Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV: Swatches & Pictures

Heads up: the official roll-out for the last in the Book of Shadows series from Urban Decay, IV, was slated for an October launch, but Debenhams released it early - so if you want to get your hands on it, then you'll bag the palette there now for €52.  I've gotten one from the brand to show you all, and while we've already had a look at some images and swatches released on Urban Decay's Facebook page, there's really nothing like getting a real-life look at something to see how it actually stacks up, now is there? No, oh no indeed.

The open palette with iPhone in its dock, plugged into the cute little purple speaker

First impressions: it's big: it's the size of a book (well, I guess the clue's in the name, eh?) and fairly weighty, and like a lot of these sort of palettes, it's made from heavy card and paper - so beware of getting it wet. That also means it'll tend to look tatty over time and be less transportable but hey - it's too large to lug about in any case so this is really one for your dressing table. There are two openings here, a top flap which houses some useless but decorative pop-up plastic butterflies, a mirror, flap containing a card with QR codes (more on them anon) and iPod/MP3 docking station. Below is a drawer, and that's where the real action is.

Book of Shadows IV contains 16 shadow shades (six existing, 10 new), a 24/7 Liquid Liner, mini Supercurl Curling Mascara and mini Primer Potion as well as a speaker and a couple of cables to make it compatible with iPods, Blackberries or MP3 players.  Including this may seem gimmicky - and yes of course it is - but it's also a point of difference and I'm guessing the brand is hoping this kit is designed to be your ultimate getting ready for a night out experience, with your favourite tunes thrown in for good measure.

So, what you're mostly interested in here are the shadows and swatches, am I right? Yep, I think I might be. Lets get to it:

Here are the 16 shades. Yup, shimmery. Urban Decay aren't too fond of mattes, that's for sure.

Blue Bus, Gunmetal, Cobra, Baked

Bender, Gravity, Lost, Hijack

Midnight Cowgirl, Sin, Midnight Rodeo, Crystal

Bust, Missionary, Skimp, Zephyr

Pigmentation here is good - as you'd expect from this brand really - and while some feel a little hard and chalky to begin with, I think that's possibly because I've had to rub off the top layer. UD's shadows in its kits generally are decent, but yes they are prone to fallout in the glitters and some kick up a little too. So you know Midnight Rodeo in particular will shed like bejaysis - use liberal amounts of primer first!

I reckon this is a good pick if you don't already have an existing Book of Shadows palette or the Naked Palette as it's pretty much a half and half pick of both - deep darks for smokey eyes, a big swathe of neutrals and a couple of iridescent pastels too.  You *might* consider it a bit of a mish-mash, or trying to do too much, but it's not a bad edit of the brand's hit parade of kits.

The last thing I like about this is the included QR code card. Download the app to your smartphone and you can then scan the included codes. Once you do, you'll be taken straight to a YouTube video which'll show you how to create specific looks. It's a nice extra - just make sure you don't mislay the card.

So: what do you think? Worth a punt or have you indulged already?