Disclaimer: This post features a product that was gifted to me. I am under no obligation to post and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Product Details
The Alter Ego Goddess Palette is a 15 pan eyeshadow palette that was created as a “dupe” for the well known Natasha Denona Gold Palette. It contains 13.5 grams / 0.48 oz of product.
The packaging feels heavier than you would expect for a more affordable/budget product and actually contains removable magnetic pans! Inside the lid is a decent sized, good quality mirror.
Formula Overview
The mattes feel much more readily blendable and require more building up than the Natasha formula to get a similar level of color payoff. They remind me of the mattes from Lorac, Maybelline, and Covergirl. I did find myself occasionally dusting away color where I didn’t intend to but it wasn’t too problematic. I would rather have a formula like this where I have to reapply a shade at times rather than a formula that sticks to the skin and refuses to blend.
There are a variety of different types of shimmers, some with pretty big sparkle particles and some that are very fine and smooth. They have a good amount of shine to them. I wouldn’t describe them as being foiled but they reflect light nicely. The ones with larger particles seem to have less binder in them than Natasha’s do. I got A LOT of fallout from some of these shades and ended up using a glitter adhesive along with careful tapping off of the excess to keep it to a minimum. The ones with more of a fine/uniform texture have much less fallout.
Shade Selection
I got a bit frustrated with the matte to shimmer ratio partly because three of the mattes are SOO similar to each other once applied to the eye. There are several gold-tone shimmers but I thought they all looked sufficiently different from each other, even to wear together in the same look. Because the mattes are super bendable, I didn’t find it was necessary to use lighter transition shades or brow bone (skin tone) shades. I used them but I could have easily gotten away without them.
Wear Time
I tested 3 of my looks and got consistent wear of about 9-10 hours with very minor creasing. I used both Alter Ego’s eyeshadow primer and Nars Pro Prime to test. Both primers work well but I found Alter Ego’s to hold up slightly better.
- Artemis – This is an interesting shade that has what looks like 3 levels to it. Large sparkles within finer green shimmer within a deep matte grey base. Lots of fallout if used dry. Dampen your brush or use a glitter adhesive.
- Athena – Light brown with strong yellow undertones and a matte finish.
- Pandora – Light gold shimmer with large silver and gold sparkles. Lots of fallout if used dry.
- Iris – Medium warm brown with a matte finish.
- Lyssa – Light bronze-y gold shimmer with larger golden sparkles.
- Aura – Cooler brown with standard shimmer finish. Not as reflective as some of the other shimmers.
- Hera – Similar to Iris but more pink-toned. On the eye, you can hardly tell them apart.
- Valkyrie – Pale greenish gold. This can have anywhere from a metallic to an iridescent finish depending on how heavily you apply it.
- Gaia – Blueish green with a matte finish. Can be built up but not as deep and rich as you might expect based on how it looks in the pan.
- Venus – Yellow gold with a standard shimmer finish.
- Freya – Chunky, sparkly white with a subtle golden sheen. Lots of fallout.
- Juno – Similar to Hera but slightly deeper and redder. Just as with the other medium browns, this looks almost the same on the eye.
- Luna – Pale bronze with a standard shimmer finish.
- Avalon – Deep brown with a matte finish.
- Cassandra – Mostly large light green sparkles in a sheer base. Lots of fallout. Looks gold here but the green is more visible in Look #3.
Looks
Look #1:
- Hera – Transition, outer lower lashline
- Gaia – Crease, inner lower lashline
- Avalon – All over lid
- Artemis – Layered over Avalon
- Freya – Inner corner, applied with dampened brush
- Venus – Near tear duct, outer upper lashline, applied with dampened brush
Look #2:
Describing where the colors go gets more tricky when they aren’t placed in the usual way lol. The yellowy brown is Athena, the teal is Gaia, the dark brown is Avalon, and the shimmery shade is Valkyrie. I applied Valkyrie with a dampened angled brush to get a more controlled application. For the sharp outer edges, I also used an angled brush (not dampened, though).
Look #3:
- Juno – Crease, lower lashline
- Avalon – Outer lid
- Cassandra – Center of lid
Look #4:
- Iris – Crease, lower lashline
- Aura – Inner and outer lid
- Luna – Center of lid
- Lyssa – Outer-ish lower lashline
- Pandora – Inner corner, applied over Too Faced Glitter Glue
- Avalon – Added this to outer lid at the end
Look #5:
- Athena – Crease
- Gaia – All over lid
- Artemis – Layered over Gaia, applied over Too Faced Glitter Glue
- Avalon – Inner/outer lower lashline
- Venus – Center of lower lashline, applied with dampened brush