May 9, 2018

Urban Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

This was provided to me by a brand for review and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post but all opinions are my own.

Urban Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette ($24) is a new Macy’s exclusive eyeshadow palette that contains five all new shades to create a gorgeous sunset eye look. This release comes as no surprise and I even predicted there being more to come from Urban Decay Summer 2018 in my recent Beached Eyeshadow Palette Review. I imagine next up Sephora will be getting some sort of exclusive as well or they might hold off and launch something late Summer for the Fall 2018 season.

This is also a testimony of how far Macy’s has come. They are trying very hard to create a notch for themselves between Ulta and Sephora with competitive sales and exclusive launches. They have a ways to go but so far they are holding their own. With Macy’s doing so poorly and so many stores closing this could be their saving grace. Cause lord knows they need it.

But I digress let’s get back to the Urban Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette which at a glance looks quite visually pleasing. Colors like this are so my shades. I love warm dune shades, oranges, and browns so you can imagine this was calling my name. The one shade I was iffy about was Golden Hour which they call a burnt red with a green shift but to be it seems a greenish brown with brown and green shift. Anyone that’s a duochrome lover will likely adore this shade but I personally felt it was very out of place with the warmer oranges and browns in the palette.

Let’s take a look at the palette below.

Urba Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette arrives in a slim line rectangle compact with a nice sized mirror and five eyeshadows laid out inside with their names printed below the wells. The palette is made in the USA.

As I mentioned above the five shades are all brand new and are available in range of finishes from matte to metallic to shimmer. Shades include:

  • Nudie (soft pink-nude matte)
  • Vibe (warm brown with gold micro-shimmer)
  • Paradox (metallic orange with gold micro-shimmer)
  • Golden Hour (burnt red with green shift and green micro-shimmer)
  • Influence (metallic brown with gold micro-shimmer)

I actually love so many of these shades but most of them weren’t formulated very well in my opinion. They also refused to work well together and I found it very challenging to create a look using them together. For my first look I tried the shade Influence with Paradox on my lid and on my outer V but Paradox blends very poorly. The shade just blends away into nothingness and has a chalkier consistency on my lids. I tried using Nudie as my highbrow highlighter but I could barely pick up any color with my brush. It’s a sheer shade and the texture feels silky enough but my brush simply refuses to pick any of it up and I have to swipe super hard to get any pigment transferred to the bristles of my brush.

Urban Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette Swatches (Nudie, Vibe, Paradox, Golden Hour, Influence)

Vibe and Influence were two shades that did have fairly good formulas. Not the best by any means but not as bad as Paradox and Nudie! Vibe was soft and silky with good pigmentation and Influence was velvety with a buttery texture that had excellent color pay off as well. Golden Hour had a chunkier texture with a sheerer color pay off and would work best as an overcoat versus an all over lid shade.

As for creating a look I found it impossible! I just couldn’t get these shades to work. I get the “golden hour” theme they have going on here but I had trouble contrasting with the colors and creating the sunset themed eye look they were going for here. Unfortunately, my look here is completely boring and uneventful. I just couldn’t get more than one shade on my lid without blending the look into a muddy mess. So I’m wearing Vibe only on my lids. Boring, uneventful, and lacking creativity but I just couldn’t get the shades to work together!

Sorry but I thought the Urba Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette wasn’t formulated well at all and felt like a very rushed release. I guess at this price can afford to give it a whirl but I’d recommend waiting! It’s bound to go on sale within a month or less.

Urba Decay Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette is available now at macys.com.

This was provided to me by a brand for review and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post but all opinions are my own.

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‘.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  • Carol

    Sounds like Macy’s got the loser palette to go along with their loser store (I worked there so I am completely jaded towards them, sorry). But I knew by looking at the pics of this it would be a big ol’ fat bust. I wouldn’t even buy it on clearance as it pretty much sounds like it’s completely useless. Shame, though. Because UD is just hurting themselves by offering subpar products.

    • Linda G

      100% correct. Did a stint last holiday season at my local Macy’s (they basically hired everyone who came in; I had no floor training and just basic work on the registers.) Quality of merchandise is generally poor and the beauty department is second rate to Sephora and even Ulta. The only thing keeping Macy’s in the public mind is the parade.

      • Isabella Muse

        34th is filled with tons of different beauty counters and plenty of higher end fragrances! The problem with Macy’s is they put no effort into any other store aside from the flagship location! It’s just a regular joe department store if you’re shopping in the suburbs but the flagship story has a higher-end feel. Well, it does until you hit the upper levels, at that point it goes downhill since the floors need to be redone and the building seems to be decaying in certain areas lol!

        • Linda G

          I once got lost in the upper floors of 34th Street Macy’s (as an adult!). I couldn’t find any exits or escalators and I thought they would be finding my body there. There was an article that appeared in the Times that said the value of the flagship store and the land (plus the other landmark stores they bought such as Wanamaker’s here in Philly and Marshall Fields in Chicago) are worth more than the Macy’s brand.

          • Isabella Muse

            LOL really? Ha….! Don’t go around Christmas, the tourists will never let you escape. They are probably right which is such a shame!

          • Isabella Muse

            when you visit keep your cell handy, if you get loss call me, I’ll save you!

  • Jujubes

    Thank you for your review! You saved me so much money over the years. 🙂 I am getting the Beached palette, it looks much better than this one and you gave it your approval which I can totally rely on.

    • Isabella Muse

      Wow thank you I’m flattered you trust my opinion! I really think that is the better purchase 🙁 This palette just didn’t have good textured shades!

  • Sara

    Bummer. I was kind of thinking about getting it.
    Thanks for the heads up!

    • Isabella Muse

      sorry :-/ maybe swatch in stores just to be safe! My pleasure!

  • Susan

    Wow. I’m guessing it’s coming soon to Nordstrom Rack for $9. And I agree with Jujubes about the Beached palette and your great swatches of that one!

    • Isabella Muse

      Thanks Susan 🙂 I dunno about Nordie’s rack but def Macy’s!

  • Cassi

    So bummed. I think I saw a palette with a similar color scheme at colourpop so I guess I’ll get that for my travel bag.

  • Kish

    Blah. Wish companies would focus more on quality and less on quantity. This is getting pathetic.

  • kjh

    Well, thanks to your note on the Macy’s f&f did get Smashbox Punked and Nars Fleur. Somewhere I read that Smashboox reformulated their Covershot formula. Suspect it’s true. The originals were often reviewed as not-so-hot, or uneven. Punked. is quite nice. Had an allergy/reactivity issue with the Nars; that never happened before. It’s the same thing as with Buxom Mink Magnet, and the research is not going particularly well on that problem….Uncertain if Fleur is a keeper, but it is gorgeous. Was howling at the comments on Macy’s. Another reason to quit the mall! This UD did not appeal to me in the first place!

    • Isabella Muse

      yay glad you scored a deal ;-D Oh no sorry about the NARS 🙁

  • Lana

    Did I miss the part where you mention the lip product your wearing the pictures? I love it!

    • Isabella Muse

      oh thanks Lana! It’s Vice Lipstick Fuel 2.0 with a bit of gloss on top!

  • Curious

    The PR says the shades are new, but Nudie is in the Naked Ultimate Basics Palette and Paradox is in the Alice Through the Looking Glass palette. Did they change the colors and reuse the names? They look the same online.

  • kellly

    I thought the colors were so pretty but was probably going to skip it b/c UD uses carmine in so many of their reds and oranges. Now that I see the quality is just meh, you saved me my money so I can go out and spend it on something else, of course!