September 6, 2012

Mally Beauty In the Buff Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

Mally In the Buff Eyeshadow Palette ($45) is a newly launches eleven pan eyeshadow compact featuring all nude shades of shadow.

I was very excited about this launch because 1. I love Mally’s makeup and 2. I absolutely adore nude, natural shades of color lately.

Yes, yes, I already own both Urban Decay Naked Palettes and no, there probably isn’t anything around at the moment that can top them. But I was every so tempted to have a look at what In the Buff would bring to my natural world.

Here’s some thoughts!

This is a little slimmer than Urban Decay’s Naked Palette and features a faux snake skin print in green. Inside you get 11 shades of shadow, a dual end brush, and an Eye Base.

The shadow brush is an excellent tool for creating your smoky natural look and features a bushy ended blending brush on one end and a small domed brush on the other. I typically like Mally’s brushes as they always have excellent bristles that are soft without any shedding issues. I liked this brush a lot and couldn’t help but wish Urban Decay did something similiar with their Naked boxes. However, the blending brush did have very long, floppy bristles. The lack of density does make blending a little messy so just keep that in mind.

The total net size of the eyeshadows is 0.4 oz. In terms of size Urban Decay does pack a little more into their Naked Palettes plus instead of an eye base you get another eyeshadow. Considering powders and cream don’t play very well together I’d have either liked Mally to skip the cream base for another shadow or rethink the packaging by having some sort of lid for it.

The cream base is quite nice although I’m not a fan of prepping with it. This is somewhat like Benefit Lemon aid but a nude beige shade which brightens up eyes and lays down canvas for powders. I does give the shadows something to adhere to but the thickness of the cream also ends up in allowing the powder to crease. Or at least this is the case for me so I skipped prepping with it.

Now I am very sad to say this but the shadow formula is not great. It’s a nice, graduating selection of colors that range from beige all the way up to a chocolatey liner shade with a variety of satin to matte finishes.

My issues was with the formulation of the shadow. Again, I hate to say this, but I’ve seen better quality from E.L.F. I quickly logged onto QVC to see what others were saying about the palette but it looks like raves across the board. So maybe I’m too picky?

Some of the shades are very sheer and provide very little color pay off where as others are very powdery and chalky. I did run across two shades (second two at the end of the compact) that had a fairly ok (just ok mind you) formula with a buttery almost velvet like texture. But outside of those two colors I felt like the quality wasn’t here for the rest.

I’m not really sure what I expected. My track record with Mally has always been fairly good. But the In the Buff Eyeshadow Palette seems a poor, mediocre imitation of Urban Decay’s awesome Naked Palette.

I had plans to rave this when it arrived and was sure I’d love it now it just seems like a poor purchase on my part.

If you want great, just go with Urban Decay.

Mally’s In the Buff Eyeshadow Palette just isn’t it.

Tried it?

Love it?

Do share!

Available now at QVC.com

I purchased this item.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • JenJ

    Oooooh wooooow!!! I was expecting Mally to hit this one out of the park and you to rave about it. I was tempted to order. I have Naked I and still very tempted to get Naked 2. I’ve tried her eye base before and it wasn’t “bulletproof” on me. So I could do without it in a palette. I’ve never tried her power shadow but they seem to get good reviews from her Perfect Palettes. Interesting indeed.

    • the Muse

      same here jen but no go 🙁 past palettes from mally for me, have been good, but this no good 🙁

  • Cj

    I don’t know if it’s just me, but I really don’t like large palettes, anything over like 4 shades just gets me super confused and then I end up only using 2 or 3 shades and then I get mad that I don’t use the rest lol. Am I just weird?

    • the Muse

      lol no! I can relate! But I’m also like OMGZ more is better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!zzzzzzz!!!!!!

    • JenJ

      I can relate! I like smaller palettes, quads, trios and duos. I had a few of the 88 and 120 palettes. I gave them away to friends. I need keep the 88 neutral since I’m neutrals whore lol!

  • Nina

    Darn, I ordered this palette last week after the rave reviews posted on QVC and now I regret that decision. I trust your reviews and now I feel like I will be returning this palette. I already have both of the Naked Palettes and don’t need this palette if it is mediocre. Sucks that I will loose $12 in shipping costs though. =(…

    P.S… I think I am the only person other than yourself that is loving the new Too Faced Return of Sexy palette. =). LOL

    • the Muse

      nina, I look forward to your thoughts on this, please update me when it arrives? I am seeing SO many raves that I had to question whether I am being too picky…but these just seemed dry and powdery 🙁 send it back via first class mail usps, it should be around 4.50 or less to get back to qvc 🙂 LOL I know right?! I noticed that I am alone lol good to have a too faced friend hehe!

      • Nina

        Muse,

        I don’t even want to try it now after reading your review. LOL. I have too many nice shadows to waste time applying crappy ones. I might just ship this back as soon as I get it and purchase the Lorac Pro Palette instead. I purchase a lot of things based on your reviews because I have found that we have very similar tastes in make-up and you have never let me down. ;)… It is too bad that I have to ship it back since it looks so pretty and I will loose $$ in shipping charges… I should have waited for your review first, but QVC had it on easy pay so I pulled the trigger. :(.

        • the Muse

          you can always try it chica, qvc is awesome about returns on tested product! ;-D yay! I’m so happy to hear that, always so flattering when someone says a review or post helped them ;-D I know, same here, that damn easy pay def tempted me le sigh! I expected it to be an INSTANT hit no luck ;(

    • Robin

      Jumping in; love the Too Faced Return to Sexy!!

      LORAC’s Unzipped is my HG for nudes!

      • ashley

        LORAC’s Unzipped is really good for everyday or sultry smokey:) I loooove it too!

  • Caitlin

    Just looking at your swatches, I actually thought, “That formula looks kind of grainy and dry.” Then I scrolled down, and saw you didn’t like the formula. So, feel vindicated. I could see it just in your pictures.

    • the Muse

      mmm def! I didn’t say dry in the review but probably should have, they are just powdery not chalky really but def drier 🙁

  • nicci

    I hope this doesn’t come across as mean but I am getting kind of tired of other brands totally ripping off the Naked palette, especially when the overall product is crummy or so-so. The worst I have seen is the Victoria Secret “Naked” palette version…couldn’t they at least think of another term besides “naked”? apparently not…

    Good thing Urban Decay is not like Apple – a lot of companies would be struck with lawsuits! 🙂

  • Kiss & Make-up

    Too much in the buff for me, I don’t need any more neutral shades. Gimme some neon pink. NAO! 😉

  • Cindy

    Thanks for this review! Even though I have the Naked palette, I still have this obsession with browns and nudes. I’ll have to take a pass on this, me and my wallet thank you!

    • the Muse

      same here cindy! could be a complete dupe and I still want it if it is natural!

  • Louise

    Definitely gonna pass– thanks for the review! Have you heard about the Lorac Hautelook exclusive on Friday? That looks promising!

  • Linda

    I really like this palette. Formula is not as good as ud but the e/s quAlity compares to mac to me

    • the Muse

      wow linda! ya think? I didn’t get that sadly 🙁 a little too dry/sheer for me. glad you like!

  • fatima

    This was my first Mally purchase and I have to say the shades worked on me. For the first time ever I used a brush to apply eyeshadow and it was sooo easy.

  • LilLouLou

    Wow, I’m really glad I waited. I almost ordered it when it was on air. Now I can put that money on The Return of Sexy instead! I’m surprised though. I’ve never gotten anything from Malley that I didn’t love!

    • the Muse

      same here, I’ve run into one or two mally dislikes but I always love her stuff for the most part but not this 🙁

  • Ann Marie

    I absolutely LOVE your ratings … you are spot on with everything …. I always see a new thing and want to try it and THANK YOU so much for saving me money!!!!

  • Majick

    I absolutely love Mally’s packaging BUT, I’m just not sold on her products. I have some shadow palettes from past kits and the shadows are really nice. Ijust don’t find myself reaching for them anymore. I was not a big fan of her primer either.

  • OrangeLipstickBlog

    Wow, I was totally expecting this to be awesome! I think it’s cute and I like the green snake skin. Bummer! Glad to know it’s a “pass” item!

  • susan

    I’m not remotely surprised. I find Mally to be a great artist to watch doing a demo but I am constantly astonished at the rave reviews on QVC for her products that a) claim to be innovative and are blatant, poorly executed rip-offs of other brands or b) claim to be ‘bullet proof’ and are so far from it. The best is her eye make up remover which actually says ‘avoid contact with the eyes’! Rant over…

    • the Muse

      susan, I’m cool with some of her eyeliners, they really do wear well…but never noticed about the eye makeup remover OMG that would be funny if not a little scary!

  • Jessica

    Bought this, tried it, returned it a few days later. Ended up liking the ELF Little Black Beauty Book warm python edition that I bought a couple days before Mally’s arrived better. Was so wanting to like this Mally palette as well…guess I saved some money in the end.

  • Becca @ The Beauty Sample

    This is beautiful! I recently tried Mally and I’m loving everything so far–this palette looks beyond beautiful!

  • myprettypaints

    Wow! So many Naked palette dupes. I do like like how these dupes have slight variations. The addition of an eye base is great!