Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches
Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette ($29) is a new, limited edition palette that contains six eyeshadows that are matte and shimmer in finish. I did a post about this yesterday where I mention how I think this is some prelude of a Naked Purple or Smoky Purple Eyeshadow Palette for Fall 2018. I couldn’t be completely off base here but I suspect that’s upcoming it’s just this time Urban Decay used a reversal strategy for the launch as originally the Naked Heat Eyeshadow Palette, which was bigger, launched before the Petite Heat Eyeshadow Palette. This this case looks like they are going smaller first and bigger later this Fall.
Purple does look like it’s going to be quite huge this season but with a twist as we’ve seen with the Norvina Eyeshadow Palette. What’s the twist? These purples aren’t cool by any means and are paired up with warm shades. I actually like this trend but I know a lot of disappointed by the lack of cooler shades. I don’t mind much since I don’t look great in cooler purples but I totally understand the disappointment.
Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette comes housed in slim business card shaped compact that holds six eyeshadows each labeled with their name as well as a mirror. The total amount of eyeshadow is 0.24 oz and the palette is made in the USA.
This palette gave me a little taste of Fall and I actually had a lot more fun playing with it than I thought I would. At a glance I was a little stumped which shades would pair up well together. Technically the palette only includes one purple shade called Addict which I think for purple fans will be incredibly disappointing as the rest of the palette includes warmer shades. I think a lot of the shades are easily duped if you have a lot of different UD palettes in your stash. For example, Sheets and Beyond seem like shades we’ve seen a lot of. Beyond looks a bit similar to Vibe which appeared in the recent Lightbeam Eyeshadow Palette. Even Glare doesn’t seem terribly unique as it looks a bit like Urban Decay Midnight Blast. Sadly, there’s not a lot of “newness” here but you might like the fact the shades actually do pair together well even though at first glance it’s like, “How the hell is this going to work!?”
I spent a little time with the palette and tried to sort out how I wanted my look to pan out and for the life of me I just couldn’t figure out where I’d work Addict into my look. I finally decided Addict would go all over my lid with Whiplast blended at the outer corner and Night Fever patted gently onto the inner part of my lid. The shades worked well together but I did have to be careful during the blending process as they had a tendency to go muddy.
You’ll get three mattes and three shimmers i this palette although I really feel like Addict had more of a satiny pearl feel. I actually feel like the mattes were fairly dense and a bit drier in texture but they applied well enough without patchiness or powdery kick up. The shimmers felt a lot less dense and had a creamier texture with excellent pigment. Night Fever was the sold shade that had fall out and was a bit harder to use with a brush. I ended up patting it on my lid with a finger for the best application as it was chunkier in texture and hard to pick up with a brush.
The Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette doesn’t really bring anything refreshing or new to the world of eyeshadow or the world of purple eyeshadow for that matter but there are some fun looks you can create using this palette. It’s also a nice palette for travel if you’re looking to pack light. It did evoke a sense of Fall in me and I think the looks you can create using it are definitely geared towards the season ahead. I’m not sure you absolutely need this one but if you’re an Urban Decay fan it might just call to you!
Do you think you’ll be buying it?
Where to buy
Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette is a new, limited edition eyeshadow palette that contains six shadows which are matte and shimmer in finish. The palette is $29 holds a total of 0.24 oz of eyeshadow. The shades aren’t terribly unique here and although geared towards purple it’s still very much a warmer selection of shades and not cool as would would expect from purple. It in fact contains only one purple shades and the others are warmer nudes. I had fairly good results with the shadow formula with a bit of fall out on one of the shades. The blending process was a bit difficult since the colors can easily go muddy so a lighter touch is required.
- Lightweight, easy to store, perfect for travel.
- Creates a nice Fall look.
- Fairly affordable.
- Not a cooler purple palette and only contains one purple shade.
- Not a terribly unique selection of shades.
Anyone who likes purple but requires it to be a touch warmer should get on great with the Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette. Most people find this warmer purple trend annoying as they are wishing for some cooler shades since the beauty industry seems to focus so heavily on nudes. I don’t mind much since I can’t pull off cooler purple tones and I think the addition of the warming shades makes the purple a lot more easy to wear for me. That might be a key selling point for some people when it comes to this palette. I also think it might appeal to those who want a quick Fall eye look, want something easy to travel with, or just like Urban Decay and collect all their palettes!