It’s finally here. I’ve been wanting for so long to share my number one choice when it comes to eyeshadows. Being an alum of the Natasha Denona Makeup school, I got to get a closer look not only at the newest products coming out, but also testing them and getting to know the story behind the brand. I got to see the passion and the inspiration behind the color choice, combination, formulation , packaging, marketing and even campaigns. I didn’t come with high expectations because it is such a big name in the makeup industry and I was stunned by Natasha’s passion and direct implication in the creation process, envisioning color combinations and explaining us what the products contain. Not to mention her skill when it comes to doing makeup. Her Smokey eye looks are just pure craftsmanship.
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The brand carries all the types of makeup is needed for a professional mup artist kit. The number one selling product at the moment is the HY-GLAM concealer/corrector and I will have a full review with swatches on it soon here on the blog. The real star of the brand are the eyeshadows. Given the cost I understand that most makeup enthusiasts will start first with the concealers and then invest in a versatile makeup palette, because they don’t come cheap! The extended range of eyeshadows that grows and evolves every year consists of different textures and finishes. Most of the shades come in chromatically themed organized palettes so you can choose the one fit for you. This post is created in order for you to get to know which palettes you can get the use out of the most, most versatile, best to use according to your needs , style of makeup and occasion. I do own also single eyeshadows and mini palettes , but this article is about the maxi palettes, 15 shades and above. Because those are really pricey and some of them come as limited edition, so the question is should you own that specific palette.Â
 You will see at least one-two palettes in every respected makeup artist’s bag as a confirmation of the quality and versatility. Beside that, every palette has a system that makes easy the depoting so you can create your own combination that suits your needs, if it’s for work, travel or simply you want to fix the ultimate eyeshadow palette with your favorites.Â
To simplify more the things, the shades have a special classification, which is very well thought. The letters on the eyeshadows stand for: CP- cream to powder, feels like wet but is dry. CM- creamy matte. CK-chroma crystal, meaning sparkly. DC- duo chrome .M- metallic. Some of the palettes come with shade names, but if you look carefully on the packaging, you will get the shadow number and type written.Â
Pricewise, the eyeshadows have a range of price between 25-30 dollars(the mini palettes) to hundreds of dollars (the 28 pan ones, if you are lucky to still find then). When I came up with this rank, I had in mind how much I really used that specific palette, if I used more than 1-2 colors, which to be honest it happens with a lot of different ones. Buying a palette is many times a trap, as you find yourself using over and over that same shade, reaching the pan and some even get untouched . I am thinking of creating a palette with all the different shades from different palettes and brands that I use the most.
But let’s start with this top first and see which Natasha Denona palette is for you.
My all time favorite eyeshadow palette. The BIBA eyeshadow palette (buy here). I would call it the “BRIDE PALETTE” if I could, because it is an all neutral, timeless beauty looks creator. Natasha put together 15 shades that are a mix of creamy mattes, metallic and cream powder finishes, including the first cream powder iconic black shade, the blackest black you could ever find. The color story goes by row with the first one featuring rich brown shades, the middle one burgundy and wine , and the last one cooler grey-ish tones.Â
This palette is my favorite because I am using so many shades, I have constantly touched most of them, which we all know it is an accomplishment when you use a palette. On some shades you reach the pan while others remain almost untouched.
First row, the rich brown shades is made out of 5 shades: Rustic- metallic copper, Prairie-matte camel, Coco-matte dark burgundy, Freckle- matte antique nude, Shine- metallic champagne
Second row- Pasha- matte red, Monroe- metallic pink champagne, Rayon- matte medium burgundy, Buff- matte antique pink, Tone- matte clay
Third row: Seed-matte dark chocolate, Tor-matte dark grey brown, Sculpture- matte light grey, Spot- matte dark black, Tusk- matte light beige.
What I mostly love about this palette and why is a good purchase? First thing first, it has 12 matte shades (out of 15) from light to dark, perfect for blending, outer corner and even as a whole eyelid color. It has 2 type of champagne shades for the inner corner or whole lid color, and they can be used also as highlighters. You can create both natural and Smokey looks, romantic or glam, which makes it so versatile. The colors are so creamy and easy to blend, very pigmented so what you see in the pan is what you get. This is my holy grail, my go-to neutral palette, despite the steep price tag . favorite shades inside of this mix? Coco, Shine, Monroe, Rayon, Tone, Sculpture, Tusk. Almost all shades, that is how much I love this one:))
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The Gold Eyeshadow palette (buy here) was created as a permanent product for the brand, but the formula and color combination changed and the new Golden palette took it’s place. I do not own yet the newer palette and I try very much not to get too similar palettes. But because the older one is not available anymore, you should consider the Golden one. The OG features a mix of gold inspired shades, as you may have guessed from the name. It has cool, warm and neutral shades, but the cool ones only come from the 2 teal ones, that do not appear in the new one anymore. So you could think as a warm-yellow-toned overall palette which is so useful for creating natural, earthy tones, Smokey makeup looks.Â
The first row is made of Lime-a golden apricot with a green duo-chrome finish, Python-a deep teal with a creamy matte finish, Sparks- a sheer vanilla gold with a sparkling finish, Aria- a warm pink beige with a creamy matte finish, Cava- a champagne gold with sparkling finish.
The second row: Aurora- a peacock blue with a sparkling finish, Dijon- a rich mustard (obvious) with a creamy matte finish, Oro- a warm gold with a metallic finish, Log- a dark brown with a creamy matte finish, Varis- a medium brown with a metallic finish
Third row: Brass- a green toned gold with metallic finish, Sandstone- a cool yellow beige with a creamy matte finish, Alchemist- a cool bronze gold with a metallic finish, Teak- a medium brown with a creamy matte finish, Aurum- a warm gold with metallic finish.
If browns and golds are overwhelming you in this palette, it is not a problem, as you will not need another product with these shades. One palette is enough. I would only consider it to be catering to medium or medium-dark warm complexions because of the tonality of the shades. I believe the new Golden eyeshadow palette comes to complete the range, so I understand the add-on to the brand. There are 6 creamy matte shades and the rest metallic, sparkling ones. It is a good proportional selection of finishes that can help create many makeup looks only by the use of one palette. My favorite shades from the palette are all the matte ones , because of their creamy-ness. The fallout is almost inexistent, they blend like a dream and they are perfect for when the client asks you to make a “brown”, “earth toned” eyeshadow look. From the shimmery ones, my favorite is the Varis shade , a medium brown with a metallic finish as the base is opaque and the shine comes from a fine mild component and not a chunky glitter.Â
I am sooo sorry for you, but the Metropolis eyeshadow palette is a limited edition one too. The moment we started doing makeup on models in school, we were introduced to this palette and the Star one. Between the two I chose the Metropolis one, as it has some pop of color that is inspiring me to create some out of the ordinary looks. The mattes are so buttery and they blend like a dream. A mini Metropolis palette is available at the time, with only 3 shades from the midi palette: Blaze, Rope and Jubilee and another two new shades: Bole and Corrode, both creamy mattes.
The shade combination goes from shimmers to mattes, from peachy to murky olive greens and blues, from warm tones to moderate neutral and even a few cool shades. That makes the palette versatile and reduces the need of reaching out to other shades/palettes. Although the 28 pan size palette contains the same quantity of product as a 15 pan one , you get more shades to choose from and can create more looks. You will find 3 real creamy matte shades and 10 cream to powder ones, those feel wet but dry to a semi-matte velvety finish. The pigments in Metropolis are really powerful, meaning you have to start gradually and build up your look if you don’t want to go all dramatic from the beginning. The palette is build from 4 rows of 7 pans each one. Remember each quad taken separate can create a whole look, as Natasha herself had in mind.
The first row consists of: Rust 249M- warm copper with a metallic finish, Troop 250CP- deep olive with matte finish, Orium 251DC- golden peach with a duo-chrome finish, Shield 252M- Brown bronze with metallic finish, Ripe 252CM-clay red with matte finish, Stain 254CP- muted orange with matte finish, Mace 255M- gilded peach with metallic finish.
Second row: Rope 256CM- peachy beige with matte finish, Fuse 257M- Golden orange with metallic finish, Lethal 258CP- khaki with matte finish, Penny 259M- orange copper with metallic finish, Chrism 260CP- soft terracotta with matte finish, Aqueous 261M- steel blue with metallic finish, Queen 262 M- iced champagne with metallic finish.
Third row: Blaze 263K- Bright shimmery gold, Noble 264M- Beige taupe with metallic finish, Imperia 265M- Antique gold with metallic finish, Royal 266CP- Forest green with matte finish, Crest 267M- Rose gold with metallic finish, Enigma 268CP- Deep blue with metallic finish, Pure 269CP- Warm light brown with a matte finish.
Forth row: Azoic 270CP- Chocolate brown with matte finish, Jubilee 271M- Royal teal with metallic finish, Symbol 272CP- Blue black with matte finish, Rhizome 273CM- Ochre with matte finish, Claret 274M- Berry pink with metallic finish, Helena 275K- peachy copper with metallic finish, Antique 276CP- Red-toned brown with a matte finish.
This palette is particularly special because of all the blue/green shades that you need sometimes when a more colorful makeup is requested for brown eyes. My favorite shades are: Queen-for the inner corner or all over the lid light champagne, Ripe, Pure, Noble, Azoic, Symbol, Rhizome- for transitions and bordering the eye on the lower part.Â
Another nude palette on the market you will say? First of all, the I NEED A NUDE palette(BUY HERE) is a true NUDE palette. Let’s talk about the difference between NUDE and NEUTRAL. Nude makeup tries to mimic the wearer’s natural tones, creating the illusion of a makeup-free look, while neutral makeup focuses on neutral tones that can be more vibrant or less and can vary in depth, saturation, color. As you can observe, most of the shades in the pan are more muted, with a cool-toned color story, featuring rosy and nude colors.
The midi-size palette features 2 high-shine metallic, 7 buttery-soft matte and 3 sparkling foiled finishes plus 3 brand new eyeshadows in the wet effect formula with sparkling and glossy finishes. Although some might say it’s a washed out color story, the eyeshadows are very pigmented and they are versatile for creating day to day elegant , dramatic glossy eye finishes or bridal glam. The perfect combination of dusty rose to icy pinks, sparkling champagne to coffee browns.Â
First row consists of: Stone 493CM- Matte light medium warm taupe, Whisper 494M-Metallic light nude pink, Ella 495SF- Sparkling foiled warm fawn, Vague 496CM- Matte medium warm dusty rose, Travertine 497M- Metallic soft amber
Second row: Delilah 498SW- Sparkling wet effect silver brown, Silhouette 499CM- Matte coffee bean brown, Muse 500SF- Sparkling foiled champagne, Fair 502CM- Matte light misty rose, Filigree 502SF- Sparkling foiled medium neutral brown
Third row: Wit 503CM- Matte light warm rose, Sheen 504GW- Glossy wet effect warm champagne, Tender 505CM- Matte medium taupe, Mesh 506CM- matte light dusty rose, Mia 507SW- Sparkling wet effect icy pink.
Favorite pan from this eyeshadow palette? All of them, as I just realized all shades have been touched. This is a must have palette for who does makeup, as it’s the answer for most client’s requests like earthy, brownie, classic, nude, timeless, beauty look. I would like to point out the “Travertine” shade , which is a dupe for the “Sidecar” eyeshadow from the relaunched “Naked” palette by Urban Decay.
5. Glam eyeshadow palette
This palette, although a classic in the brand portfolio, has been only one of my latter purchases as I felt like I have some other palettes with the same color story. Once I’ve swatched the shades , I knew that I need only this palette for neutral pulling towards cool looks, from super dramatic smoky eyes to natural everyday looks.
The Glam palette(buy here) is a midi one, with 15 pans in a cool and neutral toned color story , a balanced mix of chroma crystal, creamy matte and metallic finish shades, for everyday but also elevated event looks. The choice of the names for the shades was not the best one, to say it in a nice way as it got a lot of backlash in the social media. First, because it’s creating confusion as they tell you how you should use the shade, but each individual has different a skin tone and maybe a different look we’re going after and second, some of the shades name itself caused controversy. I will not insist on the subject, and I will just write the number, finish and description of the shade.Â
We will start with the first row from top, left to right. 320M-Dusty light rose, 321M- Medium warm grey brown, 322K- Peachy champagne, 323CM- Medium cool taupe, 324CM- Mushroom grey.
Second row: 325CM- Medium cool brown, 326CM- Cool sienna, 327CM- Deep cool brown, 328M- Light pewter with a metallic finish, 329M- Silver warm taupe with a metallic finish.
Third row: 330M- Medium gold with metallic finish, 331M- Warm dark brown, 332M- Pale gold with metallic finish, 333M- Medium cool grey brown, 334M- Warm champagne with metallic finish.
6. Love eyeshadow Palette
From all my ND palettes, I found that I use the Love one the least. Also a limited edition one, the color story is ideal for green/blue eyes, as it enhances their beauty, if you know any of color theory. It is mix of romantic pinks, mauves, purples, corals, and burgundies made of 6 shimmers, 7 mattes and 2 cream to powder hybrid pans. The matte shades I found them to be a little bit more difficult to build intensity, with some dusty finish going on, but that didn’t extremely bother me as I always use a primer for my oily lids and I have a heavy hand when it comes to application. You can see the swatches in natural light, the colors are truly beautiful.
The pans go in the palette as follows :
First row : First 287CM- Peachy beige with a creamy matte finish, Lifetime 288K- Warm gold with shimmer finish, Heartbeat- Deep maroon with a creamy matte finish, Transparent- Bronzed champagne with a metallic finish, Trust- Deep plum with a creamy matte finish
Second row: Heart- Rich red with a creamy matte finish, Giving- Coral with a pink duo chrome finish, Pure Love- Warm plum with blue reflects and duo chrome finish, Commitment- Burgundy brown with a creamy matte finish, Blind- Silver with a metallic finish.
Third row: Soul- Deep dusty rose with a creamy matte finish, Passion- Deep burgundy with a shimmer finish, Intense- Peachy pink with a creamy matte finish, Valentine- Rose pink with a creamy matte finish, Dream- Amethyst with a metallic finish.