Review: Paul & Joe Beauté Eye Color Trio in Cherry Blossom

If you need an eyeshadow palette adorned with pictures of kittens, there simply isn't a whole lot of commercially available products to choose from.

Paul and Joe, though. They have you covered… for a price.

In attempt to steal earn more of your precious dollar bills (slash to allow for customization), Paul and Joe do sell their eyeshadow and their compacts separately, so you have to blindly hand over wads of cash at least twice to get the desired effect.

The eyeshadow "refill" (which is ostensibly the product) retails for $35 all on its lonesome, which is pretty steep for something that doesn't even come with a lid.

The cardboard compact (presumably 90% of the reason you are considering this eyeshadow) adds another $10 to the total bill.

Instead of a mirror that lets your stare into your own soulless eyes, you can look at kitten illustrations, which is way better.

Cherry Blossom, the palette that I chose, has a pink/neutral color scheme. I chose this one merely based on practicality-- if I can wear these colors on any occasion, it is slightly less weird if I carry the product around in my purse and show its adorableness to strangers.

The shadows magnetically snap into the compact.

Sadly, the palette swatches less than impressively.

I actually hate it less than I did when I first received it, but it's clear that the quality of the eyeshadow is not justifying this fancy-ass price tag.

The pink shade is by far the worst. It's not pigmented and you can't build it well. It feels like novelty children's makeup that would be packaged beneath a smiling picture of Disney's Tinkerbell. The bubblegum pink color with the disco-ball iridescent glitter is kind of pretty. The fact that it is as sheer as worn-out nylon stockings is not.

Next comes a shimmery golden taupe shade and a not-quite-as-shimmery coffee brown.

Both shades are fine. They are perfectly pigmented and blend nicely. However, they have that texture that is a cross between creamy and sandy. For those of you who have tried Wet'n'Wild eyeshadows-- they feel exactly like Wet'n'Wild eyeshadows. For a drugstore palette, this would be perfectly lovely. If you want the feeling of luxury, though, you're out of luck.

I won't lie, though. They make a good looking neutral eye:

If you ignore the cost of the compact, these shadows retail for $35 for 0.1oz, or $350 per ounce. Add in the actually-pretty-necessary $10 compact, and you're at an are-you-shitting-me $450 per ounce.

You can always show your appreciation of what looks to be novelty wrapping paper by buying the compact separately and squeezing your own irregular eyeshadows into the opening.