Urban Decay Book of Shadows 4

This is the year of Urban Decay since they have released so many amazing products to celebrate their 15th anniversary as a company.  In the middle of summer, the 15th Anniversary palette was released, a palette that contains a wide range of brand new shadow shades which quickly became a must-have for any serious Urban Decay fan.  Coming right on the heels of that palette, Urban Decay has released the fourth edition of the Book of Shadows.  The company has released one each fall so I don't know why I wasn't expecting it this year, I guess I just assumed that the 15th Anniversary palette was going to be their big eye shadow palette release of the season.  But Urban Decay never disappoints and the company released the latest addition to the Book of Shadows collection this past week.  This time around, ten new shades are introduced, I don't know how Urban Decay continues to bring out so many fantastic eye shadow shades, season after season!

The product is not yet up on the Urban Decay website but it is on Sephora's and I am so excited about it that I can't wait it to come up on the company's website.  This palette is very unique in that it contains speakers and you can hook your phone up to it in order to watch application videos from Urban Decay - I love this concept and Urban Decay is a trailblazer in the beauty industry for introducing this concept.

"A mirrored compact of 16 eye shadows, including 10 new shades and "QR" codes that let you use your phone to access Urban Decay's exclusive how-to videos.  This much-awaited collection of 16 eye shadows includes never-boring neutrals, provactive hits of shimmer and vibrant hues, as well as a Book of Shadows first - a portable speaker and how-to videos that reveal Urban Decay's five newest looks.  All you need is a phone with a camera and a web browser to scan their QR (quick response)n codes and instantly download videos.  Pick your look, scan the corresponding QR code, plug your smart phone into the speaker, and drop your phone into the cradle.  Then, open the drawer of shadows and recreate the look right along with the how-to video.  This kit also includes the full-size 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner, a travel-size Eye Shadow Primer Potion, and a travel-size Super Curling Mascara."

The eye shadow shades that are in this palette...

- Blue Bus - periwinkle blue sheen
- Gunmetal - gunmetal gray with silver shimmer
- Cobra - smoky green with gold shimmer
- Baked - rich golden bronze shimmer
- Bender - moss green sheen
- Gravity - violet with silver glitter
- Lost - neutral brown shimmer
- Hijack - metallic muted teal
- Midnight Cowgirl - golden beige with gold glitter
- Sin - light shimmering champagne
- Midnight Rodeo - beige shimmer with silver glitter
- Crystal - pale icy blue shimmer
- Bust - taupe sheen
- Missionary - light taupe sheen
- Skimp - ivory peach sheen
- Zephyr - pearly cream sheen

The eye pencil comes in the Perversion shade, a change from the typical Zero shade that is offered in almost every single Urban Decay eye palette.  Perversion is still a black shade, it is described as "carbon black" so I can't imagine that it is all that different from Zero.  The Super Curl Mascara that is in included is also a black and it is the traditional formula of the Primer Potion in the set too. 
The Sephora website doesn't give any information about the looks that are included with this set.  Neither does their facebook page and the Temptalia blog didn't get all that far into it either.  I like this concept but I suspect that most of the looks will be better for beginners since many of the hard core Urban Decay fans are able to create almost any eye look that they need to.  It's a great idea but I do wonder how unique many of the looks are, there are very few deep tones in this palette so I can't see that any really dramatic eye looks are included in the tutorials. 

My thoughts on this palette...  There are a lot more neutral shades in this palette than the previous Books of Shadows, making it more wearable than a few of the others.  This one also doesn't contain near as many brights as the New York City edition from last year (if any Book needed how-to tips, this is the one that did!) and less deep shades than the Alice in Wonderland book.  It looks like Urban Decay tried to combine the concept of the Book of Shadows and the Naked palette and combine them into one eye makeup set.  This is a palette that will be embraced by the masses but I can't see any hard core Urban Decay fan being entralled by this combination of shades.  It doesn't have the great golds and neutrals from the Naked Palette and the brights from the previous Books.  The shades in it are quite nice but I either own them already or have something that looks exactly like them, this is the least unique of the Books so far.

This is one of the few Urban Decay eye palettes that I could really skip on.  I have the Naked and last year's Book so I pretty much have the range of shades that are in this palette and I more recommend buying the 15 Year Anniversary set if you want some highly pigmented bright shadow shades.

photo courtesy of Sephora