I tried Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson's new makeup that sold out almost immediately after it was launched, but it doesn't live up to the hype

Jeffree Star Shane Dawson Makeup

When Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson launched their highly-anticipated makeup collaboration on Friday, it almost instantly sold out.
As diehard fans crashed the Jeffree Star Cosmetics website, critics questioned why people were buying makeup from a YouTuber with little experience in the beauty industry.
I purchased the entire line — except for the Diet Shane lip balm, which was unavailable — at a very busy New Jersey Morphe store that same day.
Though I initially had high hopes, I was a bit disappointed. Many of the eye shadows felt chalky to me and I found most of the liquid-lipstick shades unwearable, though I did appreciate the unique packaging.
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Eye-shadow palettes are the focal point of the Jeffree Star Cosmetics x Shane Dawson collaboration.

The $52 Conspiracy palette features 18 shades, while the $28 Mini-Controversy palette has nine.

In my opinion, the outer packaging of these palettes is enough to impress most shoppers. The larger palette is packaged in a black-and-white spiral-print box, while the smaller product is contained in a black box with a 3D static print.

Dawson and Star detailed the creative process behind creating these packages in their recent YouTube series.

The Conspiracy palette is arguably the most-anticipated beauty product created this year.

When Star and Dawson first revealed this palette in their YouTube series, I thought it looked really unique. My feelings stayed the same once I held it in my hands just days later. Its geometric box stands out from any palette I already own, and it's leather-like material feels high quality.

I was a little concerned that it would be too heavy to actually work with, but its weight hasn't been a problem since I've started using it.

I couldn't wait to dip my makeup brushes into the colorful shadows.

When I first opened the palette, I thought the shadows looked less vibrant than they do online. However, this actually made the product seem more appealing to me, as I initially thought it looked both colorful and wearable.

I particularly loved the stamps embedded into each eye shadow, and appreciate that they really represent Dawson's work on the palette.

Once I swatched the product, however, I became less enthusiastic.

While arm swatches do not make or break makeup, in my opinion, they can be telling of a product's quality. In my experience, the lighter colors barely showed up on my arms while the darker colors looked patchy.

From left to right, there's: Ranch, My Pills, Tanacon, Diet Root Beer, Just A Theory, Spiraling, Conspiracy, Pig-Ment, Food Videos, Trisha, Cheese Dust, and Flaming Hot.

However, I really appreciate the quirky shade names of each shadow.

Not only do the shade names stand out from the more standard ones created by other brands, but it also feels like you're sharing an inside joke with Dawson and Star.

From left to right, the above shadows are: My Ride's Here, Illuminatea, Sleep Paralysis, Not a Fact, Diet Cola, and What's The Tea?

I had a little bit more luck when applying the shadows on my eyes.

I started by applying the shade Tanacon in the crease of my eyelid. While the shade barely showed up on my arm as a swatch, it applied beautifully on my eyelid. In my experience, the eye shadow looked pigmented and blended easily.

That is, until I got to the darker colors.

Because I was going for a fall look, I wanted to apply a maroon shade on the outer corner of my eye. Though the plum shade "Not A Fact" looked appealing, I preferred the metallic "My Apology" shade from the Mini-Controversy palette.

Unfortunately, I found this shadow to be very difficult to use. In my experience, it didn't blend well with the other shade on my lid, and excess powder quickly surrounded my eye area.

The black shadow wasn't as pigmented as Star promised in a recent YouTube video.

In "The Dangerous World of Jeffree Star" episode of Dawson's series, Star commented on the black "My Ride's Here" shade.

"It's so creamy — holy s---," Star said in the video. "Blacks are kind of hard to perfect sometimes if you want a really true black."

However, I don't entirely agree with Star. I used the shade as an eyeliner, and found it to feel more chalky than creamy. To be fair, I didn't use the perfect brush for this technique, but the shadow could have been more pigmented regardless.

In my experience, these eye shadows were pretty messy to use.

After dipping my brush into the Tanacon shadow only once, loose powder flew everywhere. Typically, I don't mind a bit of kickback — I find it usually means the shadows are more blendable.

In this case, however, I worried the excess product would muddy the other shades in my palette and coat my mirror in makeup.

My eye shadow could have turned out worse, but it also could've looked a lot better.

While I've certainly used worse eye shadows over the years, nothing about the Conspiracy palette really stood out to me upon first try. I had difficulty blending the shades, and the metallic colors seemed to fade quickly throughout the day.

I've since used other shades in the palette, and have grown to like Conspiracy more than I did initially — but I'm not sure it's worth spending $52 on.

I also tried using one of the shadows as a highlighter on my cheekbones.

When the palette launched, some people on social media said they planned to use the eye-shadow shade Ranch as a highlighter. Of course, I had to try this technique for myself.

While the color was a bit too white for my taste, it initially looked great as a highlighter. After only a few hours, however, it all but faded. I even asked a colleague for their opinion on the highlight, to which they replied: "I thought that was excess powder from your eye shadow."

The following day, I tried the Mini-Controversy Palette.

The $28 palette is much smaller than the Conspiracy product, but looks just as stunning. As I mentioned earlier, Star and Dawson really nailed the packaging of this collection.

The palette contains nine eye-shadow shades.

While one of the shades — Diet Root Beer – can also be found in the Conspiracy palette, the other eight colors are unique to this product.

Personally, I love that Star and Dawson chose to create both large and small palettes. Not only is this option more affordable, but it's also great for beginners, people who don't wear tons of bright colors, and those who want to try Star's products without spending tons of money.

In my opinion, this palette provides a decent mix of wearable colors and vibrant shades.

Like the conspiracy palette, I wasn't too impressed by the shadows as I swatched them on my arms.

From left to right, there's Flat Earth, Cry On My Couch, My Boyfriend's Purse, Controversy, Diet Root Beer, My Apology, Exposed, Cancelled, and The Simulation.

Overall, I enjoyed using this palette.

While I did find these eye shadows to be messy like those in the Conspiracy palette, the matte shades I used look stunning in person. It didn't take too much work to blend them or build up their color, and they also paired well with a liquid eyeliner.

Overall, I think the Conspiracy and Mini-Controversy palettes are nice, but I wouldn't reach for them every day.

I can understand why fans of Star and Dawson waited hours in lines — both at Morphe stores and online — to purchase these palettes. They're great collector's items, and would look stunning on any vanity.

Still, I just wasn't that impressed with the actual eye shadows. I found that blendability was an issue with every metallic shade I tried, and the mattes were a bit too messy for my liking.

I also tried almost every lip product from the Jeffree Star Cosmetics x Shane Dawson collection.

The collection includes six liquid lipsticks, which retail for $18 each, and a clear lip gloss, which costs the same price.

An $18 Diet Shane lip balm is also part of the collection, though the product was not available at the Morphe store when I was there.

From the moment I saw these lipsticks, I was confused by the shade range.

Star and Dawson first debuted their liquid lipsticks in "The $20 Million Dollar Deal with Jeffree Star" episode of their series. Immediately, I questioned why they chose the shades they did.

In my opinion, the three metallic shades looked unflattering, and the matte pink color seemed outdated. Only the neon pink and vibrant red seemed to make sense to me. Still, each color looked promising when swatched on my arm.

From left to right, there's: Oh My God, Ryland, I Gotta Go, Shane, Jeffree What The F---?, and Are You Filming?

I was even less impressed when I wore the liquid lipsticks.

I really wanted to love these lipsticks, as I consider Star's formula to be one of the best on the market. However, I only enjoyed using two of the six products.

The shade Oh My God, for example, didn't work for me, as it didn't suit my skin tone. I also found the shade to apply sheer — it took me at least four coats to get a semi-opaque look.

While I love Star's matte formula, I feel his metallic shades could use some work.

In my experience, the shades Ryland and Shane looked extremely unflattering. Not only did they apply patchy, but I feel as though they'd only work for Instagram-style makeup looks — not everyday wear.

I Gotta Go looked better, in my opinion, though I can't say I'd wear it frequently.

If you like wearing a statement lip color, the two matte shades from this collection are definitely worth purchasing.

In my opinion, Jeffree What The F--- ? is one of the best pink lipsticks I've ever tried. It looks vibrant and opaque, and also feels extremely comfortable on the lips. I almost forgot I was wearing it after it dried down.

Are You Filming? also stands out, though I think it only works when paired with a strong lip liner to keep it in place.

The collection's clear lip gloss has arguably the best shade name of any product in the line.

Dawson and Star named this $18 product Shane Glossin', a nod to the YouTuber's last name.

It's packaged in a clear tube with a pointed top, just like Star's concealers and other lip glosses.

I have no complaints about the Shane Glossin' product — it does exactly what it's meant to do.

In my experience, the product applies smoothly, looks glassy, and doesn't feel too sticky. While I do think you can purchase similar products at cheaper price points, the unique packaging of this gloss makes the extra cost almost worth it.

I also feel the product is especially perfect for people who don't wear makeup, but still want to support Star and Dawson.

Overall, I'm not sure the Jeffree Star Cosmetics x Shane Dawson collection is worth all the hype it's received.

In my experience, I faced too many roadblocks while using makeup from this collection to say it's worth purchasing. I find most of the eye shadows to be messy, and almost every lipstick shade feels unwearable. While the gloss works just fine, I'm not sure it stands out from others on the market.

I do love the product packaging throughout the collection, and think Star and Dawson did a great job adding unique details to their products — like the funny shade names and quirky eye-shadow stamps. Still, I'm not sure that's enough to save the collection.

I do understand why thousands of people eagerly purchased this makeup, and I think it's great that there's such a tangible way for viewers to support the YouTubers they love.

Still, as a makeup fanatic, I can't help but wonder if anyone would actually purchase these products if they didn't have Star and Dawson's names on them.

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