Storybook Cosmetics Fairy Tales Little Briar Rose Palette

I have been talking about Storybook Cosmetics on the blog for years - starting back in September 2017 with their Wizardry and Witchcraft palette. I know they've had some up and downs over the past couple of years (they've tended to sneak peek ideas very far in advance and haven't made some of them, but they also got in to Ulta and have come out with some really great palettes). It's a brand I find myself really drawn to because I love their ideas and I love the Storybook inspirations!

I purchased this palette myself

Storybook Cosmetics and Boxycharm announced that for their December box they were collaborating on a line of Fairy Tale palettes - two minis and a full size Briar Rose palette! I'm not subscribed to Boxycharm anymore, but this is for sale on the Storybook Cosmetics website still! I've talked a whole bunch on here about how much I love Sleeping Beauty, so I clearly really wanted to pick this and give it a try! Briar Rose and Aurora are Sleeping Beauty's other names and "Little Briar Rose" is the original name of the fairy tale story that everything Sleeping Beauty has been based on!

This palette is a little controversial as well - Storybooks typically is all made in the USA; but, for the quantity of palettes they needed for this collaboration Storybook Cosmetics used Boxycharm labs in China. I know this was upsetting for some people; but, I'm okay with it - there are lots of brands that produce products in different labs and just because they are manufactured in China does not mean they are not cruelty free as they are not sold there!

Storybook Cosmetics Little Briar Rose Palette ~ $55.00 US regular, and currently on sale for $35.00 US. This magical palette was created exclusively in partnership with BoxyCharm. Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Briar Rose, Feauturing a custom hardcover storybook with a dozen pigmented matte, metallic and glitter eyeshadows.

This is a pretty range of shades mainly in the pink, plum, nudes and blues. These shadows are said to be long-wearing, buttery smooth and they can be used wet or dry. Of course the packaging is lovely as well - I love the book style of Storybook palettes and they are just so pretty. The print and packaging is really pretty!

Briar Rose ~ Peachy Pink Matte

Spindle ~ Soft Pink Nude Matte

Talia ~ Rose Gold Metallic

Castle ~ Sky Blue with Silver Metallic

Prince ~ Royal Blue Metallic

Grimm ~ Dark Rusty Burgundy Red Matte

Overall, the shadows were okay. I have noticed a little bit of inconsistency from the Storybook Cosmetics palettes - I know they have changed their labs and this one is made in a different lab too. So I thought that the shadows were lightly pigmented - they did have to be built up and the mattes were a little patchy. The metallics were creamy and applied nicely, but they were a little less opaque than they appear in the swatches. I did get beautiful looks when I used this palette, I just found these shadows took a little bit more work to build up and blend than most of the formulas I use. I did get pretty looks out of the palette.

Beauty ~ Pinky Purple Metallic

Woodland ~ Light Nude Yellow Undertones Matte

Enchanted ~ Taupe Metallic

Fairies ~ Silver Metallic

Thorn ~ Mauve Matte

Kiss ~ Pinky Orange Matte With Golden Glitter Flecks

What I'm struggling with a little bit is the colour selection for mattes and shimmers. I thought this would have benefited from a darker matte - Grimm doesn't blend out very dark on the eyes, so really all the mattes are light and medium shades. Also, this was hard to use for a full blue look because there was no matte blue, or similar colour to blend them with. So pretty, but it doesn't quite feel like a complete palette and I really need to pull another palette in!

I did create a couple of eye looks to show the range of the palette:

This eye look has Woodland as the base, Spindle as the crease, with Grimm in the outer corner and lightly blended through the crease. I added Enchanted to the lid and Beauty on the outer lid.

So, this look itself is really pretty and I'm not complaining about the final look, but I think this look shows that the shadows do come out on the eye a little different than they look on the eyes. They did wear well and looked pretty for the day!

This eye look has Woodland as the base shadow and Thorn through the crease. I applied Grimm to the outer corner and blended a little in the crease. Then I applied Prince to the outer corner, Castle to the middle lid, Fairies on the inner lid and inner corner.

Overall, this palette was okay for me - I did get beautiful looks with the shadows and I do think that they wear well for the day. They were a little stiff and tricky to work with, but they were workable. I will continue to play with this too and I love the inspiration and packaging!