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The $14 Urban Decay Face Case

by 48 Comments

urban decay face case review

They say good things come in small packages, and in the matter of Urban Decay’s Face Case, it’s true.

Well… mostly.

The small price for this cutie pie initially caught my eye — a mere $14 for a complete makeup palette for eyes, lips and cheeks! Gotta love a steal of a deal. 🙂

urban decay face case review

Face Case comes stacked with a nice mix of work and play shades, including…

  • Eyeshadow in Midnight Cowboy Rides Again: a shimmery gold with glitter,
  • Eyeshadow in Grifter: a shimmery light purple with glitter,
  • Eyeshadow in Twice Baked: a shimmery dark brown,
  • Blush in Hookup: a shimmery peachy pink,
  • XXX Shine Lip Gloss in Naked: a sheer, shimmery rose,
  • XXX Shine Lip Gloss in Love Junkie: a sheer wine and
  • XXX Shine Lip Gloss in Carney: a sheer, shimmery pink

urban decay face case review
Top row: Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Grifter, Twice Baked, Hookup; Bottom row: Naked, Love Junkie, Carney

A few quick notes about the products:

  • My two favorites are the brown shadow and blush; both offer ample pigmentation and blend easily
  • Both glitter shadows apply with plenty of glitter fall out, so be prepared to do some cleaning up around your eyes
  • The texture of all three glosses feels thick and non-sticky on the lips

urban decay face case review

Wrapped up in a slim, stylish purple package, Face Case fits neatly into my purse without weighing me down or taking up too much space.

urban decay face case review

urban decay face case review

As much as I like the colors, portability and price, Face Case comes with one major design issue.

It’s really difficult to keep the products from what I like to affectionately call “cross pollination.”

The products lay really close to each other, so when I swipe a brush across one pan, it sweeps product into whatever’s nearby; eyeshadow ends up in the blush, blush in the gloss, etc. etc.

urban decay face case review

urban decay face case review
Wearing Naked gloss

urban decay face case review
Wearing Love Junkie gloss

urban decay face case review
Wearing Carney Gloss

urban decay face case review
Twice Baked eyeshadow on the lid, Grifter in the crease and Midnight Cowboy Rides Again in the inner corner. Hookup Blush on cheeks.

Using a brush to pick up the product slowly and carefully seems to help decrease the mess, but man, it takes forever and a day.

And not only are the pans postioned closely together, they’re also small — almost too small for a full-sized brush head.

Case in point: I tried using a regular blush brush to apply Hookup. One side of the brush head ended up with gloss all over the bristles, the other with eyeshadow. Neat freaks, can you see how this could easily push one over the makeup edge?

I like Face Case, but I would love it more if I didn’t have to worry so much about the cross-pollination issue. If you’re watching your pennies and just want a little something to tide you over, it’s alright for $14. Things get messy, though, so be prepared to deal with product getting everywhere. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Annie’s rules!

I have a new snack addiction: Annie’s Homegrown Organic Bunny Classics Butter Rich Baked Organic Crackers. Have you tried these yet? They’re like the organic, baked version of Ritz crackers.

I think they might be laced with cracker crack because I can’t stop craving them, om nom nom! 🙂

What’ve you been snacking on lately?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. someone really has to explain why midnight cowboy rides again is in almost every single UD palette. Almost every comment I’ve ever read about this eyeshadow has people complaining about the fallout. Why UD why?

    Reply

    • Yeah, I don’t quite get it either. It’s a pretty color, but not necessarily one I’d feel compelled to bring to a desert island, ya know?

      Reply

  2. *Drooling*I will totally pick that up; the cross pollination (I like!) is an issue in a lot of the little face cases, but it comes with the portability territory, if you will. (Too Faced glamour to go? So good, but there’s blush all up in my gloss!)

    Reply

    • LOL, it’s a left over term from my science days. 🙂 Funny how the only time I use my degree now is when I kid about makeup…

      Anywho, if you like portability, Face Case certainly brings it!

      Reply

  4. I understand what you mean about cross pollination. I have the same issue with my Coastal Scents 88 palette. I’ve been thinking about picking up the face case as a gift for a friend who has recently started getting into make-up.

    Reply

    • Oh, it might make a nice gift just so she can start playing. Maybe warn her first about the inevitable messiness?

      Do you know if she has brushes? A travel brush set would probably complement this nicely.

      Reply

  6. ahhh i love the color grifter, because i have pale skin and green eyes i think it brings out my eyes, but the glitter fallout is HORRIBLE. ughhhh i can just imagine there must be glitter all up in ur lipgloss in this kit! thanks for the review karen!

    Reply

    • I love Grifter too! It’s surprisingly pigmented and looks fantastic on a wide range of skin colors… and yup, there was HELLA product all up in the gloss.

      Reply

  7. Those colors look so lovely. I can deal with a little cross pollination, as long as its blush in lip gloss. I can’t stand dark shadows in my lip glosses.

    Have you tried Annie’s mac and cheese? The white cheddar flavor is more tangy than savory. I love it! I haven’t had those crackers. I might have to pick up those on my next grocery run. Now I’m hungry and will make my paper break much longer. sigh.
    .-= Rachael’s last blog post… License to Thrill: I Wanna be a Bond Girl =-.

    Reply

  8. I love Grifter (sans glitter fallout). The base color is so pretty. And Carney was my favorite from their XXX shine lip gloss line, but I lost it. Sadness.

    I’m gonna pass on this one though, because I own almost all of the products. Haha. Hello, my name is Jen and I’m addicted to Urban Decay.

    Reply

      • I like to use it all over the lid, and put Last Call in the outer V and crease. Normally I can’t wear Last Call by itself; it makes me look sick. But layered on top Grifter, it’s really really pretty!

        Reply

  9. Bummer. I love UD’s colors, but I have always found their shadows a little crumbly for my sensitive contact-wearing eyes. I still wear them sometimes, but I apply carefully. Seems like this would be a fun gift for a girl who is just getting into makeup.

    Love the eye you did!
    .-= Amber’s last blog post… A little more Lake Charles =-.

    Reply

  10. I bought those Annie Rabbit crackers in White Cheddar for my daughter – I ended up eating more than she did. Mommy is so bad!

    I had a feeling that’s what would happen with a palette that small containing a shadow that is notorious for it’s glitter fallout. I don’t even own it because of that!

    Reply

      • Oh man that box + a marathon of Jerseylicious on Style Channel is heaven to me…obviously I have to be alone for this combo!

        Reply

  11. The Face Case looks cute (and cheap! I could deal with cross-pollination at that price.)

    But more importantly… ♥Annie’s! Our faves are the White Cheddar & Shells mac and cheese and Annie’s Naturals Shiitake and Sesame Vinaigrette (mixed in a 3:1 ratio with apple cider vinegar to create the most amazing dressing ever.)

    (No, seriously. I haven’t bought any other dressings since trying it.)

    (Which was over two years ago, if my memory’s correct. We LOVE it.)
    .-= Rae’s last blog post… I’ll stick with you, Nars! =-.

    Reply

  12. Lol, I love “cross pollination.” I think I’m going to pass on this one one.

    I very rarely have “cross pollination” problems with palettes. The magic secret? You push the brush into the color (kinda like if you want less glitter fallout on your eyes, you push the glitter onto the lid. I’m starting to sound like Sam from Pixiwoo. AHH!). DON’T go sweep happy or you end up with a mess. My Show Pony (UD), Jane Iredale, my Muse (smashbox) and stila pro palette no.1 have very little residue on the covers and stuff because of this. I’m Autistic which means I REALLY hate things out of place and find this method most effective. I can’t stand little bits o’ eyeshadow dust flying everywhere. It. Drives. Me. NUTS. I probably resemble Tabs flying up a tree to catch a bird or something.

    What am I snacking on? Tillamook Colby Jack Cheese, apples (mmm, precut granny smith apples) and Mrs. Cubbisson’s Seasoned Croutons (particularly when they’re BOGO Free at Jewel).. I’m always a cheese and crouton fiend, but spring is when I go Apple Crazy.

    Oh, and Zena has been snacking on grass lately. Particularly when it’s tall, green and has dew drops on it. We lovingly say, “Zena is making herself a salad” when she does this. Just wait until June and she adds June Bugs to the salad. Yes, she actually likes snapping them out of the air and eating them. Can I just say, “Ew?” Ewwwwwwwwwww.

    Reply

    • I use that trick for eye palettes. It’s kinda hard with the blush in the middle of this one though… I wish they put it off to the side!

      Reply

      • I wish they did too. Or they could include a brush with a smaller head for the blush. Or they could have made the spaces for the pans deeper so you have a little barricade around each color (alternatively, one could say each color would have it’s own fort.) 🙂

        Reply

  18. First off – Annies crackers and mac and cheese – pure LOVE! Glad you like `em too!

    I was eyeing that face case…but I did have concerns that the produtcs seem cramped inside the palette. I love the glosses though …. and at $14 — cannot beat the price.

    I do have some slight issues w/ UD eyeshadows in that they are a bit chunky and glittery … nothing that cannot be fixed w/ some … Fix. 🙂

    Reply

  19. I bought this case so I could finally dip my toe in the UD waters without risking too many gold pieces. “Love” Twice Baked and Hook up. “Really Like” Grifter and the glosses. And I’m “Frenemies” with Midnight Cowboy Rides again. I will be buying Twice Baked and Hook up again and if I’m in the mood I might get the Naked and Love Junkie glosses and Grifter. Cowboy is a pretty color but I’m just afraid he’s a bit “disco ball” for me. All in all this was a good buy for me. I’ve worn Hookup everyday since I got this and on that alone it was a great value.

    Reply

  20. I totally get what you mean about cross pollination! In general that’s why I don’t buy a lot of palettes, and the ones i do buy tend to be only eyeshadow/blush ones….I don’t like lippies in pan form. Plus then it is much harder to reapply your lippie during the day-you have to take the whole dang thing with you! (which, yeah, I know it’s small but still…..) The bobbi brown palette I have has this same problem-the blush pan is too small and right next to a pan of lipstick…..

    Reply

  21. Thanks for the review! I was so close to adding that to my cart but I hate the cross-pollination factor too much. 🙂 I prefer Annie’s version of Goldfish, so yummy!!
    .-= Trude’s last blog post… A Collaboration =-.

    Reply

  23. I think I might pick up the UD Face Case, despite the cross-pollination issues. All of the eye shadows here are included in my UD Alice palette and are some of my faves! I don’t have a portable blusher right now & I could stand to 86 the many various glosses in my purse in exchange for this little number! ^_^

    Reply

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