♕ Nabla Cosmetics ~ Mermaid Collection ♕ {English Version, Overview, Swatches, Considerations}

[Cerchi il post corrispondente in italiano? Clicca qui]

{Disclaimer: this post regards first impressions about a product sent for free to me by the brand. Thanks to NABLA Cosmetics for the opportunity, anyway my evaluation system doesn't change and is always based on real usage of the product.}

On July 13th NABLA Cosmetics released their new summer collection, inspired by mermaids: the Mermaid Collection! As you can imagine, to me this was the most awaited and desired collection ever.
I had the opportunity to get part of the collection (thanks once again to NABLA for trusting me) and I bought the remaining shades - so today's post will be an almost complete overview. I left out just a product (one of the blushes) because I was pretty sure it would end up unused.
This is going to be the longest post ever, I have so much to say about this mermaid-y collection!

The Mermaid Collection includes: 9 new eyeshadows (also introducing two new textures: Superbright and Celestial), a limited edition Liberty Six with mermaid scales detailing, 2 Blossom Blush and just one Diva Crime (sadly!). 

Here's what I got: Sensuelle, Calypso, Under Pressure, Cleo, Juno Moon, Selfish eyeshadows, the Liberty Six Mermaid, one Blossom Blush in Kendra and the Diva Crime in Closer. I then went ahead and bought the three eyeshadows left (Nereide, Chemical Bond e Sugar). As I said before, I didn't purchase the blush in Coralia. 

Let's start with the most iconic piece of the collection: the Liberty Six Mermaid. Apale, grayish blue palette with a gorgeous gold mermaid-scale-alike detailing. Really pretty, no need to say that I actually bought one more, hehe. (Must say though, I wished it was a Liberty Twelve - that could contain 12 eyeshadows - but hey, this will have to do).

I remember dreaming of a palette like this one night on April, then the day after Daniele/MrDanielMakeUp showed this beauty on Snapchat. Quite scary actually XD

Let's take a look at the eyeshadows! 

Calypso: Heliotrope purple with violet/silver sheen.  (Superbright)

Calypso it's the very first eyeshadow featuring the new Superbright texture, that gives the most unique mirrored (or wet) effect. 

It's a bright colour, extremely pigmented, with this amazing mirrored/wet effect that makes him stand out like a gem stone. Must try in combination with Cleo and/or Juno Moon!

Also, I love this eyeshadow's name: a cool mythological reference to Calypso, the sea nymph. 

I can't wait for them to add new shades featuring this texture because it's breathtaking. 

Chemical Bond: Bronze base with strong silver sheen. (Bright)
Let's face it: this shade is just a variation of another NABLA's eyeshadow, Entropy (see comparisons below). It's a neutral yet bright shade - still, not something unique. 
(When I came back home from the shop I actually thought they wrongly gave me Entropy!) 
Nothing more to say, I'm really unsure about this shade - I don't see why adding this eyeshadow in this particular collection (both because of its colour and its resemblance to Entropy).
Apply Nereide on top of it to add more shine and give it a more unique touch. 

 Cleo: Gold on an ochre base. (Bright)

I really love of they describe this shade - like an "hidden treasure which continues to shine endlessly in the water". 
It reminds me of the H20 - Just Add Water mermaids, with their beautiful golden tails. And guess what? One of them is actually named Cleo ;D
It's like the gold version of Frozen: both look like liquid metals. Which, to me, it's the best when it comes to gold and silver eyeshadows. Kind of obsessed with the liquid metal effect!
Pigmented, shiny and precious. The ochre base add an antique touch to it, it's not a yellow gold. 
To me, it's a beautiful royal and sophisticated shade of gold. 

Juno Moon: Plum purple on a rust base. (Bright)
Something really new in my make up stash, I actually wanted an eyeshadow like this for quite some time *_*
The rusty base it's noticeable both when swatched and when used on the eyelids. Really and interesting shade, not the classic plum so to say.
It's best friend is Calypso, they look SO good together *_* Also, it's a lovely crease shade, a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

Nereide: Dove-gray base with tons of silver sparkles.
(Celestial) 
To me, it's more like a sea-rock shade XD

I'm quite unsure about this shade too, in terms of a mermaid themed collection. Love the name though, another mythological reference - this time to the Nereids.
It has a brownish base, with tons and tons of silver highlights - one of the most shiny shade of the collection. Quite similar to Chemical Bond.  

Selfish: Unsaturable teal with a strong purple, pink, gold duochromes. (Celestial)
This is the jewel in the crown of this collection: so beautiful and hard to describe (and catch in picture) properly.

Its base is not bright at all, but the sheen and sparkles in it are so lively and charming - a perfect match. The colour of fish scales, for real.  

Sensuelle: Soft, baby pink with base full of gold sparkles. (Celestial)
Even though they don't share the same texture, to me Sensuelle looks like the pink sibling of Water Dream. Unlike this one though, its base colour doesn't wash away. You can tell that Sensuelle is really pink!
Cute, princess-y, the name recalls of mermaids sensuality, while its gold highlights remind me of the sun rays sparkling on the sea.

Can't wait to use it, I'm dying to see how it works when used by itself - but I want to try it as top coat on lipsticks. A friend on mine used it like that and it looked stunning! *-*

Sugar: Fair, flesh pink with gold duochrome. (Satin)
This is the highlighter of this collection. Elegant and soft, looks beautiful both on the eyes and on the face.
I'm loving it, especially in combo with Sensuelle. But I'm willing to try it alone, all over the lid, to see if it can work for quick but fresh everyday looks.
This colour reminds me of seashells, this is why I honestly this it fits this mermaid themed collection. 

Under Pressure: Petrol blue with teal sheen. (Satin)
This is the colour of the deepest sea, mysterious and enchanted ♥
This was the very first shade I noticed when the collection was announced. If you've been following/reading me for a while, you already know how much I love this kind of shades. 
This is the most mermaid-y shade of the entire collection, to me. 
Trust me, I'm going to hit pan on it in less than one year - just like it happened with Babylon u.u

Kendra: Described as a "neutral mauve with a touch of pink and red" - only I can't see the mauve. At all. Which it is not a bad thing for me. It actually looks like a pretty neutral pink.
But on my skin doesn't look really pink, so I'm quite doubtful about this shade, not sure if it suits me properly.

Closer: Pinkish brown.
If it was up to me, I'd never chose this lipstick for myself. 
I know of this brownish shades work on me: the brown touch will tend to show up more than it should. This is why I never purchased Ombre Rosa - supposed to be a soft pink, yet on me looks like Balkis, a more brownish shade.(Which I've never tried on, who knows how it'll look like on me).
Unfortunately, Closer does that too. Thank you brown, I hate you too =_="
Anyway, it is creamy and comfy like the other Diva Crime lipsticks - such a shame they didn't add another shade in this collection! 

(Natural lighting, no primer, dry eyeshadows, senza primer, ad ombretti asciutti. Click to enlarge)

Let's start with a family portrait - here they are in all their beauty! But trust me, you should see them live: they look even more bright and sparkly. The Celestial shades shine in their own light, Calypso it's so unique (literally, since it's the only member of the "Superbright" category), all the remaining colours (bright/satin) are pigmented, bright and lively.

Here are Closer, the lipstick, and Kendra, the blush. As you can see, they both look more brownish/reddish than pinkish on my skin. 

Now let's take a look at the comparisons!

Sugar and Sensuelle are the palest shades of this collection. They differ in terms of texture (being Sensuelle a Celestial and Sugar "just" a Satin) and also in terms of base. Sugar is flesh pink, very discrete, while Sensuelle is baby pink but more noticeable thanks to its highlights.

Calypso looks like an hybrid between Lilac Wonder and Cattleya - not as cold as the first, nor as warm as the second. Not really cyclamen, but not violet either. 

This is why I don't consider it a dupe in any why - I have both Lilac Wonder and Cattleya, but Calypso is totally a different shade. It's the most precious of the new eyeshadows.

Obviously, its different texture makes him stand out more - two Satin vs a Superbright are not enough XD

Juno Moon and Daphne n° 2 seem to share the same rusty base - but they're actually very different: purple full of sheen the first, burgundy, violet-free the second. 

I'm quite obsessed with golds - as you can tell - so I had a lot of shades to compare to Cleo.

Glitz is quite more a darker bronze, while Citron is totally different with is touch of green. On far right I swatched a mineral eyeshadow called "24 K" I use very often - a bright, golden yellow. I love all of them, beautiful in their own way.

Cleo anyway is the more graceful, truly a royal shade.

Under Pressure is the perfect mix of Baltic and Babylon - just like Calypso does with Lilac Wonder and Cattleya. 

It's deep and intense like Baltic, ans shines like Babylon - Baltic is even darker, with more black in it, while Babylon is definitely more petrol green. 

Eternity it's a brighter and lighter shade of blue, while the mineral pigment "Pixie Tears" is not as deep and dark as the others.

I decided to do one big comparison for both Nereide and Chemical Bond since they share some similarities. First of all, as you can see Chemical Bond and Entropy look very very similar - basically the main difference is just the silver sheen if the first one. 

Dream it's more silver of them all, with a similar base (just lighter) of Nereide - which also looks like Chemical Bond's base. Quite a tangle, uh?

The only thing that makes the difference about Nereide it's its texture, basically.

Family portrait of the Celestial shades all together, plus Water Dream - which, to me, was kind of an experiment for the future Celestial texture. It's filled of reflective peals too, but it tend to be almost transparent once applied on the eyelid - thus it's commonly used as a top coat. Also, it's the only one shadow that contains dimethicone (silicone) - which is a missing ingredient in the Celestial's formula.

Trivia: I noticed the Celestial's pans are slightly taller than the "usual" pans.

~ Considerations about the collection ~

(plus some tail pictures u.u)

I've been asked so many times now what I think about this collection.
"Since you're a mermaid, what are your thoughts about it? Do you think it's spot-on?"

My answer is: yes, but only partially.
And I'm going to tell you why.

Let's start with this assumption: I've always dreamed of a mermaid inspired collection by NABLA. That being said, you can imagine the galactic hype I experienced during these last months, plus the huge expectation I had.

First of all, I think the central idea of this collection sometimes gets lost.
Usually you'd be able to "feel" the theme in the whole collection pieces but... This don't really happens with this collection.
Example: the Artica collection had a certain leitmotif, a particular atmosphere you could easy sense in every shade - each eyeshadow was still perfectly evocative if took apart from the other.

But I have a different feeling with this collection. Some of the shades suits perfectly the mermaid/ocean theme, some more or less... Others don't though. Nereide, Chemical Bond, Juno Moon don't feel really in the right place to me - and that's why I feel like the central idea gets lost.

I'm also disappointed because of the lack of some essential, must-have mermaid colours.
I mean, no aqua green? Seriously? 
I know, this collection is meant to be inspired by modern mermaids but this is not enough to justify the lack of proper mermaid shades, quite a serious issue to me. Aqua green is one of the most iconic mermaid colour, and because of this it's NEVER common. What about an aqua green in the newest Superbright texture? It would be so cool. Or, in the new Celestial texture, a light aqua filled with reflective pearls and highlights. Basically endless options.

Other mermaid shades that needed to be part of the collection: a bright, light blue - like Caribbean Sea waters - or a bright, intense blue (like Freshwater by MAC) - both evocative and definitely not common. And I mean not common, those kind of shades might be hard to find.
This collection was the perfect occasion to introduce totally new, original shades, instead of variations of already-existing shadows - like Chemical Bond and Nereide, both similar to each other but also similar to Dreamer and Entropy. Same thing about Sugar and Sensuelle, both light, pink shades.
I think they skipped those mermaid-y shades to avoid banality, trying to be original - but not realizing those colours were hugely spot-on and really awaited.

Regarding the blushes and lipsticks, I'm quite disappointed for the lack of corals and bright reds (like a starfish!). (Also, because of the just-one-lipstick thing. Why just one new Diva Crime, why?? ç_ç)
Missed opportunity for new original shades, part 2.

This is why I think this collection is just partially spot-on. This is why I can't full say "Mermaid Approved". As a mermaid, I feel like my world has not been portrayed completely.

A little side-note regarding the lack of matte shades (yeah, so many lacks in this collection):
I know it might sound weird, since I'm an huge fan of sparkly shadows, but... I must admit I was sorry. Not disappointed, simply sorry. During the past year I started appreciating matte eyeshadows, especially when it comes to blending. I was ready to purchase any new Soft Matte NABLA would introduce.

But you know what? The lack of matte shades makes sense.
This collection is all about mermaids. Shimmery tails. Sparkly reflections both on the surface and underwater.
Must say, with a theme like this... Matte colours would actually look misplaced. So, that being said, I'm totally okay with this.

That's all for now! Congrats to all who manage to read this never-ending post - but everybody knows I get excited when it comes to mermaid related stuff! *_*

I really, really hope this post might be useful! If you have any questions, leave them below in the comment section!

The Mermaid Collection is currently on sale with a launch promo on NABLA's website (10% off on the entire collection and shipping for 1,90 € if you spend more than 19 €) for all European countries 'till July 22nd!

Did you buy something from this new collection?
If so, what did you purchase?
Let me know what's your favourite shadow (and your least favourite, too)!