Here are swatches of the ColourPop Rock Candy Palette. I have only played with this a few times and am still getting to know all the shades. The shade descriptions include my initial thoughts on the ones I have tried so far.
This is one of their large 30 pan palettes and it seems to lie somewhere between the Bare Necessities Palette (warmer neutrals overall) and the Stone Cold Fox Palette (mainly cooler neutrals) and have a nice range of textures. I have Bare Necessities and have long been eyeing Stone Cold Fox but have held off because it seems to have too many similar shades in it (a pet peeve for me). This one as well has shades that are too similar but the range of textures and tones kind of makes up for it.
There are true mattes, mattes with sparkle, smoother shimmers (that have only small particles), sparkly shimmers (small + large particles), and pressed glitters. I like that the neutral shades are not just one note. It’s handy to have neutrals in a variety of different tones (browns, greys, oranges, purples) and depths to work with. The 3 pressed glitters are the only shades marked as not safe for the eye area.
Solid
Solid is a bright silver shimmer. It has a highly reflective finish that is just short of being metallic. All of the particles are small in size and it has a very smooth, almost creamy texture. Good color payoff with little effort.
Chemistry
Chemistry is a pale pink shimmer with larger light blue sparkles. The blue sparkles aren’t really all that noticeable unless I look super close up in direct light. Slightly less opaque than Solid but still has good color payoff. Not quite as smooth feeling, likely because of the larger sparkles.
True North
True North is a pale peach with more of a satiny shimmer finish and no large sparkles. It is sheerer than the other shimmers in the top row but does build up to medium opacity fairly easily. Smooth to the touch but drier and less creamy feeling than Solid.
Volcanic
Volcanic is a bright rose gold with a highly reflective, nearly metallic finish and some large silver sparkles. Smooth and creamy texture like Solid. One of the most opaque shades in the top row.
Quarry Queen
Quarry Queen is a neutral light bronze shimmer. All small particles. It is less reflective than Volcanic and Solid, and more opaque than True North. Smooth but not super creamy feeling.
Friction
Friction is a white golden shimmer with large sparkles. ColourPop used the word “pearl” to describe this shade and I think that sounds just right. Feels about the same as Quarry Queen and True North to the touch. Similar level of color payoff as Quarry Queen.
This Ore That
This Ore That is a pale matte grey with larger silver and blue/purple sparkles. The blue sparkles are really hard to notice even in person, much less capture on camera. Good color payoff (more than I was expecting) but lots of sparkle fallout.
Lava You
Lava You is a slightly muted pinkish purple. To me this is visibly purple next to the other rosier shades in the palette and on the eye but it also has quite a bit of pink in it. Good color payoff. Will need to try this again but this one seemed to react strangely to moisture on the lid, darkening in the line of my crease and in areas where it was thinner or blended out more. Heavily layering it made it appear lighter.
Sedimental
Sedimental is more of an orangey/peachy transition shade on me. I have tried this only lightly as a transition shade and found it easy to blend and get even color. Not sure yet how it works when applied more heavily on the lid.
Nugget
Nugget is a neutral pale beige. This is just barely dark enough to be a transition shade on me but I don’t have many shades that are just this depth so I’m glad they included it in here. Good color payoff, didn’t seem to have the same issues that Lava You did.
Crushed
Crushed is more of a yellow toned transition shade on me but have not tried this one a whole lot either.
I Dig You
I Dig You is somewhere between a grey and a taupe. A bit warm to be a true grey but not really warm enough that I want to call it a taupe. Have tried just once and seems to have pretty good color payoff and blends decently well. Will need to try a bit more. Don’t remember it having the same issue as Lava You.
Ring Of Fire
Ring Of Fire is a bright silver self adhering pressed glitter. Pretty small particle size. Fairly easy to control how much I pick up on a brush. I can still move it slightly after placing on the skin if I don’t place it just right but it does stick well by itself.
Magma
Magma has a matte dusty rose base with larger gold and blue/purple sparkles. The sparkles are more visible in the pan than they are on the eye. There is some sparkle fallout but not as much as I was expecting. The color of the sparkle doesn’t stand out a whole lot against the matte base color.
Erupt
Erupt is a light rosy brown. Have not tried this yet.
Very Gneiss
Very Gneiss a light yellow toned brown. Very similar to Crushed. This one may have the slightest hint more pink in it. But really, not much of a noticeable difference. Haven’t tried on the eye yet.
Set Shale
Set Shale is another pressed glitter. This one is a mixture of silver, gold, and copper sparkles. There is some variation in the size of the particles but they are all generally pretty small. Have not tried this one yet.
No Pressure
No Pressure is a warm pale taupe shimmer with larger sparkles. Haven’t tried this much yet.
2 Coal 4 U
2 Coal 4 U is a deep grey shimmer with larger silver sparkles. Haven’t tried yet.
Pep Talk
Pep Talk has a reddish purple base with a blueish sheen. It has a mix of particle sizes and quite a few different colors. Blue and purple sparkles are most noticeable but there are some gold ones in there as well. Have only tried this layered over a matte so far and it needed some help to adhere and build up used that way. A brush alone didn’t work well. Will need to try this a different way.
Oh My Geode
Oh My Geode is a reddish peach shimmer with some larger sparkles. Seems to have the same color/type of sparkles as Pep Talk but just far less of it. The reddish shimmer is by far the most noticeable thing about this. There are some pink/blue/gold sparkles but they are super subtle. Using a flat shader, this applies with pretty good color payoff and builds up easily. The sparkles show up better on the lid if I use more of a tacky primer underneath.
Metamorphic
Metamorphic is the last pressed glitter. It is a mixture of silver, gold, and pink glitter and they are all about the same size as far as I can tell. This worked about the same as nearly every ColourPop glitter I’ve tried. It was easy to control the amount I was picking up on the brush and I had a bit of time to move it around or remove some from areas where I didn’t intend to apply it. I had a tiny bit of fallout from this by the end of applying it but for the most part it stays where I put it.
Get The Schist
Get The Schist is a cooler toned medium bronze shimmer with some chunkier silver sparkles. This one had a lot of fallout both during application and during wear. Will need to try this one with a glitter primer. Pretty good color payoff but was helpful to build up with my finger.
So Tuff
So Tuff is a deep matte grey, almost looks a bit blue toned. Used this once applying it with a pencil brush to the crease area. It was pretty easy to work with. Good color payoff, buildable, blendable, didn’t notice any fallout from it.
Hot Spot
Hot Spot is a matte black. This has a different feel to the touch than the other mattes in the palette. I want to use the words “drier” and “rougher” but those are not quite right. It just drags more and doesn’t swatch with very much opacity. When swatched, it needs several layers to be built up, but does apply pretty evenly over the skin instead of sticking on the very first spot it touches. I have used this a couple times as eyeliner and it has plenty of color payoff, adheres easily, and hasn’t had any fallout used that way. Seems very similar if not identical to the matte black in the Bare Necessities palette.
Dynamic
Dynamic is a reddish deep brown. Have only tried this once on the lower lashline but so far seems to have good color payoff and blend decently well. Will need to try this more on the upper lid to get a better feel for how it blends.
Strictly Tectonic
Strictly Tectonic is an orangey deep brown. Have not tried yet.
In The Rough
In The Rough is a very slightly warm deep brown. Have not tried yet.
Concrete Plans
Concrete Plans is a cooler toned deep brown. Very similar to In The Rough. They look more different in these swatches than they do in person if I swatch them side by side. Have not tried on the eye yet.
Stone’s Throw
Stone’s Throw has a matte black base with lots of gold and blue sparkle. There is more sparkle in this than the other two matte/sparkle shades in the palette but once on the eye, it’s much less prominent. Black base color swatches a little more evenly and with more opacity than Hot Spot. I have tried this once on the eye using a flat shader to apply it carefully in tapping motions. I didn’t blend it but used another shade as a transition instead. Used this way I had very minimal sparkle fallout and a small amount of pigment fallout. The color applied evenly and was quick and easy to build up.