pacifica radiant shimmer coconut multiples

The color on the left (front) of the box is more accurate.

I was bopping around Target the other day, looking for something they didn't have - I always seem to be looking for the one thing they don't have - when I noticed a new Pacifica display. With makeup! I love Pacifica - their Indian Coconut Nectar scent is amazing - so I couldn't resist the temptation to pick a few things up. I bought an eyeshadow palette and this trio of cream things. Both were $11.99 at Target, which is a bit cheaper than the Pacifica website, where they're listed at $14.99. There is also a bb cream, apparently, but sadly it wasn't available at the store.

Today we're talking about the cream palette. Or the "radiant shimmer coconut multiples," as Pacifica is calling it. In short: I hate it. Like, a lot. A lot. Let's run down why.

Swatches of Bronzed, Island Rose, and Moonlit

The three shades in the palette are:

Bronzed: "Perfectly glowing sun-kissed color with golden shimmer."
Island Rose: "Shimmering, radiant dewy pink."
Moonlit: "Iridescent pale shades of moon-kissed shimmer."

Ugh, those descriptions. "Pale shades of moon-kissed shimmer." Whatever. Bronzed is orangey-bronze, Island Rose is a light mauvey-pink, and Moonlit is a pale pinky-peach.

The texture of these things is really thin, slippery, and greasy. Since the packaging says they can be used on eyes, lips, or cheeks, I expected something a bit thicker and more substantial. But no. The colors are nice, I guess, but ultimately useless for me since they suck in all applications. They're all incredibly sheer. The swatches above are two layers each, and you can see how light they are on my pale skin. In the interest of giving them a fair shot, I tried them out in all the ways suggested on the packaging. Here's how that went down.

Eyes: I knew these weren't going to work as eyeshadows. You have to layer them up to get any color payoff, and because of the texture they creased immediately with and without a primer. I actually noticed them basically taking off my eye primer as I patted the layers on, which was weird. You can use the lightest shade as a brow/inner corner highlighter if you must, but it's really subtle and fades quickly.

Lips: I hate how these look on the lips. And only the middle shade is a viable lip color on someone with my coloring anyway, unless you want to look like you have advanced leprosy. Or have been eating a fudgesicle. Unfortunately even the middle rosy shade doesn't work here. It's frosty and it sinks into lines and emphasizes dry patches. The whole effect was gross.

Cheeks: I figured they'd be okay here, at least. I was wrong. The blush shade is so sheer that it barely shows up on my skin, and I'm pretty fair. And because of the texture, by the time you're done blending them out you've completely rubbed them off and all that's left is glittery bits. The bronzer is the most pigmented of the three but still doesn't show up well, and most people don't want a shimmery orange bronzer anyway. The highlight shade is pretty, I'll give it that, and I've worn it a few times dabbed on my cheekbones. It works okay in that capacity, but it lasts about half a minute.

Basically these are terrible. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them, other than stare at the palette and get angry that I spent $12 on something that is literally useless. I'm glad Pacifica is branching out into makeup and I hope they continue to expand their offerings, but this product is just a massive fail.

To sum up, the pros: gorgeous packaging, they smell nice (kind of like coconut, unsurprisingly), reasonable affordable, cruelty-free and vegan. It even says so right on the box, which is always helpful.

And the cons: Thin, greasy texture, super sheer, does not work well for eyes, lips, or cheeks, thereby rendering it completely useless. Yay!

Would I buy it again? No. I would, however, gain immense satisfaction from throwing it in the garbage. Seriously, save your money.