I love love love this palette and have been using it every single day since I purchased it! I am definitely one who appreciates great matte shadows incorporated in looks. I think they really do a great job at creating dimension and depth to a look instead of using all shimmery shadows. For that reason, I can see the genius in a half matte, half shimmer palette!
This particular set available at Ulta is definitely a great deal since the palette on its own is $42 and this kit with an eye primer and eyeliner is only $39!
I do not own any of the Urban Decay Naked palettes so I can't say if this is a better alternative or not. I feel like the Naked palette can be lacking in mattes, so that's one plus side to this half and half palette. However, I do really love this thing and get sooo much use out of it for both light airy day looks and also dark and sultry night looks.
White
is not completely matte. It definitely has a very fine shimmer in it, but I don't find that it transfers too badly to the lid. It is not the most pigmented white I own, but also not the worst by any means.
Cream
is so very similar to my skin tone that you can hardly see it in the swatches. However I do enjoy using it as a browbone highlight, it works wonderfully for that.
Taupe
is a soft ashy light brown that is great for blending out crease shadows. I could see this being a good shade for doing your eyebrows if the color suits you.
Light Pink
is a really great matte light pink that has great color pay off and I really enjoy using it as an all over lid shade. No complaints about this one.
Mauve
is one of my very favorites in this palette. Since it has a more mauvey-purpley tone, it's a little different than simply using a light brown in the crease. I bet this will be one of the first I hit pan on. I love it.
Sable
is a regular ole medium brown color, nothing special IMO.
Espresso
on the other hand is a really great dark dark brown. It comes off much darker than it looks in the palette. It has unbelievable color pay off, you really need to be careful with it sometimes. It has so much depth, it really makes me avoid the black at times because it can bring just as much depth on its own.
Black
isn't the most pigmented black I've come across (Kat Von D's Lucifer is my favorite for sure!) but it isn't bad either. Sometimes a little less pigmented black can be better so you don't end up going overboard as easily.
Nude
is a pretty champagne color with a satin sheen.
Champagne
on the other hand, is also a nice champagne color but it definitely has more chunky glitter in it. It's slightly darker than Nude, but since it has chunks of glitter, it can be a little fallout crazy, so I avoid it and like to use Nude instead.
Gold
is a super pigmented, beautiful, buttery, creamy gold color. The shimmers in this palette has terrific color payoff and texture overall, they are so splendid to use!
Light Bronze
is a light satin-y brown-bronze color. I think it's the most "satin" finished of the shimmers in this palette. It's a little strange to me because I have such light skin, it can look a little weird as an all-over lid shade because it isn't dark enough for a smokey look but it isn't light enough for the lid color I usually like for a day-time look (such as Nude).
Pewter
is another big favorite of mine. It's a pretty brown-gray color that I find is awesome for a smokey look. Once again, it is buttery and so nice to use.
Garnet
is a coppery color that is just beautiful, buttery, and gorgeous.
Deep Purple
is a beautiful purple. It is very very dark, but still a gorgeous color. I love purples.
Slate
is a deep charcoal gray that has a lot of dimension. You could almost wear it as a one-shade look because of the way it appears as different light hits it.
The eye primer has been a favorite of mine lately. I haven't had any issues with creasing, uneven shadow application, heavy fallout, or anything really. I find that this primer works excellently with these shadows, although I have not used it with others enough to see if there is a difference with different brands.
The eyeliner is nice. I find that it isn't as pigmented as possible. It does take two swipes to get it to be totally black, but that's really not a big deal. Since it is a little tiny brush, you can get very very fine lines with it, but that also bugs me sometimes because it can be a little unforgiving. If you just barely touch a spot out of line, you'll end up screwing up the whole look. The brush can seem a little too flimsy for this same reason too.
Overall, those darn shimmery shades are just so buttery! They have wonderful texture, color payoff, and just everything! Even though I like to think of myself as more a matte shadow girl, these shimmers really made me fall in love with this one!
Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina
