Review! Urban Decay Mariposa Palette

NOTE:  I bought the Mariposa palette by Urban Decay recently.  It was on their website last week, but when I tried to make a link to it today, it was gone.  I searched on Google, and was able to find it through Ebay, Amazon, and some other sellers, so you CAN still find it, but it might take a little bit of effort.  I was very impressed with the variety of looks I was able to get out of this palette, so I decided to post this review, even though it may take a bit more effort for you to find the palette.

This palette comes in a nice, heavy tin; which I love.  It is embossed with the Urban Decay logo and a pretty butterfly.  The interior is cardboard, but I like that to provide cushioning for the shadows.  It comes packaged in a cardboard square, which I like to put the tin back in when I am done using it.

Did I mention it is a metal compact?

The only bad thing about the packaging is that it wastes space.  The palette could be a lot smaller and still hold everything.  But, it's pretty.  And, because it is metal, I can re-use it, after I'm done with the shadow, to hold other things... like errant hair pins, hair ties, etc.

The palette comes with 10 colors, all of them with high sheen and varying amounts of glitter:
Rockstar: a deep plummy purple
Gunmetal: a soft grey
Skimp: a light peach
Infamous: fushia
Wreckage: soft brown
Haight: teal blue
Money: greyish green with gold, and some blue
Mushroom: silvery taupe
Spotlight: warm beige
Limelight: orange gold

Money and Mushroom are the most complex colors.  Everything else applies much the same as it looks in the pan.

I was mostly attracted to this palette because of Mushroom.  I had read another review that gushed over how much the reviewer loved mushroom.  Second, I wanted to try Money.  Several bloggers mentioned how unique the color is, and I don't have anything like it.

My hidden stars, though, turned out to be Gunmetal and Skimp.

I'm not usually overly fond of grey colors, because they tend to turn blue on me.  Gunmetal stayed a nice, true grey.

Skimp gained instant star status as a higlighter for my brow bone.  It is about 2 shades lighter than my skin tone, but the exact same color.  So, when I use it as a highlighter, it brightens and truly looks like light, and not a white eyeshadow.  It has the perfect amount of shimmer for highlighting.  I have many shadows that come close to this, but none this perfect.  I will buy this color as a single when I run out.  Given the size of my makeup collection, that is saying something.

One note about these shadows - they are VERY shiny.  To tone it down, but still get the color, I applied matte shadows underneath as my base colors.  If you skip a matte base, be prepared for your eyeshadow to make quite the statement.  It would be great for a night out, but probably too intense for the office.

Look 1:
If you've hung around here with me for a while, you know that I don't wear blue eyeshadow very often... or, you know, ever.  But, Haight was calling my name (it's so pretty!) that I wanted to try it.  I applied it all over my lid, and all along my lower lash line, even taking over the inner corner.  And... I hated it.  It was too much blue, and I couldn't wrap my head around it.  But, I didn't want to start all over, so I swiped some Gunmetal over it, and holy smokes, it turned gorgeous!

Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
Base - Browbone: Tufted Suede (Too Faced)
Base - Crease: Velveteen Bunny (Too Faced)
Base - Lid:  Fresh Linen (Too Faced)
Lid: Haight
Lower lid: Haight
Extra steps: Gunmetal over everywhere Haight was applied, blend well.
Waterline: Guerlain's Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Eyeliner (review coming Friday!)
Mascara: Smashbox Full Exposure

Look 2:
Next, I wanted to try a look using Money.  This look turned out completely differently than how I thought it would.  I had planned a different finish, but when I saw how Money looked on the lid, I veered into a forest elf kind of direction.  You know, if elves happened to care about makeup.

Which they don't.

'Cause they're fictional.

Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
Base - All Over:  Air (Stila)
Browbone: Skimp
Crease: Spotlight
Outer V: Gunmetal
Lid: Money
Lower lid: Spotlight with Gunmetal over it
Extra steps: Carefully blend where colors meet.  Clean brush before moving to new color intersection.  This look can go muddy very quickly.
Mascara: Smashbox Full Exposure

Look 3:

This is a pink and nude look that is very girly.  It adds color without screaming for attention, and was very quick to apply.  Given how bright Infamous looks in the pan, I was very pleased with how well it toned down when applied over the matte shadow base. 

Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
Base - Browbone: Air (Stila)
Base - Crease: Desert (Stila)
Base - Lid:  Clay (Stila)
Browbone: Skimp
Upper Crease: Limelight
Crease and Outer V: Wreckage

Lid: Infamous
Outside half of Lid: Rockstar
Lower lid: Rockstar closest to lashes and halfway down lower lid (towards cheek), then Limelight below it.
Extra steps: Blend well where colors meet.  Be sure to clean your brush before blending new section.
Waterline: Mosha Katani kohl - Charcoal Brown

Mascara: Smashbox Full Exposure

Look 4:

Finally, I wanted to create a look that was easy and office appropriate, but that would make me look awake early in the morning. 

Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
Base - Browbone: Vespertine (Kat von D)
Base - Crease: Harlow (Kat von D)
Base - Lid:  Renholder (Kat von D)
Browbone: Skimp
Crease: Wreckage
Lid: Mushroom
Lower lid: Mushroom with Wreckage over it.
Extra steps: Blend well.
Waterline: Mosha Katani kohl in Dream G-Ni

Mascara: Smashbox Full Exposure

Viewing one eye at a time looks almost underdone and boring, but the effect with both eyes is not.

I'm so disappointed that this palette is not on the Urban Decay website anymore.  You can still find it through other sites, like Amazon and Ebay.  I really like this palette and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to add a variety of colors to their eyeshadow collection.