The limited edition compact features a compilation of shadows from other Color Surge duos or quads, and is part of Clinique's Colour in Bloom set. In this palette are:
- Buttermilk, Light Peach Shade from Twice the Spice Duo
- Dark Brown Shade from Like Mink Duo
- Pink Shade from Pink Chocolate Quad
- Dark Gray Shade from Plum Seduction Quad
- Dark Purple Shade from Come Heather Trio
- 2 Sponge/Definer Applicators
First off, I love the size and design. The compact is indeed compact in size, but includes 6 shadows that are grouped in two sets of three shadows - a warm group and a cool group. The warm group consists of neutral tones in bone, beige, and brownish bronze. The bone color is the only matte in the group.
The cool group features pink, a grayed out lilac, and purple. The individual names are not included on the palette, although the duo or quad they came from is. The shades are numbered and there is a peel off diagram on the mirror showing where to place each color, in case you need help in knowing what shade to put where. The shadows are small, but that is fine with me as I rarely hit pan on any one shadow. I'm a fan of variety over size, but that's just me.
As for the design, I love that you can flip the compact over and it's transparent, so that you can see each shadow.
On the not so great side, these are not very pigmented and it takes a bit of work to get good color payoff. I found myself actually using the sponge applicators that came with the palette, as a brush was not efficient in building color. The cooler group did better in this area, but the neutral group was a bit lacking, especially the beige/peach shade. Perhaps it's because the beige shade is so close to my skin tone that it does not show up, but overall, the shadows were just not that impressive formula wise. I'm wondering if these are indeed the original Color Surge formula, as I have a Color Surge duo from the gift with purchase and the quality of those seems better. Some of these shadows seemed coarse or gritty. I did try some wet swatching to see if I could get better color payoff. The first row below are the wet swatches, and the lower row are the dry swatches.
Having said that, I do like the shades included in this palette. The colors look good on and make for a nice everyday (work appropriate) look. You are not going to get high impact here, but sometimes that's okay. Wear time was a good 8 hours with no creasing when worn over a primer, which is a must for my oily lids. While I tend to gravitate more towards warm, neutral colors, the cooler side of the palette is just as wearable for my skin tone.
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