Hey friends!!!

Soooo, it’s finally happening! From the moment I saw ColourPop announce their collab with Animal Crossing, I knew this post had to happen. For those of you who live under a rock or something, Animal Crossing: New Horizons quickly became all the rage just about this time last year when lockdowns began. With our lives and busy schedules pulled seemingly out from under our feet, immersing ourselves in an adorable virtual world with all kinds of stress-free tasks to take up all of our newfound free time was the perfect way to spend lockdowns. However, my history with Animal Crossing goes back even further — back to Animal Crossing: Wild World, which was my absolute favourite video game growing up. Seriously, I was obsessed with it (and frankly, still am. The only difference now, 10+ years later is that, for better or for worse, my mom can’t limit how long I play each day).

Basically, the point is when I saw ColourPop announce they were releasing this collection, I knew it was going to be absolutely perfect for me. I decided pretty quickly that I was going to buy the whole collection when it dropped, which is something I’ve never done before (both buying a whole collection AND buying it right as it’s released). And, of course, I couldn’t just test out the whole collection without sharing it with you all! So, without further ado, here’s my first impressions of the ColourPop x Animal Crossing collab!

What a Hoot Eyeshadow Palette

Ironically, I wasn’t the only one who knew I needed this collection in my life — my sister actually ended up buying this palette for me as well. (Which is fine, as it allowed me to give away the one I originally purchased for myself to my other makeup and Animal Crossing friend Erin as a gift!). This palette is definitely the most everyday-appropriate in the set of four shadow palettes (each of which, in turn, contains four different shadows). The orangey-brown and bronzes make it a great mix of colours that can be used to create an everyday OR bold night-out look. They’re all highly pigmented and blendable, as ColourPop shadows usually are, and in particular I love the shade Meteor Shower (top-left), which looks like a normal gold shade on the surface level, but has a stunning chunky-glitter look to it when you swatch it.

5 Star Island Eyeshadow Palette

This palette is a super-cute, pink and yellow themed quad that not only has some colours that, to me and my personal makeup collection, are super unique — but I also feel that will be perfect for spring. I personally adore pink eyeshadow — it can be a tricky one because the wrong shade can end up making you look really tired — but it makes a really cute and simple every-day look when you find the right shades for you. For this palette, I’m particularly excited for the shades Isabelle and Island Designer (both on the left), as I’ve never tried out yellow eyeshadow before and the chunky pink glitter look is just so stunning.

Labelle of the Ball Eyeshadow Palette

I was particularly excited about this shadow quad, as pastel purple is one of my absolute most favourite colours — both as a colour and as an eyeshadow shade. I was a little worried, since I already own the Huda Beauty Pastel Obsessions palette in both lilac and mint green that I was going to end up with shades that were similar to shadows I already own, but the shadows in both this palette AND the Nook, Inc. mint green palette are so unique that they’re different from any other shadows I’ve seen around. I really love all the shades in this palette, but particularly the chunky iridescent purple glitter and the darker duo-chrome shades Able Sisters and Custom Design (on the left of the palette) are incredibly stunning shades unlike anything I own that I can’t wait to test out.

Nook, Inc. Eyeshadow Palette

The fourth and final shadow quad in this collection is the mint green Nook, Inc. shadow palette. While the overall look this palette gives off is a minty-green tone, each shade is really different and overall this palette looks like it’ll help me create some really cool new looks this spring. In particular, I love the shade “Made in the Shade” (top right) which took me by surprise as it didn’t look the most interesting of the bunch in the pan. As well, the glitter shade CEO (bottom left) is such a pretty colour IRL — the photos don’t really capture what a complex glitter it is.

Balloon Pop Super Shock Shadow

This collection, as well as offering the four shadow quads, also has one single super-shock shadow in a somewhat bronzey shade. The glitter in this shadow, however, is incredibly dimensional — it comes in a huge range of colours that add up to create the shadow’s overall bronze-hue. The effect of having such dimensional glitter shades in one colour gives off one of my fave effects in a shadow shade — the look that the shadow is so glittery and reflective, it’s almost like it’s wet. It just looks so beautiful and vibrant, and really creates a stunningly deep colour IRL that I can’t wait to try out and use more.

Bellionaire Glitter Gel

As you all already know, I’m kind of obsessed with ColourPop’s Gliterally Obsessed Glitter Gels. They make applying and wearing chunky glitter so EASY in a way that loose glitter just cannot ever compare to. This shade is pretty different than the Sailor Moon glitter gel I have — it isn’t as sheer, so it definitely appears a little darker on the skin. It gives off a beautiful golden colour, but it has a lot of depth, as well. Rather than just being plain gold, the glitter has a bit of a rainbow cast when the light hits it, which I think is absolutely stunning. I’m totally obsessed with ColourPop’s Glitter Gels, honestly, and I can’t wait to add even more shades to my collection.

Flower Power Pressed Powder Blush

This blush is a super cute, dusty pink shade that could honestly be flattering on just about anyone. Blush is a tough one to create a universally flattering shade in, but I feel as though no matter what your skin’s undertones are that this blush would end up looking pretty damn good. It’s very neutral and delicate — it’s pigmented, but a very light shade making it easy to work with — and it has some darker pink glitter lightly sprinkled in to give it some extra depth that I absolutely adore. Overall, I’m really happy with this shade and I can’t wait to be able to experiment with it more.

Flower Tender Pressed Powder Blush

I’m particularly excited to give this blush a proper test run, as it’s completely unlike anything I currently have in my collection. I absolutely LOVE blush — after all, contour/bronzer/blush/highlighter really is my favourite part of doing my makeup — and lately, I’ve really become enamoured with super blushy makeup looks. All the blushes I have in my collection, however, are different varieties of the same pink hue — so while switching up which shade I use definitely has an effect on the overall look, it’s nothing as dramatic as going for a different colour all together. This shade, however, is completely different from anything I own — it’s a true coral, and way more warm and orangey than anything I’ve owned in a while. Experimenting with blushes can definitely be a challenge, as they really change so much of your overall look — but I’ve been looking to branch out more in my use and repertoire of blushes lately, and this is the perfect colour to add to my collection.

Fruit Basket Lip Tint Mini Kit

Okay, these lip tints are SO. CUTE. I really didn’t know what to expect when I purchased them, as I haven’t tried anything similar from ColourPop (or any other brand, really) to give me an idea of what this product was like. After all, I’m pretty dedicated to my lipgloss collection. While I was kind of expecting these products to essentially be a lipstick, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that ColourPop’s “lip tints” are essentially VERY pigmented lip balms. Basically, they end up being a very light wash of colour on your lips, making it look like they’re almost just the colour of the lip tint naturally. The shades from the “Fruit Basket” duo are both pink-ish shades, based on Animal Crossing’s cherry and apple trees, and both colours essentially make your lips just look naturally pinker, even, and soft. I’m kind of in love with all of the lip tints I received, but I’d definitely say that this duo is the most universal of the three, and the safest bet if you were looking to try these lip tints out for yourself. However, since these kits are more of a “tint” than a lipstick, they’re really versatile and I think it would be hard to go wrong with any of the duos, honestly.

Fruit Roots Lip Tint Mini Kit

The second dup in the bunch is based off of the peach and orange trees in the Animal Crossing game universe. These are super fun, more peach and coral-based tones, that I also think would pair with the “Flower Tender” blush in a beautiful way. After being really obsessed with coral shades back in high school, I kind of avoided anything even vaguely orange-looking in makeup for years, but it really is a fun and summer colour and I’m really happy to be able to experiment with it more and add it back into my collection. These lip tints, again, aren’t crazy dark — so it’s a good way to experiment with colours I wouldn’t normally use without it being too intense. (As well, all of the lip tints smell like the fruit they represent in the game — which only makes them that much more fun and adorable!).

Pick of the Bunch Lip Tint Mini Kit

Honestly, I was a little nervous before trying these shades out — they were the one item in the collection that made me consider not buying it as a whole. Brown and neutral shade lipsticks aren’t really my thing, not only in terms of my personal style but also in terms of how well they suit me. The dark brown and neutral shades seemed like something that probably wouldn’t end up looking so great on me — in particular, the darker shade was the one that caused me the most concern. However, since it was cheaper to buy the entire collection as a package deal, I just went for it — and I’m honestly pretty happy I did. As I’ve mentioned, these lip products are more like very tinted lip moisturizers — they help make my lips feel super soft while adding a nice, sheer colour to them. There are two shades — a darker colour, based on Animal Crossing’s coconut palm trees, and a lighter shade, based on the pear trees in the game. The dark brown shade, as it turns out, didn’t end up looking like I was wearing dark brown lipstick — as well, the colour isn’t purely brown, but has some dark cherry red hues to it. As a result, it ends up looking more like a nice, dark red tint — the colour specifically reminds me of how your lips look after you eat too many cherries. I’ve actually ended up loving these shades, and I’m really glad I ended up purchasing them as they really took me by surprise and ended up being super cute and completely unlike any other shade or lip product I already have in my collection.

If you, like me, are a big enough fan of Animal Crossing to purchase this collection for that reason alone (or, you know, you saw something in this review that caught your eye), you can check out the entire collection on ColourPop’s website here! They just restocked the collab pretty recently, so most of the products are available right now. If you haven’t tried ColourPop out for yourself, I couldn’t recommend it more! Not only is their makeup pretty consistently good quality, but it’s affordable — whereas a large palette may cost anywhere from $12 to $24 — a palette of the same size would end up costing you about $50 – $100 from the average brand carried at Sephora. So if you’re looking to expand your collection and stick within your budget — ColourPop is a great place to check out.

Happy Sunday, everyone, and a very happy last day of February! Can you believe it’s actually going to be March tomorrow? I really can’t wrap my head around it, but after all — time really has no meaning anymore since COVID lockdowns began in March of last year. (I still laugh to myself when I think about how different it all seemed back then — I really thought that lockdowns would last for two weeks, or maybe three at most — and look at us now! What a weird year it’s been.). However, I’m hoping to really make the most of spring this year and set some good goals to keep me motivated, active and moving forward in order to put the last year behind me. As well, I already have some exciting posts planned for you all next month — including my Spring 2021 FabFitFun unboxing — so stay tuned!

Much love,

Meredith