Urban Decay Sparkle Out Loud Heavy Metal Glitter Gels Reviews & Swatches (Part 1)

Dreamland

Urban Decay Dreamland Heavy Metal Glitter Gel ($22.00 for 0.49 fl. oz.) includes hexagon-shaped, medium-sized peachy-gold glitter that shifted to aqua-blue to periwinkle-blue (depending on the angle and lighting conditions) suspended in a clear base. It had semi-sheer coverage that spread out decently on skin, whether eyes or face, but it didn’t have the most even dispersion and I did feel like I had to fuss with it to “place” it. The gel base didn’t alter anything I placed it on top of, which was nice, and it was thick enough to help maneuver some of the glittery bits around.

In person, I felt like the glitter looked mostly gold-ish without as much of the blue shift coming through to my eyes. On my cheeks, it looked like flecks of dirt or, worse, as if my skin was flaking off (seriously, see the last photo toward the very left side, as I wore it in a larger area) because it added texture without giving a lot of reflection/sparkle, if the light wasn’t reflecting heavily off of the particles. This was another shade I managed to wear for a full eight-hour testing period, and there was very minimal fallout (and luckily, all fallout on my lid landed below my lid instead of in my eye) and migration.

Top Dupes

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Stila Spiritual (LE, $24.00) is less shimmery (90% similar).
Make Up For Ever 103 Pink White (P, $26.00) is less shimmery (85% similar).
Fenty Beauty Oh-Zone (LE, ) is less shimmery, warmer (85% similar).
Makeup Geek Light Year (P, $12.00) is less shimmery, cooler (85% similar).
Makeup Geek Stargazer (P, $12.00) is less shimmery, lighter, cooler (80% similar).
Make Up For Ever 106 Grenny White (P, $26.00) is more shimmery, warmer (80% similar).

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Formula Overview

$22.00/0.49 oz. - $44.90 Per Ounce

The formula is supposed to have "hyper-reflective and holographic glitter" that "won't budge for up to 9 hours" and is "super-concentrated." Per the brand, it can be used on "eyes, body, and face." I have no idea why they call it "high-coverage," when the base it's in is clear, which results in instantly sheering the product out as it is applied to any area (eyes, cheeks, etc.) and spread outward.

The gel-base is thicker, spreadable, and works well over powder products, like eyeshadow, or over foundation without darkening, lifting, or creating patchiness of whatever it is layered over. The particle sizes used in these is quite large, and when applied as a cheek product, they often look like metallic (but not so sparkly/glittery) chunks of product. At certain angles, it looked like my skin was flaking off or raised texture. This is sometimes more or less the effect even on lids.

I tested only some of these on eyes, and the wear was the same across the three I trialled--absolutely great hold in the scheme of things (eight to nine hours), but there was always a particle or two that did drop at some point during wear. I was not always able to keep my eye from watering to the point where I ended up having eyeshadow and mascara running into my eye if even one piece of glitter fell into my eye or got close enough to my lash line. When worn as a cheek highlighter, there was minimal travel but typically a few stray pieces of glitter on my chin or jaw line. During removal, they definitely come off without too much effort, but I could feel it scraping against my skin, particularly when I was removing the glitter from my cheeks (using a balm-based cleanser)--it was like a glittery exfoliation!

The brand's promotional images definitely show nearly opaque/opaque "pigmentation" from their glitters, but whether I used a brush or my fingertips, these instantly shered out to have more semi-sheer to medium coverage. I would recommend being very careful with applying these to the lids by using a brush or just the very tip of the finger to avoid accidentally getting any on lashes (tried it, 0/10, don't recommend).

Browse all of our Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Gel swatches.

Ingredients

Aqua / Water / Eau, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Glycerin, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Polyurethane-11, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium PCA, Chlorphenesin, Polyurethane-33, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Sodium Phytate, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract / Matricaria Flower Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Butylene Glycol, PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Trideceth-6, Sodium Hyaluronate, Boerhavia Diffusa Root Extract. [+/- (May contain/Peut contenir): CI 16035 / Red 40, CI 19140 / Yellow 5, CI 77510 / Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, CI 77000 / Aluminum Powder, CI 77007 / Ultramarines, CI 77000 / Aluminum]. D234739/2

Dreamland

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

7.5

Longevity

Application

74%

Total

Saturday Stardust

Urban Decay Saturday Stardust Heavy Metal Glitter Gel ($22.00 for 0.49 fl. oz.) includes fine, micro-glitter with medium and large-sized hexagon-shaped glitter that shifted from bright pink to variations of deeper pink to almost purple all suspended in a thicker, clear base. It had semi-sheer “coverage” from the glitter; I have no idea how the brand accomplishes “high-coverage” from the formula, as the clear base spreads the product out quite a bit and without doing some diffusing/spreading, it has a thick, weighty feel on my skin.

I like the gel-based formula a lot, as it doesn’t seem to interfere with whatever I’ve put it on, and it has decent spreadability so the glitter particles look fairly evenly layered on top of lids/skin. I tried to wear this shade, but I had one of the larger particles drop into my eye at the five-hour mark and had to remove everything I was wearing shortly after (too much wateriness built up and started to degrade the rest of the makeup). Most of the particles will remove when a good, oil-based or balm-based makeup remover, but I was very aware of the glitter coming off my skin as it was a bit sharp and felt like I was exfoliating with harsh scrub. My experience with this formula is that the overwhelming majority of particles do stay on for eight hours, but a few particles can drop or migrate over time.

Top Dupes

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Urban Decay Junkshow (P, $21.00) is darker, cooler (90% similar).
Urban Decay Distortion (P, $21.00) is less shimmery, warmer (85% similar).
Urban Decay Pyro (P, $21.00) is less shimmery (85% similar).
Urban Decay Catfight (P, $12.00) is darker, cooler (85% similar).
Make Up For Ever 104 Blue White (P, $26.00) is more pigmented (85% similar).
Stila Ballet Baby (P, $24.00) is less shimmery, lighter, cooler (80% similar).
MAC Feminine Edge (DC, $16.00) is less shimmery, darker, warmer (80% similar).
Urban Decay Recharged (P, $22.00) is darker, warmer (80% similar).
MAC Pink (P, $21.00) is darker, cooler (80% similar).
Giorgio Armani Rose Reflection (33) (P, $39.00) is less shimmery, darker, more pigmented (80% similar).

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Formula Overview

$22.00/0.49 oz. - $44.90 Per Ounce

Browse all of our Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Gel swatches.

Ingredients

Saturday Stardust

Product

Pigmentation

8.5

Texture

7.5

Longevity

4.5

Application

74%

Total

Distortion

Urban Decay Distortion Heavy Metal Glitter Gel ($22.00 for 0.49 fl. oz.) includes a mix of larger, hexagon-shaped glitter and much smaller, more micro-glitter (in size) with both having an iridescent effect and shifting from a bright, greenish-gold to variations of lavender to deeper pink. This shade had real sparkle and shift when worn on the lid or cheeks, so it did read true-to-swatch and didn’t feel like I was having to find the right angle to see the whole point of wearing glitter. It had semi-sheer coverage, which could be built up to some degree, but I would never describe it as high-coverage.

This was one of the shades I tested on my eyes for a full eight-hour period (others, I couldn’t make it that far), and I did have two pieces of glitter drop below my lash line over time. I think the formula yields impressive longevity, but it is not 100% perfect, and my experience has been that if one of the larger hexagonal shaped glitters gets into my eye or close enough to my lash line, it’s a recipe for instant, watery eyes and moderate irritation.

Top Dupes

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Urban Decay Pyro (P, $21.00) is less shimmery (90% similar).
Make Up For Ever 104 Blue White (P, $26.00) is lighter, more pigmented (90% similar).
Colour Pop New Magic (LE, $5.00) is less shimmery, lighter (85% similar).
Urban Decay Pyrotechnics (P, $12.00) is warmer (85% similar).
Urban Decay Luna (LE, $19.00) is less shimmery, cooler (80% similar).
MAC Mirrorball (PiP, ) is less shimmery, cooler (80% similar).
Colour Pop Ice Dream (LE, $5.00) is less shimmery, lighter, cooler (80% similar).
Viseart Coy #9 (LE, ) is less shimmery, cooler (80% similar).
Stila Perlina (P, $24.00) is lighter, cooler (80% similar).