As a nerd and makeup enthusiast, when I saw that the brand ColourPop came out with an Avatar the Last Airbender collection (they have a ton of geeky options ranging from Avatar to Star Wars!), you know I had to have it! This review should have been written some time ago as they have actually released a Korra collection since but I like to use all the products before writing a review. I thought about getting the Korra collection but honestly, it looked pretty similar to the Avatar collection… and admittedly, I had not watched any of Korra when they came out with the collection (though now that I have, I need the Naga & Pabu lipsticks of course!). So here’s my review of the Avatar collection.
Let’s start with the eyeshadow palette which was the main thing I wanted of course. The shadows are really soft and are not chalky. The color payout is decent and buildable. There are 3 shades for each element. The colors are clearly designed to be able to either wear straight across the row for each element, or to mix and match the elements. My only complaint would be that there is not a green shade in the earth kingdom. The shade “earth rumble” is pretty close as it is a greenish brown, but it definitely leads toward brown instead. It just seems odd to me that there would be no green in the earth kingdom set, though I’m sure it’s because that would be harder to mix with other shades for your everyday looks. I like the palette, but I have a lot of other palettes with similar colors that have a bit better color payout so I don’t really reach for this that often. But it does look super cute sitting on a shelf on display! The sleeve it comes in has the whole gang including Zuko and then the actual palette has Aang with Momo on the front and gold designs around it. The inside has Aang riding Appa and the gold again.
There a few masks in the collection that correlate to Iroh, Toph, and Katara. Katara is shown for the Water “Soak It Up” face mask while Toph is shown for the Earth “The Big Detox” face mask. I started with the detox mask which is a mud mask. It worked great to get all the gunk out of my pores. Then I followed up with the water mask which has hyaluronic acid to rehydrate after the detox mask. As someone with oily skin, I’m always a little nervous about anything hydrating but this mask felt great. Iroh’s mask is an overnight lip mask which of course is jasmine tea based. It smells and tastes amazing and leaves your lips super soft! I reach for this even throughout the day sometimes. All of the masks are full of various natural ingredients which I really like that I can read about half the ingredients (unfortunately there are still a lot of ingredients that I do not know based on the name).
On to the eyeliners. There are 4 liners which correspond to Toph, Katara, Aang, and Zuko. Toph’s is a pretty coppery brown called “groundbreaker” though I really feel that green would have been a better option for her. Zuko’s “fiery fierce” is a gorgeous brick red. Katara’s “making waves” is a sky blue. Aang’s “blown away” is a beautiful pale peach that’s perfect for under your eyes. I was disappointed that for some reason, my Katara liner is really waxy and doesn’t really work. My Katara and Toph liners also don’t twist up and down properly and just fall out which was really disappointing. Since I still like Toph’s, I may just get a little container to smush it into and use it with a brush as a gel liner. Toph, Zuko, and Katara are all doing a little bending on the side of the packaging for their liners while Aang is not. That didn’t make sense but Aang has Momo so that was a good makeup to me since I adore Momo.
There are 2 Kyoshi Warriors based glossy lip stains. The shades are “fanatic” and “sealed with a kiss.” I really like that “sealed with a kiss” is pretty almost brick red. I was not really a fan of “fanatic” which I thought at first was a really bright red but turned out to be hot pink upon letting it dry down. The color really does last well though and did not feel like it was drying out my lips. I don’t like that these have kind of a chemical smell but that is unfortunately fairly normal for makeup.
There are 2 super shock highlighters which are one of the major products that ColourPop is known for. The shades are “moon peach” and “got glow.” These are associated with Aang and Momo. I loved that Momo got his own product! “Moon peach” is a really pretty light, almost duochrome that’s pink and purple with silver sparkles. “Got glow” is a gorgeous gold and pink that is super complementary on a lot of skin tones. These highlighters are sooo buttery soft!
The last product is an Appa compact mirror. The package has the gang falling off of Appa who looks determined (probably saw a snack). The compact has a chibi Appa head on it. Inside, there are 2 mirrors: 1 is normal and 1 is magnifying. It also says “yip yip!” on one of the mirrors! Maybe it’s just me because I don’t use compacts a lot, but I have trouble opening it to be honest.
So, what are my overall opinions? I would not recommend the entire collection unless you just want it for display. Honestly, the packing on everything is super cute and totally worthy of display but I would just go buy some Avatar artwork or something probably if I hadn’t been interested in the actual products. I liked the palette, but I don’t find myself reaching for it as I do have other palettes of better quality with the same shades. I absolutely love the masks! Iroh’s lip mask is my overall go to product from this collection and I use it all the time! I really hope this is something that they will bring back in the future because it’s my favorite. I like the way the face masks leave my skin feeling too. I would definitely skip out on the liners as they are hit or miss. I adore the colors but the fact that 2 of them showed up broken and 1 of them was oddly waxy while the others glide smooth is a definite problem. The lip stains are pretty shades but the 1 being a hot pink when I thought it was going to be bright red was an issue. I also don’t like the fact that they are really chemical smelling and I cannot read the majority of the ingredient list on them. I highly recommend the highlighters! They just feel so soft and the colors are so pretty. Obviously, the Appa compact is adorable. I was super disappointed that our boy Sokka did not have any product at all. He was pictured on the cover of the palette but did not get his own product like the rest of the group. I mean, this was the perfect opportunity for some cactus juice lip oil. So overall, I would not buy the collection as a whole again, but I would definitely recommend some of the pieces. The fact that it was one of my favorite childhood shows mixed with my love for makeup made this an overall must have for me which is why I bought it.
-Anna
anna@comicattack.net
