Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Review
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette ($58) is a new, limited edition palette featuring 21 gorgeous, rainbow shades of eyeshadow which is launching October 26th at Sephora.com and Ulta.com. Earlier this Fall, Urban Decay launched their all matte Ultimate Basics Eyeshadow Palette for the Holiday 2016 season and it was delightful but not exactly a pick up if you love bold, dramatic eye looks.
Let’s face it, Urban Decay’s signature shade line up is known for dramatic, bold hues of color but the last few years they’ve taken to concentrating very, very hard on their Naked Collection of products and have released many, many different nude, neutral eyeshadow palettes. In some cases, I feel like a majority of their releases are nude, neutral palettes with a few “fun” colorful palettes mixed in. Some people were surprised to see the arrival of the Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette but I wasn’t. Urban Decay follows a pretty standard marketing plan when launching seasonal collections and that typically involves a big collection launch followed by a “surprise” palette of some sort a few weeks later. That’s where this colorful palette came into play. So, if the Ultimate Basics Eyeshadow Palette was a disappoint to you, I’m positive the rainbow hued shades of the Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette will have you jumping up and down in joy.
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette is a follow up to the Urban Decay Urban Spectrum Palette that launched last year but that palette featured more jewel tones where as Full Spectrum is most definitely about rainbow ones.
The packaging is very similar to last year’s version but where as before the entire lid was removable now the lid is attached which is fine by me as I tend to drop things when they aren’t attached. This also has a very generously sized mirror inside and a dual-sided eyeshadow brush. I always find the brushes that Urban Decay puts in these palettes very good quality. I’m actually always relieved they include a brush versus another Zero Eyeliner as I have a slew of them already! The outside of the compact features a colorful rainbow jeweled Urban Decay raised emblem against a lined black backdrop. As with much of Urban Decay’s packaging, this is beautifully presented and gives a little hint about the contents inside! The palette is made in the USA for those interested.
They designed this palette for folks that might be a little color challenged. If you find yourself opening an eyeshadow palette and scratching your head in confusion of which shades pair up well together you’ll be relieved to know you won’t be doing that with this. Urban Decay arranged all the shades in colorful matching trios to take the guess work out of creating a look. The top, middle, and bottom shades of each row are meant to be used together in a single complimentary look. Of course, you can mix, match, and use shades in any way you want but if you’re a bit color challenged this will be helpful when creating your look.
The palette contains a total of 21 shades, 18 of which are brand new with returning shades Alchemy from Vice 3 as well as Hatter and Metamorphosis from the Alice Through The Looking Glass Palette.
If makeup artistry is something you excel out this is an eyeshadow palette that will happily live in your stash as there are tons of shades here to create very elaborate looks. I love makeup, I wear makeup, I like to dabble and play with it, but I’m not creative enough to create elaborate looks with a palette like this. It could be a bit challenging for the average makeup user.
The palette is filled with a range of different finishes including mattes, shimmer, and glitters. I think the palette’s formula is testimony to Urban Decay’s evolution. The quality simply isn’t what it used to be. For example, we all know that Urban Decay glitter shades are laced with micro-glitter.� The shade Iced in this palette does in fact have glitter but the shadow formula is crumbly and flakier. This is the case with some of the other shimmers as well like Goldmine. Sadly, the soft, buttery texture that Urban Decay is known for isn’t quite here. These shades are drier with some shades being patchier during application. A good creamy base, a sponge eyeshadow applicator, and a good, dense blending brush go a long way at making these shades work.� I can’t be alone wondering what exactly changed with the Urban Decay formula.
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Warning, Seize, Jones)
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Midnight Blaze, Calavera, Goldmine)
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Hundred, Hatter, Mean)
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Minx, Blindsided, Metamorphosis)
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Alchemy, Gossip, Paranoia)
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Platonic, Iced, Bump_
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Delirious, Sketch, Faded)
This isn’t to say there aren’t some nice shades here. The mattes are very pigmented but I found myself wishing they were a little more softer in texture which allow for better application and blending. Some of the softer satins were the winners such as Warning, Hundred, and Mean. Shades like Alchemy and Midnight Blaze looked incredibly pigmented in the pan but had a patchier application and needed building to look good.
For my look above I’m a bit pasty! Haha! Sorry about that but I used my concealer AFTER applying eyeshadow which is something I don’t typically do. I typically apply concealer first and do my eye makeup later. I reversed application this time around as the blue had a bit of clean up after and concealer seemed logical. For this look I used Minx, Blindsided, and Metamorphosis.
The Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette has a lot on offer but it is a palette filled with shades you’ll have to work with in order to see the best results. This isn’t the Urban Decay Eyeshadow I fell in love with over ten years ago. The texture is a bit stiffer and drier than the normal range of single eyeshadows and needs a good cream base and a bit of TLC during application to get the perfect finish.
The Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette arrives October 26th at Ulta.com and Sephora.com as well as at urbandecay.com.