Wet n Wild Color Icon Holiday Palettes

(Disclaimer: I am writing this post as a sort of "first impression" piece. I am writing the first part before swatching the palettes, so we'll see if my expectations and original excitement are met after going through the shadows!)
Remember this post where I raved about Wet n Wild eye shadow palettes and said I hoped and hoped that I would be able to find the limited edition palettes they were releasing for the holidays? (Since I can never find anything in Cincinnati...) Guess what kids? I found them! They were right in my neighborhood Walgreens. They weren't with the regular Wet n Wild line and they weren't at the front of the store with new releases. They were on the edge of a back aisle near cosmetics and I kid you not, I didn't find these until I had been perusing and pacing the cosmetics for about ten minutes. So if you think they don't have them, look in the most remote corner you can find and you may be pleasantly surprised. 
Anywho - I am so super excited about these. We already know the Wet n Wild palettes are pretty consistent in the quality department, and they're $5. I'm not sure how you couldn't get excited about that. The three palettes are Shimmer The Night Away, Sparkle 'Til Morning, and Drinking A Glass of Shine. You may recognize Drinking A Glass of Shine as it is a re-promote which Wet n Wild formerly released under the name "I Heart Matte." On with the swatches! 
Shimmer The Night Away is the party palette of the bunch and the name says it all. I can totally see someone out on the dance floor all night with their eyes sparkling like crazy. There's no matte color, so if you plan on using this for the complete look, you're going to have some serious sparkle from the inner corner of your eye to the outer tip of your brow. This could be great for a smokey eye by just using the greys and black or you could spice it up a little with the colors. The right side of the palette seemed a bit chalky and the color didn't transfer as well as I had hoped. I don't use bright colors too often, but the blue in this is so gorgeous and super pigmented. I'll find a way to make it work and get back to you.

Sparkle 'Til Morning is my favorite of the bunch. It shouts summer to me more than it does the holidays at first glance, but it has the most neutrals that can work year-round out of the three palettes. What I think works to this palette's advantage as far as fitting the season is concerned is that all of the neutrals are very warm. If you take out the teal, it starts to remind me of cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg. That's pretty holiday-y to me! The deep brown has a bit of shimmer to it and it's so pigmented. The four middle shades seem to need a bit of building up to really get some color to show. 

The last of the three is Drinking A Glass Of Shine. The palette is entirely matte; something you won't see too often from Wet n Wild. I was surprised at how soft the shadows were, but like some of the other palettes, most colors need to be built up. I'm not one to put a lot of money into something like a kelly green shadow, so whenever I find a need for one, I know exactly what I'll reach for. The dark brown and black are, however, awesome. Very pigmented and very smooth. It's rare that you ever find a solely matte palette and I'm glad there's a very affordable one on the market. 

Overall, I don't think these palettes matched my original excitement when I heard of the release, but I definitely think they're great products. You can't beat a great variety of colors at five bucks a pop. Well done, Wet n Wild! If you pick up any of these palettes, I'd love to hear your thoughts!