjustforfun, or even Judy C that resides in New Zealand, that keep reviewing CP’s products on their channels. That’s why I found it’s so sudden and unexpected that CP chose to collab with her, not because of her controversy.

Of course I understand that CP wanted to expand their business scoop to the UK, and maybe they saw Zoella is still one of the most powerful influencer from there. Since it’s been a long time since I watched her, I’m unsure whether this is true or not. However, despite her controversy, I must admit that Zoella has a thing for product’s design. The first time I saw the collection’s packaging and color selection, I know right from the bat that it is very Zoella. I’ll talk about this more a bit later on this post.

Ok, I think it’s enough for the background. Now let’s talk about the collection itself!

This collection has been available on Colourpop website since February 27th. It consists of an eyeshadow palette, 3 ultra matte lips, 3 lippie pencils, 2 supernova shadows, 2 pencil gel liners, 1 pressed powder blush, and 1 pressed powder highlighter. Let’s discuss the items one by one!

Brunch Date Eye Shadow Palette

It’s the first time CP released a 12-pan eye shadow palette with this kind of layout. Usually they went with 3×4 layout. It retails for USD 18, the same as their usual 12-pan palettes with mirror.

Packaging-wise, it’s CUTE and very Zoella. She always has this kind of 70s or retro vibe, and TBH I like it. But, I rarely bought something just because of the packaging. The actual product itself must be worth buying.

The first time I saw the palette, I wasn’t very enthusiastic. To me it just looks neutral with a pop of literally one blue shade. Some shades even look similar to each other. And that pop of blue is just out of nowhere. However, after I watched swatches from Thatgirlshaexo, Ourbeautycult, Dupethat, and CP official Youtube account, I can see that those shades are not exactly similar. Some shades even look prettier and more unique than my initial thought, such as ‘skinny latte’, ‘cinnamon sugar’, ‘sundae funday’, and ‘sunny side up’. And about that one blue shade, based on the palette packaging that resembles blueberry waffles, I think they want it as a representative of the blueberry.

Formula-wise, based on reviews from those links I mentioned above, I think they are as good as any other CP eye shadow palettes. I have tried 6 different palettes from CP and none of them are disappointing. So I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be disappointed either if I bought this palette.

Do I have similar shades already in my collection? I think so. Are four unique shades out of 12 with a pop of blue enough for me to buy a palette? Absolutely not. If I took out the cute packaging and replace it with plain white for example, would it still be look extraordinary? I doubt that. But…

If you are new in makeup and you don’t have any eye shadow palette and you want to try playing with eye shadow for the first time, I think this palette is good for you to start. Do the shades look pretty? Yes. Is it cheap? It’s indeed fairly affordable. Is the formula good? CP has one of the best eye shadow formula among other affordable brands.

If you decided to buy this palette, you would be able to create some neutral looks as well as a couple colorful ones. If you are a beginner, this palette is definitely for you!

Ultra Matte Lips and Lippie Pencils

They released these items in 3 bundles consists of matching ultra mate lip (UML) and lippie pencil (LP). Each bundle retails for USD 11.5, but if you buy the UML and LP separately, the UML retails for USD 6.5 and the LP retails for USD 5, so you actually don’t save any penny by buying them in a bundle, but you do get a cute milk-box packaging.

The first bundle called “what happens at brunch” consists of a previously-existing LP called “oh snap” and a new UML called “@me”. This bundle has a dusty pink mauve color vibe.

The second one called “give us the goss” consists of also a previously-existing LP called “bossy” and a new UML called “self love club”. This bundle has a true red color vibe.

The last one called “my day ones” consists of a new LP called “little one” and also a new UML with the same name. This bundle has a nude color vibe.

Again, these three bundles are very typical in any CP collaborations. Almost all of collaboration that has lip products offers this kind of color selection: nude, mauve, and red; as this kind of variety seems to be appealing to many people.

I can safely say that you might already have these colors in your collection, even though it’s not from CP. And so do I. Therefore, I don’t have any intention to pick any of the lip bundles.

However, let’s say I didn’t have similar colors like these in my collection, I might pick up the mauve one, because that’s the color I can get a lot of use everyday. The nude one is a bit tricky for me that has medium skin tone. It’s hard for me to find nude color that doesn’t wash me out. And the red one, I might pick it up because red is a color that sometimes I need in a special occasion.

Supernova Shadows

They released two new supernova shadows, from left to right are “OG” and “bellini”. They also have them in a bundle retails for USD 14, and each of them retails for USD 7.

On the bottle both of them look so similar, but based on real swatches (again from links I mentioned above), “OG” is more of a golden champagne with silver sprinkle and “bellini” is more of a metallic rose gold. The “OG” one clearly has bigger sprinkle of glitter while the “bellini” is more of a metallic sheen.

I think both of them look pretty. I personally never tried CP supernova shadow and don’t have any plan to try them soon since I still have so many shadow palettes and super shock shadows I want to use up. Based on the color itself, I’m pretty sure CP already has similar color before, maybe from Kathleen Light’s Zodiac collection.

Pencil Gel Liners

They released two new creme gel liners, “xoxo” and “sincerely yours”, retails for USD 5 each. On CP website, “xoxo” is described as pearlized black and “sincerely yours” is describe as pearlized chocolate brown. So they suppose to have some pearly flecks on the formula. If you swatch them on your hands, they might appear quite clearly, but honestly once they’re on your eyes, I don’t think they’re visible enough.

I personally think these products are not necessary. Even if CP creme gel liners were great, they already have black and brown existing in their collection. You don’t necessarily need these particular two if you want a black or brown gel liners.

I personally don’t have any plan to pick up any of CP creme gel liners, this collab or not. I read some reviews about their creme gel liners that said that they are easy to fall off the pencil. Moreover, here in Indonesia we have similar products with great quality and much cheaper price. So, I’m not particularly interested in this product.

Pressed Powder Blush and Highlighter

And finally, last products in this collection, the pressed powder highlighter called “swipe right” and blush called “soul mate”. Each of them retails for USD 8.

Based on the swatches above, I think the color is pretty and universally flattering. For the blush I think I have similar color already in my collection. But for the highlighter, I’m currently don’t have highlighter with pink sheen like this product.

However, for me personally, CP blush and highlighter’s price is a little bit expensive compare to the amount of product contained in one container. There are other products from other drugstore brands which are cheaper and have the same great quality and amount of product.

For my personal circumstances, I have several consideration before buying a product: what I am looking for, my budget, and what I already have in my collection. If I really had to buy, I’d probably pick up the highlighter and the lippie pencils in “boss” and “oh snap” because I don’t have those colors in my collection. If I really had to give recommendation, I’ll recommend the palette for sure because CP palette is the best among other affordable brands, the lip bundles because CP lip products are also great, and the pressed powder blush and highlighter.

With that being said, I do think it’s a pretty collection overall. I’m sure the quality of the products are as great as any other CP products. However, I don’t think I need any of these stuffs at the moment. Especially because I’m doing a low-buy year now, I must be very selective on where to invest my money on. Therefore, I don’t have any plan to buy anything from this collection.

Okay, that’s all I want to say about this collection. I hope you found this somewhat helpful in your decision making about buying these products or not.

Will you pick up anything from this collection? Or maybe have you? If yes, please share some thoughts about the actual products themselves based on your experience!

See you on my next post!