I’ve always been a fan of the Wet n Wild Color Icon shadows — not only for how affordable they are, but also for the great quality of their shimmers. But I’ve always had to bring in other matte shadows from other palettes to make a complete look…but Wet n Wild has listened to our requests and just REVAMPED their whole Color Icon shadow line to include a few matte shadows in each! Without raising the price, I might add! But…are they still just as good as the old formula? And are the mattes any good? Let’s dive into the details!
NEW REFORMULATED Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadows
Color Icon Eyeshadow 10 Pan Palette
Color Icon 10 Pan Palette in Not a Basic Peach | Retail Price: $4.99
This palette immediately sparked my interest because of the warm oranges and peaches — I’ve been SO into those shades this year! This palette has 5 mattes and 5 shimmers. The shimmers aren’t as smooth and intense as I remember the old formula to be. (Which, by the way, I only own the Comfort Zone and Walking on Eggshells palettes. So that’s what I used to compare.) They still showed up nicely on the lid, but I found that this palette performed best when I spritzed my brush with Fix+ prior to applying it to my lid. With the help of that, they showed up beautifully.
The mattes, on the other hand, are really nice! They swatch pretty nicely and I find that they blend out on the eyes just as nicely. Kinda annoying that those first two shades are so similar, but also very happy that Wet n Wild did their matte shadows so well. That can be rare to find at the drugstore! When I work with these on my eyes some days the mattes might take a bit more work to blend out or build up pigmentation…but really, there are some highend palettes that I have to work on a bit more, too! 😛
Overall, this palette got a thumbs up from me and I am so thrilled to own it! The shade combination is SO fun and unique!
Color Icon 10 Pan Palette in Rose In the Air | Retail Price: $4.99
This palette got the most buzz when we were awaiting it’s release because of how much it looked like the beloved ABH Modern Renaissance palette. I actually already shared a Dupe or Dud post comparing these two palettes and sharing all the similarities and differences. But focusing just on this palette and the quality of the shadows, I would say these are also fantastic! This palette is very matte-heavy — there are 8 mattes and only 2 shimmers. Which is totally fine with this matte-loving girl. 🙂
The two shimmer shades perform very nicely. They don’t feel as dry as the previous palette, they have a softer, more buttery feel to them when you swatch or use them on your eyes. The mattes also blend very nicely on the eyes, too. Like the previous palette, it can take a few extra seconds to blend out any patches or build up the color.
But overall, I love this palette. And I can’t believe that we FINALLY have great matte eyeshadows available for purchase at the drugstore!
Color Icon Quads in Lights Out | Retail Price: $2.99
Not going to lie, black smokey eyes aren’t really my thing. But since I was sent this palette I did want to give it a fair shot. And…I was reminded very quickly why I don’t typically use greys and blacks on my eyes. 😛 There really is only one matte shade but the crease shade has chunks of glitter that — for the most part — fall out when you blend it.
I didn’t find this palette easy to work with. The transition shade took some work to not look patchy. The browbone was a really nice inner corner highlight, but the eyelid shade felt a bit chunky and even applying with a finger it took some work to build up. Overall the formula just felt really dry. So for me, this palette was a pass.
Color Icon Quad in Petalette | Retail Price: $2.99
I enjoy a nice pinky/purple eye look, so was excited to give this quad a try. Maybe it’s because of my skintone, but I had to do a lot of building up to get these colors to show up on my eyes. Once again, the only matte shade is the transition and I was surprised to find that the crease shade had more red in it than it looked like in the pan.
This quad was a bit creamier than the last, but still not the easiest to work with. The shimmer in the browbone, eyelid, and crease looked very soft when applied to the eyes. Once again, I found that Fix+ was needed in order to get the intensity I wanted. I also found that the browbone and eyelid shade looked very similar, both in swatches and on the eyes. And, in fact, I found the quality of the eyelid shade to be nicer than the browbone.
Overall, this palette was also a miss for me. It’s decent, and you can get a look or two with it, especially if you like softer eye looks. But considering how much work I had to go through to build up the shades on my eyes…I won’t be holding on to this one.
Color Icon Glitter Single in Groupie | Retail Price: $0.99
I’ve never heard good things about these glitter singles from Wet n Wild, but figured I should give it a try to see for myself. This product is basically glitter mixed into vasaline…which is not what I want to put on my eyes. Talk about crease-city! Also, when you try to apply this with a brush or pat it on with a finger, you can never build it up. It just looks sparse and patchy.
The swatch above was several dips into the pan with my finger…and I tried my best to pat it on and build it up. Also, when I applied this I got glitter everywhere and within 5 blinks I saw glitter fallout on my face. I could see these being worth looking into if you wanted to apply some body glitter for a special occasion…but you don’t get much in this little single. But overall, this is a BIG NO from me!
Color Icon Eyeshadow Single in Nutty | Retail Price: $0.99
Instead of the pretty design the Wet n Wild Color Icon singles had in their pan, these are just smooth. Nothing major, but something to note. This is the only shadow where I owned the old formula and could compare it to the new one. And I was a little disappointed to see that they’re pretty different. (Not sure what that means for the new Comfort Zone palette…I still haven’t found them in stores yet!)
The new single still feels really smooth…maybe a touch less-intense than the old. But it’s honestly hard to tell since the colors are different — the old one is more of a cool taupe and the new one is like a soft warm copper or something. When I used it on my eyes I did enjoy the final look, but I did spritz my brush to really bring out the intensity I like to see for my eye looks. But, take into consideration, this is just my preference — I like an almost-metallic shade on my eyes.
Overall, I do like this shade and would look into purchasing more from their singles. I’d only tried Nutty and Creme Brulee from this line before…my fingers are crossed the quality of Brulee (yes, they altered the name) is still just as good as the old!
My Overall Thoughts of the Wet n Wild Color Icon Reformulation
I am so, SO impressed with the new Color Icon 10 Pan palettes. True, maybe they’re not as soft or intense as a highend palette…but a few extra seconds in blending or spritzing your brush will get it there. And they’re $4.99! Seriously! You can’t beat that! I am SO excited that good matte shadows are starting to be easier to find at the drugstore!
The quads, on the other hand…I’m not so sure of. Maybe I just was sent the two duds out of all the quads…but I really wasn’t pleased with either. I had to force myself to use them a second time…I totally didn’t want to! 😛 And even though they’re only $3…just spend the $2 extra dollars and get one of the 10 pan palettes!
The glitter should be obvious by now — didn’t like it and can’t recommend it. The single shadow in nutty was nice, though. Not sure how often I will reach for it because I like more intensity in my shimmers. But quality-wise I recommend it.
Have you gotten any of these new Wet n Wild Color Icon shadows? Which one do you want the most? I definitely will be picking up the new Comfort Zone palette whenever I find them in my local Walgreens!
The products mentioned above were sent to me as PR. Some links used are affiliates, meaning I make a small commission if you purchase through my links. Any questions about my disclosure, read HERE. ? Thank you for your support!
Cindi says
I am so glad you did these reviews. I saw some of these popping up at my local store and wondered if I should grab the old ones that are left or get the new ones like that 10 pan Rose in the Air palette? I am almost to the pan on Silent Treatment and now I know I will grab up the last of the old formulas while they are still on the shelves. For the $5 I think the Rose in the Air palette will be worth it since I am not getting the Anastasia palette but will pretty much get the same eye looks. Thanks for the post!
Katie Marie says
Yes, the 10 pan palettes really did an outstanding job with quality of the shadows. I did grab the silent treatment quad to try out, but I haven’t gotten into it yet…but considering how the other two that I tried worked out….I’m glad I still have my old silent treatment trio on hand! Overall, though, I am glad that Wet n Wild added matte shades to their Color Icon palettes! SO nice!