I read the Divergent series of books by Veronica Roth sometime last year and I really enjoyed them (bar Allegiant; the ending was stupid) and with a huge big-budget film coming out in a few weeks, promotion has gone into over drive. Sephora have got in on the act and have released a nice collection of makeup and nail polish inspired by the popular first book Divergent.
I had no intention of buying any new makeup for while as I have more eyeshadows than I know what to do with but I was swayed once I saw the collection in person. I’ll also freely admit that I was struck by an acute case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and bought it to prevent any future buyer’s remorse. I’m still kicking myself about that Hourglass ambient lighting palette…. Anyway, on to the review!
The set I purchased is the multi-piece collector’s kit and it consists of three eyeshadow palettes, a cheek palette, four lip glosses, and a double-ended blush and crease brush.
First up is my favourite of the three palettes and it’s the Dauntless palette. The Dauntless are the risk-takers and fearless faction of the Divergent universe and the palette does a pretty good job of reflecting that. It’s a moody palette with darker, cooler, shades with a beautiful creamy highlight colour in serene vanilla. Dauntless ink is a true pure black matte eyeshadow, abnegation stone swatches on me as a cooler version of MAC’s “satin taupe” and the dark greyish taupe is a great every day colour. Erudite sapphire is a dark blue light shimmer with hints of purple but the standout shade has to be diverge. Each palette comes with a “transformer” shade which, according to the blurb, “impart[s] a diamond illusion, shimmery, mirror-like reflection that is transparent when applied dry, and translucent when applied wet, showcasing fluid, twinkling particles that look like they are suspended in air.”
Diverge has a black base with dark olive-green shimmery particles in it and it’s utterly divine. It swatches like silk and it can easily be worn on its own or layered over another shadow.
l-r dauntless ink, abnegation stone, erudite sapphire, serene vanilla and diverge swatched below.
Best of all, the “transformer” shade can easily be clicked out to carry alone or you can attach it to another palette. Bonus points for creativity!
The Erudite are the knowledgeable faction in Divergent and the palette is neutral with a reddish-brown lean. Burnt mahogany is a dark brown sheen with a red tinge, radiant initiation is a matte dark beige, peaceful shimmer is a dark peachy shimmer, humble sheen is a light peachy shimmer and the transformer shade is choose– a peachy base with silver micro-glitter.
l-r burnt mahogany, radiant initiation, peaceful shimmer, humble sheen and choose swatched below
The Abnegation faction devote themselves to selflessness and the palette consists of bold espresso, a matte brown that doesn’t lean red like burnt mahogany, intrepid moss, a shimmery light olive-green sort of colour which reminds me a lot of “sumptuous olive” by MAC, golden honesty, a light gold shimmer, and altruistic almond, a light beige sheen. The transformer shade is transform, a light taupe shade with silver micro-glitter.
l-r bold espresso, intrepid moss, golden honesty, altruistic almond and transform swatched below
The cheek palette consists of two blushes, a highlighter, and a bronzer. Obscure coral is like NARS’ orgasm if it were deepened by a few shades. It’s a highly pigmented peachy pink with a slight gold sheen. Misty Rose is a dusky matte pink that will suit lighter skin tones better than somebody as dark as I am. It’s pretty but I doubt I’ll be using it as a blush as it looks ashy on my skin tone.Gleaming pearl is a soft, gold highlighter powder and it’s almost identical to NARS’ albatross. It’s really beautiful on my brown skin and it’ll definitely look good on all skin tones. Intelligent bronze is a nice mid-tone bronzer with a subtle golden sheen and again, it’s far too light for me to use as a bronzer but it’ll work well as a powder to set under-eye concealer.
l-r obscure coral, misty rose, gleaming pearl, intelligent bronze
The kit also includes four high shine lip glosses and I like them but don’t love them. The glosses are shiny but not sticky, which is a huge bonus and they have a minty smell and tingle slightly on the lips. They all have a doe foot applicator and are pretty sheer. They unfortunately end up looking very similar on my lips but they are solid glosses nonetheless. They’ll probably work best layered over a lipstick. Design- wise, they look uncannily similar to my favourite liquid lipsticks from Hourglass!
l-r fear not, natural virtue, supreme ritual, temptation’s choice
The kit comes with look books/ face charts for each palette and it has both a day and night look.
There is also a double-ended synthetic blush/ crease brush included and it’s a solid addition though I think the blush side will definitely get more use. It’s a bit of strange combination imho and it would have made more sense to have a simple eyeshadow brush rather than a crease brush. I also hate finding ways to store double-ended brushes as you can’t stand them up in anything.
I wish we’d had some mention of the Candor and Amity factions of the ‘Divergent’ universe and it seems like an odd exclusion. It would have solidified the literary theme a little bit better in my opinion and it’s not as if the blush palette or the lip glosses couldn’t have been named after them. However, this is an extremely solid collection with wonderfully pigmented shades and it’s going to be a must-have for fans of the Divergent universe.
The collection is available online at Sephora for $59.50 and it’s initially only available to VIB Rouge members before being opened up to everybody else. There is also a mini kit and nail polish kit available on the website.
The film comes out on general release on March 21st and I’ll definitely be going to see it.
Are you a fan of Divergent? What do you think of the collection and will you be going to see the film?
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