While it seems that the hype behind Animal Crossing has died down since the beginning of the quarantine, many fans are no less thrilled to see that their lovable animal islanders now are featured in an adorable collaboration with Colourpop.

As a fan of the game and an avid makeup enthusiast, I was waiting with bated breath to see how the partnership would unfold. Would Colourpop be able to capture the essence of Animal Crossing’s adorable villager friends? Would the products be advertised for functionality, or more as novelty items for collectors? Would they sell out in the blink of an eye like the highly coveted Animal Crossing-themed Switch? Or was the hype over the game already over? 

The collaboration is about what you would expect from turning Animal Crossing into a makeup collection. Four palette quads launched featuring their animal counterparts—because who doesn’t want to have Isabelle watching over their eyeshadow?—with stylish shade combinations including mattes, shimmers, and glitters. The palettes are admittedly a bit gimmicky especially given their price point at $12 apiece. (In comparison, Colourpop’s usual nine-pan palettes cost $14.) I won’t do the math here to save you the boredom, but the collab eyeshadows are objectively more collector’s items than functional palettes for the wannabe makeup artist. 

A few more items dropped with the collab, including pressed powder blushes, lip tints, and eye glitter kits. All of the products are designed to pay homage to the most famous in-game items: the body glitter is dressed as the notorious money (“bell”) bag, the blushes are pressed with the flowers that populate each player’s island, the super-shock shadow has the Nook leaf emblem emblazoned on its lid, and each of the lip tint crayons is designed and named after a fruit in the game. Adorable details aside, these products are similar to the character palettes, feeling more like decorative items for a makeup desk than the ingredients one would use to bake their face regularly. 

The verdict? I would only recommend the collab products to diehard Animal Crossing fans. (Like, you've played the game since it was on the GameCube, came out of the womb holding a Tom Nook plush, and have a wall or two in your house covered with Isabelle posters.) For people who intend to purchase the products for functionality, you’re better off sticking to Colourpop’s non-collab pieces. 

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Colourpop guide if I didn’t address one of the most problematic things about the brand: stock. The hype over Animal Crossing is most certainly not over, as the collection completely sold out within an hour of being dropped. Fans didn’t hesitate to express their anger over Colourpop's lagging website, long (and glitchy) virtual checkout lines, and slow processing rates. One Twitter user expressed her disappointment at Colourpop's failure to anticipate the success of the collaboration, saying, "I had everything ready to check out at 1:01, and as soon as I got past the queue, everything was sold out. What's the point in having this kind of a launch if you aren't going to have a big enough stock to last more than 1 minute?" Thousands of fans felt robbed for not being able to sport their favorite animal friends' colors despite being present at the launch. Scrolling through Colourpop's Twitter, one can see many instances of customer dissatisfaction from the stock to the customer service response rate to the disappointment at the launch's quick sellout. 

Colourpop created a post guiding fans on how to prepare for the next restock to prevent further outcry, knowing that the popular collection would likely sell out quickly again. The good thing for fans is that Colourpop now has a policy that prevents scalpers from buying out products to resell at a higher price. As of March 2021, only about half of the items are in stock, and fans aren’t sure when Colourpop plans to have their next restock. 

Whether or not this collection is worth getting is subjective only without the price tag in mind. There’s no doubt that Animal Crossing fans will have a blast displaying the products—it is, after all, like Animal Crossing brought to life! As mentioned earlier, the only caveat is that they’ll have to be wary of stock, Colourpop’s customer service, and the markups due to the game’s branding. Makeup enthusiasts, however, can (and should) skip the line. There are plenty of other color palette and tint options out there. You can order away, living the relaxed lifestyle that Animal Crossing fans can’t seem to catch onto. I think I heard something about an upcoming Animal Crossing x Sanrio collab too…