Charlotte Ronson Eyeshadow Palettes (Sephora Sale)

Since I mentioned these in my Cheapies and Freebies post, I wanted to put up some quick pictures and swatches, in case any of you want to take advantage of their discounted pricing on Sephora. (They range between 10$ to 18$. A couple of them are no longer available, but I'm including all of them for reference.)

These are the palettes in their external packaging - I only wish the same design was printed on the actual case.

Top row: Henrietta, Angela, Dani
Bottom row: Nicole, Drea, Lake

Henrietta

Henrietta is one of the better palettes, with only the peach shade to the left being a bit on the thin and sheer side. The other three shades have great texture and solid pigmentation, though all the shades are dupable.

Angela

Angela is ok - the warm, dirty grey and the heather shade have great texture and payoff, while the plum is thinner and drier, and the glittery violet black is patchy and blends poorly. (The glitter doesn't adhere well either.)

Dani

This one made me sad, because the shades were so pretty. The pink and the mauve on the left are really sheer, dry and patchy however, and blend away to nothing. The lilac shade is lovely however, with medium pigmentation and more shimmer than is evident in the swatch. The dirty plum on the right is also more sheer, but it actually blends out well on the skin - it's not going to be an intense shade, but it's a good shader/crease color, and in combination with the lilac it looks quite pretty.

Nicole

Nicole is probably the best out of the bunch, in terms of both pigmentation and texture. The shades are all dense, fairly creamy and have terrific payoff. The brown is perhaps a touch drier, but not in a way that has an impact on application.

Drea

Drea has a few drawbacks (the pale peach and especially the black would benefit from more pigment punch) but I am quite fond of the colour combination here. Maybe it's just my affection for the actress that inspired the palette? Either way, this makes for a nice smoky eye look, with the matte peach-tan shade working as a good gradation tone between the silver/black and natural skin (assuming your colouring is similar to mine).

Lake

Lake is a mixed bag. The melon shade is fairly sheer and can blend out to nothing. The silvery pink and the taupe are excellent, and the periwinkle blue is gorgeous - if you apply over a creamy primer and blend carefully, as it is pigmented but powdery, and will blow out too easily.

Overall I found that these palettes differed wildly in quality, which is unfortunate for such a small line. I suspect that if a customer purchased one of the more problematic palettes, they would be disinclined to investigate the brand further. Which is a shame, because the good shades are indeed very good, and I like many of the colour combinations. This is a co-branded line that Sephora did in conjunction with Charlotte Ronson, and it feels more like a vanity project than a serious attempt at creating a legitimate brand. Especially when compared with a brand like Kat Von D, which gets it really right most of the time.

So what about you guys - have you tried anything from this line? Or are you thinking of picking something up now that it is in the Sale section at Sephora?

(I purchased these items.)