Urban Decay Book of Shadows, Vol 2: You put your weed in there?

Beatles fans have had their fun with the 09.09.09 release of The Beatles Anthology. I will admit that it took me until late last night for it to dawn on me why a Wednesday was chosen for the release date (“Number 9, number 9, number 9…”). Now, this may not be exactly on par as far as historic pop culture moments. But makeup lovers are joyful over the recently released Urban Decay Book of Shadows, Vol II now available at http://www.urbandecay.com/.

There were some complaints (and by “some” I mean “a lot") about the packaging of the original Book of Shadows. While the die cut pop-ups and fairytale notion were cute, the eyeshadow “drawer” was difficult to pull out. I think most makeup nerd’s, especially those fond of Urban Decay’s unique and richly pigmented shadows, overlooked the design flaw in favor of the value of receiving 16 shadows (plus two brushes, a travel size Primer Potion and a full sized mirror) for $45.

(click photos to enlarge)

I have yet to see Vol. 2 in person, but the reviews I’ve come across say the design is still not ideal, but better.

[Visit MakeupGeek.com for reviews, swatches, + a tutorial of Book of Shadows Vol. I + Vol. II.]

Book of Shadows Volume II contains 16 shadows (eight exclusive shades, eight existing shades, with Perversion being the only repeat), two 24/7 Glide On eye pencils (0.03 US oz) in Bourbon (brown with gold micro-shimmer) and Zero (black-black), a travel size Primer Potion, a full-sized mirror, and a Look Book to draw inspiration from for $48.00.

Exclusive shades:
AC/DC (deep eggplant shimmer)
Nylon (champagne sparkler)
Mushroom (taupey-gunmetal)
Sphynx (pink sparkle/shimmer)
Jinx (bright blue shimmer)
Homegrown (bright green shimmer)
Misdemeanor (deep teal sparkle)
Perversion (matte black)

Existing shades:
Sellout (pink champagne shimmer)
Gunmetal (gunmetal gray w/ silver glitter)
Ecstasy (bright purple w/ slight pink tint)
Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (golden beige w/ bronze, gold & silver glitter)
Twice Baked (brownie brown w/ gold glitter)
Half Baked (subtle, lustrous bronze)
Flipside (electric teal w/ blue sheen)
YDK (mocha w/ golden microglitter)

I do have two areas of concern that give me pause before running out to buy this set.

Area of Concern #1

Unfortunately for me the UD Get Baked set I purchased earlier this year contained a Bourbon pencil and three of the shadows in Book of Shadows II – Half Baked, Twice Baked, and Flipside. But they are all great colors that I get a lot of use out of.

Area of Concern #2

I’ve always thought that Urban Decay had some really witty colors names (a shimmery white called Polyester Bride; a medium brown called Stray Dog). But a few give me pause. To mention just a few: Roach, Mary Jane, Half Baked, Homegrown, Chronic, Stash. Do you see a possible theme here?

Some people may laugh at me for this. But being a girl who prides herself for being high on life and having someone dear to me with substance abuse issues I may be more sensitive than others. Please humor me. I am bothered by the apparent references to marijuana as well as other illegal drugs. I’m not saying that I think Wende Zomnir and Sandy Lerner are using their fantastic makeup brand as a front while they hustle joints and dime bags in the back parking lot at the Urban Decay warehouse. But these names do give me pause. I have to ask myself if this is significant enough for me to stop purchasing the brand. Or will I wait and see if they include rolling papers in Book of Shadows, III?