Review and Swatches ::: Natasha Denona Eyeshadow 5-pan Palette #01!!!

A couple of days back I reviewed palette #04 of the Natasha Denona 5-pan eyeshadow palette, you can find the review here. I got it in this year’s Lucky Bag from Beautylish. When I got it in the mail, there was a hefty fingernail dent on one of the shades! So, I contacted Beautylish team and they very generously accepted to replace it. These palettes were not available in early January; now they are getting ready to officially launch them and their amazing customer service team reached back to me and gave me an option to choose from any of the 13 palettes available in this range! Thank you so much Beautylish for this absolutely impressive customer care! I did have quite a hard time in choosing the palette that I want :-) There are some excellent color selections and I was particularly torn between #01, #05 and #10.  I finally decided on #01 as I felt this will be the most uncommon addition to my collection. Also, that navy was calling my name! (Side note: I happen to be obsessed with blue eyeshadow!)

These palettes are available at a price of $48 for 5 full-size eyeshadow. All 5 of these are also available in single pans. The single pans cost $25 to $29 for 0.08 oz. of products! So, with this palette there is almost 100 bucks of savings :-) when compared to the price of single shades! Beautylish will launch them soon and you can sign for early access here. Meanwhile you can find it in Natasha Denona website as well.

Packaging-wise I do think they have a lot to improve! Like I said in the previous review, at this price point I don’t expect this type of packaging. It appears quite cheap to be honest! It is a plastic compact with a clear and somewhat flimsy lid; but the material not as sturdy or as elegant-looking as I expected. I am afraid that there are risks of breakage if you travel a lot with this. There is no mirror as well!

Quality and performance wise these are consistent with #04 palette that I reviewed! This #01 palette has 3 different finishes and all of them are quite strongly pigmented! They blend easily and very quickly! They are very creamy in formula but when I swatch them with my finger, they feel a little bit stiff and not as soft as some of the other metallic shades from different brands. But I don’t feel this rigidity or hardness when applied on the eyes. Because of the richness and creaminess in the formula, it does crease ever-so-slightly! With primer, it lasts the 7-8 hrs. if I am in an indoor environment. Overall, the staying power is decent but I would definitely have enjoyed a little stronger wear time.

Anyway, I picked this palette because texture and shade wise this was the most versatile. Here are the shades

86P – Golden Aquamarine: This shade is identified as duo-chrome eyeshadow in Natasha Denona website. It is a very pale turquoise blue and as the name suggests, it has a gold shift to it as well. It is quite an interesting shade. It is definitely not for everyday use but I love it. I wore it on my lower lash line the other day and it stayed the whole day!

01V – Navy: This is the only matte shadow I have from her line. It is a very beautiful deep grey-ish navy blue! It almost looks “black” if you place it in a very concise, small area on your eyelids. You know I love my blues, this one is definitely a little bit different than what I already have from different brands. I have no clue why I am not as excited for this as I hoped to be! But it’s definitely a beautiful shade. The “matte” formula is great too, it is very pigmented, goes on smooth in application and blends in easily. It does have a tiny amount of fall-out; especially if I am putting too much effort in applying it. You have to be a little careful otherwise it can get messy.

80M – Piggy: All these other 3 shades are metallic in finish. This shade is quite similar to “moonstone” from #04 palette. It has a little bit more pink in it. These types of shade tend to appear much more brighter and lighter against my skin tone than it appears on the pan. I do love it but it is not suitable for everyday wear; at least not on me. This had the most fall out among all the ones that I tried from her line.

07M – Graphite: Normally, cool grey is not a personal favorite shade of mine, but I find this shade a lot more interesting than I had expected. It’s a metallic deep grey shade and has some lighter grey sparkle to it. I love to wear it on my outer v-corner. Also it can be very fittingly paired with all the other shades from this palette for some quick eye-looks. It can also be used for a super-quick “all-over-the-lid” type of smokey look! This has been a surprise favorite.

27M – Slate: When I zeroed on this palette, I was pretty sure that Navy will be my most favorite, but surprisingly I think this has been the my most adored and used shade till now! It’s a beautiful deep lavender shade with multi-color sparkle in it. I have been wearing it with Graphite and Navy or on the lower lash line on its own! I absolutely love this shade. It reminds me of “Bewitched” pigment from Makeup Geek; so beautiful.

In the look below I wore all 5 of these shades along with a matte crease shade from IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette Vol-I. I used navy on my outer v and outer-crease area, Graphite on outer V and slate on the inner lid area, Golden Aquamarine on the lash line and a bit of Piggy on the inner corner as highlight. I love how I was able to use all these seemingly different shades and create a cohesive look. I took 2 hrs of nap after 3-4 hrs of application (hey, it was a Saturday, don’t judge :-) me) and I was so surprised to see that everything was right there where I initially placed. It just bled a little bit on my tear line because I had a very creamy liner on my water-line. Overall, I love the quality of this palette. I have experienced a bit fall out from these shadows which was not an issue with the other palette. But I have to say that I am enjoying this palette a lot more than #04. I am able to mix and match these shades to create different looks; this is important to me as it keeps me interested in a particular palette. 

Under sunlight, look at the glitter :-)

I am having a lot of fun with this palate and I must thank Beautyish for enabling me to try this out. Are you planning to get anything from this line?

Love,

~Arrru

Review and Swatches ::: Natasha Denona Eyeshadow 5-pan Palette #04!!!

Beautylish is launching Natasha Denona Eyeshadow Palettes very soon! This makeup line is originally from Egypt and has suddenly become very, very popular among makeup lovers! Internationally famed Makeup Artist Natasha Denona established this line some time back but because it ships from Egypt it was not quite readily accessible to consumers in USA. But don’t worry, like many other niche brands that Beautylish has facilitated to set up shop here in USA, Natasha Denona is also coming to an e-store near you :-) Sign up here for early access!

This line has quite an extensive range of products but it is most loved for the metallic eyeshadows. There are 28-pan palettes, 10-pan palettes, 5-pan palettes and also a wide range of single shades. She has a total of 13 different 5-pan palettes! Today I am talking about her Eyeshadow Palette 5 Number 04. 

Before digging deeper, let’s talk about the price. Apart from the quality they are also “infamous” for the price range! These are some of the “costlier” eyeshadows in the market! Regular single pan eyeshadow costs $27 to $29 for 0.08 oz. of products! This palette has 5 full size shadows (which are also available as single pan) at a cost of $48. So, there is almost 100 bucks of savings right there!! I got this palette in this year’s Lucky Bag from Beautylish so I did not exactly pay $48, you check the breakdown here. Let’s compare the price with some of the shadows that I think are a bit similar in style for, e.g. Makeup Geek Foiled shadows! They are $10 each, so if you are hunting for just one shade, then it’s definitely much more affordable. But if you happen to get 5 or more shades it will cost you more than the Natasha Denona palette. Bottom line – these are rather pricy products but when you buy the palette the price is much “easier-to-justify”! My advice is- “do your math before buying!”

Packaging-wise I do think they have a lot to improve! It looks quite cheap to be honest; I would have liked a sturdy, more elegant looking palette. It is compact which is good for travelling or to carry in your kit but the material is just plastic with a very clear and somewhat flimsy lid. I am afraid that there are risks of breakage if you travel a lot with this. There is no mirror as well. At this price point I don’t expect this type of packaging!

Now on to the fun and exciting part! This palette as 5 shades all in metallic finish and in neutral warm fall-ish shades! They are very strongly pigmented shadows! I believe they are pressed pigments (don’t count me on that!); so these are quite creamy in formula. When I swatch them with my finger, they feel a little bit stiff and not as soft as some of the other metallic shades I have from different brands. But I don’t feel this rigidity or hardness when applied on the eyes. They blend very easily and very quickly! They can also be easily layered over each other! Like I said, these are very creamy in formula so without any primer underneath they started to crease within 4-5 hrs; I expected that. With primer, it lasts the 7-8 hrs. if I am in an indoor environment. The other day, I had a light layer of “oxide” over Mac Paint Pot and spent at least 5-6 hrs. running around in a refinery, so it creased a little bit and the pigmented got deposited on the middle of my lid! But it was not horrible at all. I would definitely prefer a bit stronger wear time but overall I do love the quality of these. 

Here are the shades –

25 M (aura): it’s very light yellow-y beige metallic shade! It almost looks glittery but with very fine micro glitter. It’s a little too light for me to use as an over-all lid shade but if you have lighter skin tone than me, this will be beautiful. I use it just at the center of the lid to create a “halo” effect.

31M (cool bronze): I don’t understand why it is called “cool bronze”. It’s definitely bronze but no way it’s cool! It is a very, very warm golden type bronze. Personally I believe these types of shade are very flattering on me :-) I mostly wear all over my lid; I specially love to wear a light layer for everyday wear-to-work look!

63M (oxide): Another favorite shade; actually this might be my most favorite. It’s a very warm coppery-maroon. I love this shade. This is the color I automatically grab to apply whenever I am using this palette.

70P (cool plum): This is one or two shades darker and browner than 63M. Even though it is mentioned as “metallic” like the others I feel this has less glitter and is less metallic in finish; I actually enjoy that! It’s also much softer to touch. I love using it on my outer-v, works great on the lower lash line and because it is not as metallic as the others it can be used on the crease as well. Overall, this is the most useful shade in this palette for me!

59M (moonstone): This has the same formula and texture like 25M. It’s a peachy coral apricot type of shade. It shows up a little lighter on the eyes than when swatched on the hand. 

Overall, I love this palette. I also like the fact that every skin tone can use all of these shades in some way or the other. The only thing I am still struggling with is to come up with different looks! I love vibrant colors and all these shades being monochromatic I always end up wearing the same type of look. I guess I have to try harder.

Overall, I am really enjoying the palette. For me it was worth the investment! :-) If you love metallic shades and are a big fan of neutral warm shades you will definitely enjoy this palette. I just received number #1 palette today and that’s much more versatile in shade range. I am really excited to play with that :-)

Love,

~Arrru