“When you know, you know”, that’s what they say right? As soon as I saw this palette on Instagram before it’s release, I KNEW I had to have it. Admittedly, I was drawn in mainly through the gorgeous packaging, and if it wasn’t Urban Decay I probably could have resisted. However as the owner of a few UD palettes already I’m pretty confident that anything they release will be really good quality. It seemed expensive, but you pretty get 2 palettes in 1. For the amount of product and the brand, £39.50 isn’t that bad. It’s pretty much the average price for a lot of palettes.
I haven’t used this palette half as much as I would have liked to by now – I’ve had it for a while. Only because I got huge eyelash extensions for holiday and they were quite expensive so I daren’t mess with them by taking eyeshadow off. However I can still use the face palette and I am obsessed with the blushers. I haven’t seen many people talking about this palette. There wasn’t much hype surrounding it’s release so I am going to do an in-depth review for those of you who have probably never heard of it. Let’s take each side separately.
Face Palette
As you can see from the photos, there is 4 colours this side of the palette. 2 are definitely blushers, 1 is a highlight and the shade Low Key could probably be used as either depending on your skin tone. I use my favourite shade Double Take as my blusher because it makes you look quite tanned. A lot of my blushers are very bright pinks so it is very handy having a palette with 3 new shades in it. The blushers are quite natural which I like because I wouldn’t want cheeks as pigmented as these shadows. They don’t have much fallout, I didn’t really notice any because it blends into my bronzer, and are all just so beautiful.
Shades:
Cheap Shot: Classic pink like Backtalk but has cool undertones. Very blendable and buildable. Surprisingly luminous finish.
Double Take: Muted, darker shade of pink. Look great with a very bronzed face.
Low Key: Lighter pink, more coral. Very shimmery so I don’t use directly on my cheeks, only higher up my face where I would also highlight.
Party Foul: I think this is meant to be a blusher but definitely not for me. I use it over the top of liquid highlighter. Very light peachy/goldy shade with shimmer. Almost a metallic finish.
Eye Palette
I love all of these colours but for some people there are not enough shades for a complete look. Whilst these are the type of shades I usually reach for, there isn’t a very dark shade for the outer corner of your eye. 180 is shimmery so I can imagine a lot of people would prefer a dark matte shade. Also, I’m not too sure on the purpose of 3 Sheets. It doesn’t show up well when swatched and I can’t imagine a look I’d use it for.
Some may think that this palette lacks versatility, but the shades are perfect for me. I own a lot of palettes that have a few shades or a corner of shades that I never use. Even my beloved Jaclyn Hill palette. Maybe except 3 Sheets, I would wear all of these shadows daily. They take a bit of building, but this isn’t necessarily a negative thing. All looks you could come up with using this are very wearable for during the day. Whereas, other palettes I have I save for night out/evening looks that are a bit more dramatic. You could easily use this palette for both day and evening looks.
Shades:
3 Sheets: Matte, pale pink/nude shade.
Bare: Peachy/browny pink, warm undertones, slight shimmery finish. Would apply more pigmented and with less fallout if applied with a wet brush, it seems quite loosely pressed.
Curve: Similar to curve being a browny/pink with a shimmery finish. Again would have stronger pay off with a wet brush but I love how it looks with a dry brush for every day looks.
Backtalk: Classic matte pink, very buildable. My favourite shade.
Shade: Took a bit of building over other shades but I would rather build it up than try and remove product. Purply/berry shade with shimmer and a satin finish. Applies best when patted onto skin.
Attitude: Coppery/red shade with shimmer. These two dark shimmery shades take quite a lot of blending out.
WTF: Warm, matte brown with orange undertones. My favourite shade to start off a look with, as a transition shade. Very bendable.
180: Medium brown, very pigmented and has a slight shimmer.
Packaging
This palette is the perfect thing to take on holiday with you. Not only does it have a tonne of shades for both skin and eyes, it also has a removable mirror. This is one of the gimmicky things that drew me to this palette. It folds out like a book with the mirror in the middle which you can remove and put back as it is magnetised. I put this palette in the suitcase when we travelled to Croatia. It has also survived being thrown in a bag every weekend when I go home or to Matt’s, and it is still in perfect condition. Unlike my Morphe palettes, there is no fallout in this palette from travel. When I open my Morphe palettes there is eyeshadow all over the packaging and the inside of the lid. However, this is not the case with this palette.
One downside with the packaging though is that it doesn’t always shut properly. I’ve found that the magnetised mirror affects this, it shuts properly when the mirror is a certain way round. I do find it odd that Urban Decay chose to make this palette cardboard when most of their others are hard plastic.
Overall Opinion:
This palette is limited edition… another reason I bought it. (Slowly realising how easily I am sucked in to buying things). I haven’t seen too many people raving or even talking about this palette. I can see why, but it is ideal for people like me. Yes, I’d prefer plastic packaging and a darker shade instead of 3 Sheets but they’re my only flaws. I don’t like wearing really bright colours on my eyes very often so I don’t mind that the shades are buildable. I think this palette works the best over primer or some form of base. A few shades are a little dusty or fade quickly on bare skin.
You could also try the shades in reverse! All of the skin shades would also look great on the eyes, and a few eye shades would make nice blushers or highlights. This palette doesn’t lack versatility for me personally. For UD’s first combination eye/cheek palette, I think it’s pretty great. I love the rosy theme both with the outer packaging and the colour range throughout. The shades are all new and only in this palette, inspired by their bestselling Vice lipstick in “Backtalk”.
Check out the palette HERE!
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