COLOURPOP IN A TRANCE PALETTE REVIEW

Colourpop's "In A Trance" palette is the pastel color scheme I have been looking so long for! This palette was a part of their tie dye collection from this summer that I've had my eye on ever since. Pastels have been a big makeup trend over the past couple of years, but I could never find the right collection of shades that suited my preferences. I also hear that it can be difficult to formulate pastel eyeshadow, so I wanted to make sure I purchased from a brand whose quality I already know and trust. Colourpop has the absolute best eyeshadow formula for such an incredible price that cannot be beat. Based on how much I've been loving this over the last few months, this palette is no exception! 

The "In A Trance" palette retails for $12 exclusively on Colourpop's website. It's a smaller 9 pan palette, which a series that they have been releasing consistently over the past few years. This is actually my first time trying one of their smaller palettes or even seeing it in person. It is definitely much smaller than I thought it would be, with the actual eyeshadow pans being signifigntly smaller than their single shadows and their 12-16 pan palettes. There is still plenty of product in the pans, but the size difference is worth noting.

The palette is made up of a variety of pastel pinks, purples, and blues - all of which are some of my favorite shades to wear. Like I said before, Colourpop's eyeshadow formula is my absolute favorite and overall this palette is pretty much on-par with the quality of their previous releases, but there are a few differences to point out. Since many of these shades are lighter, it can take a little bit of extra building and blending to reach full opacity. I actually take the opposite approach to my regular eyeshadow techniques, which is applying mattes with a brush and metallics with my finger - with this palette I found these shades perform best when the mattes are applied with a finger and the metallics are applied with a brush. The matte shadows especially work best when applied with a finger, it helps build up the pigment in an even and quick way. I'll go into it in more detail soon, but most of the metallic shades aren't great, but are still usable. 

I have very fair skin, so these shadows do show up well on my skin after building the pigment, but I know that likely won't be the case for those with a deeper skin tone. I would recommend using an opaque white eyeshadow primer base (I know many love the primers from Elf and NYX!) to help these shadows show up more vibrantly if you were interested in this palette. 

Some of these shadows work better than others, so I'll break my review down shade by shade. 


Clarity: a duo chromatic frosty white with blue sparkle. This shadow works best as a sparkly topper to other shadows since there is hardly no base pigment to it. The formula reminds me of their Super Shock Shadows, which are incredible! Out of all the metallic or glittery shades in the palette, Clarity is by far the best!

Mind's Eye: a frosty metallic lilac. I love wearing pale purple and lilac eyeshadow, but this particular shade is extremely underwhelming. It is very lack-luster and doesn't have the metallic shine I would have wanted it to. There is also hardly any pigment to it. I was hoping it would look like one of my favorite shadows ever from Colourpop's My Little Pony collection from a couple of years ago, but it doesn't. Mind's Eye just doesn't really add anything to the overall makeup look. If you are a fan of lilac eyeshadow like I am, the matte version of this shade in the palette works much better. 

Daydream Bby: a matte true pastel pink with silver sparkle. At first, this shade was the most difficult to build up the pigment of, but after switching between my using my finger and a brush to apply this, it gave the pretty soft pink look I was going for. The silver glitter isn't prominent once applied to the lid, it just works like a normal matte shadow would. 

Future Self: a light powder blue with a matte finish.  This is one of the best shadows in the palette! This very light pastel blue is very reminiscent of something Britney Spears would've worn in the early 2000s, which is always a source of great makeup inspo! It applies very easily by patting it all over the lid with your finger, or blended in with Transcend Dance, the other blue shade in the palette. 

All Aura Again: multicolor iridescent pressed glitter with a translucent base. I love everything glittery and sparkly, but this shade is a no from me for many reasons. This shade is so pretty, but there is no point to it since it isn't eye safe and could very seriously damage your vision if a fleck gets in your eye. The formula is very chunky and flaky, so I really don't think it's even worth risking it. It's essentially just craft glitter, not cosmetic grade at all. If you're looking for an eye safe alternative, I would recommend checking out their Super Shock Shadows, which give a beautiful sparkly effect without the risk of permanently damaging your eyes. This is the first palette I bought with a pressed glitter in it, but many of their new releases include at least one. I hope they stop including these in their palettes and work on improving their metallic formula instead. 

Crown Chakra: a hot pink satin metallic with a slight orange duochrome shift. When compared to the other metallic shade in this palette, Mind's Eye, this formula is slightly better but still not giving me fully what I was looking for. It is a very pretty shade in the pan that compliments the other pinks in the palette, but I wish it had just a bit more shine in the way the shade Clarity does. Crown Chakra works best applied with a dense eyeshadow brush.

Transcend Dance: a matte sky blue with silver sparkle. This is one of the best shades in the entire palette! The blues in this palette are the brightest and have the most intense pigment when initially applied. I never used a shade like this before, but it is so much fun to wear and once again, reminds me of the early 2000s makeup trends everyone is loving right now. Just like Daydream Bby, the silver sparkle isn't apparent when actually applied to the lid. It works best applied with a finger or a brush.

Own Ur Power: a matte lilac. This is my other favorite from the palette! I love wearing purple-toned eyeshadow, but especially the tone of lilac! It applies very easily in the way Transcend Dance and Future Self do. I use my finger to build up the pigment initially, but blend it all using a brush. I have been looking for a shade like this for so long and I'm happy to have finally found the perfect one! This shade and the two matte blues completely sold me on purchasing this palette! 

Uplevel: a pale dusty rose with a matte finish. This shade looks much more pink in the pan than when it's actually applied to the lid. It works well when mixed with either Own Ur Power or Daydream Bby, depending on if you want the makeup look to lean more pink or lilac. It also looks very pretty on its own for a soft wash of mauve on the lids. 

Even though shade for shade this palette can be hit and miss, I still do recommend it for the shades that I haven't been able to find in any other palette. Like I mentioned earlier, I have heard that some pastel eyeshadows can be difficult to formulate, so once you get used to the way each shade works individually, you will have a better experience with it. I love to use this palette in conjunction with Colourpop's My Little Pony eyeshadow palette and NYX's Mystic Petals eyeshadow palette from my collection. You can even just take one shade and use it as a fun pop of color to any otherwise neutral makeup look. There are so many ways to use this palette and it definitely is a stand out in my makeup collection for those reasons. 

Thanks for reading! Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section below and come back soon for more! Happy Holidays! 

-Melissa ♡

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