Natasha Denona I Need A Nude Palette Review

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The Natasha Denona I Need a Nude Palette is a cool toned neutral palette with lots of taupes and pinks. About half of the 15 shades are powder mattes and the other half are a variety of different types of shimmers. Similar to the Yucca palette and many others from the brand, the palette is on the larger side with pans that can be removed from the packaging and a nice large mirror inside the lid. For this one, they went a little bit farther on the outside design of the lid than they have with previous palettes. This one has an acrylic layer set over top some graphic elements underneath, giving it just a bit more thickness than older palettes. All other dimensions are the same.

The shades inside have a range of neutral light taupes, some cooler-toned bronze shimmers, a couple of obvious rosy pinks, and some neutrals with strong pink undertones. There are several pale to light shimmers varying from neutral nude to pale pink. As someone with a cool-to-neutral skin tone, I think the shade selection is flattering and easy to wear. I don’t have to force anything to work on me by altering the shade of my foundation or choosing specific blush/lip colors. However, it’s difficult to categorize this palette as truly neutral or cool toned. It relies heavily on pink, even in the taupe shades so that gives it less of a cool-looking effect. If you don’t like pinky neutrals, it may not be the best fit.

Quality is generally good here, but definitely look further into the “What’s Inside” section for specific formulas, because they all vary somewhat.

Price: $69
Availability: Natasha Denona, Sephora, Ulta, Beautylish

Swatches

Stone – Powder matte. Light taupe with subtle pink undertones.
Whisper – Metallic. Pale pinky nude. All fine shimmer, somewhat frosty finish.
Ella – Sparkling foiled. Medium bronze shimmer with a bit of sparkle.
Vague – Powder matte. Medium muted rose.
Travertine – Metallic. Sheer, light nude with a subtle sheen.
Delilah – Sparkling wet effect. Medium taupe base with large, highly reflective silver and pink sparkle.
Silhouette – Powder matte. Deep cool toned brown.
Muse – Sparkling foiled. Pale pinky nude with tons of large, highly reflective silver and pink sparkle. Most foiled looking shade in the palette.
Fair – Powder matte. Light nude with strong pink tones. Looks a bit darker on the skin than in the pan.
Filigree – Sparkling foiled. Medium-deep bronze shimmer with a some sparkle. Similar to Ella but more pigmented, a bit deeper and creamier-feeling.
Wit – Powder matte. Medium peachy rose.
Sheen – Glossy wet effect. Pale rosy nude with a fair amount of smaller sparkle.
Tender – Powder matte. Medium deep, cool-toned taupe.
Mesh – Powder matte. Medium rosy taupe. Very similar to Stone but this has stronger pink tones.
Mia – Sparkling wet effect. Pale pink. This one looks and feels most like something with a wet effect. More reflective than the other two wet effect shades. Lots of both fine shimmer and sparkle. Not quite as “blinding” as Muse, but still very reflective.

What’s Inside

7 Powder Mattes

All of the mattes in this palette are powder mattes. They all more or less apply in a similar way with buildable color payoff and easy blending. Some of the deepest shades were easier to blend out when applying the dark shades first and gradually fading color upward with a flat brush rather than using fluffy brushes and lighter shades first. Lighter shades applied well either way. Fallout was close to non-existant with these shades. They went on more evenly and were faster to build up when applied over a primer instead of directly to the skin. Some mattes darken with exposure to moisture or oil in the line of my crease and these are that type. It isn’t terrible and a primer does the trick. They are smooth with no grittiness in the powder and sit well on the skin without accentuating dryness. Wear time ended up being little short for me, around 6-7 hours over primer before beginning to notice fading and barely visible creasing.

2 Standard Shimmers

These are their “metallic” formula with all fine shimmer particles that give off a smoother non-sparkly sheen. The sheen is more reflective than what I would consider a satin finish but not as shiny as what I consider to be metallic. They are somewhat sheerer than some of their previous metallics I’ve tried, especially the shade Travertine. They are the type of shimmer I’d reach for if I wanted a soft wash of shimmer when wearing a barely-there, everyday kind of makeup look. Still, I think they apply well enough with a dry flat shader and look flattering. Fallout is minimal for these shades.

3 Sparkling Foiled Shades

These have a mixture of larger sparkle and fine shimmer. The finish I get is not all the same from these. Two of them (Ella and Filigree) have a subtler amount of reflect and do not really give me a “foiled” effect. Muse is the only one that gives me a high shine finish. All of these also apply fine with a dry brush some with more immediate color payoff than others. There is more fallout from them than the metallics but it is still very manageable and pretty easy to clean up.

3 Wet Effects (2 Sparkling Wet Effects, 1 Glossy Wet Effect)

These are a new formula for them. For all three of these, the first ingredient listed is diisostearyl malate, an emollient and skin conditioner. They do not feel like creams and they are not squishy, but they are smoother and have more slip than the other shimmers. The sheen I get from these isn’t what I would describe as wet, maybe more like glowy or dewy. They give me a slightly different look than the other shimmer formulas, but temper your expectations with these new shades.

There are two finishes here: sparkly wet effect, and glossy wet effect. In my opinion, these are all sparkly. I don’t get more dewy sheen from any particular one. Sheen and Mia have small sparkle particles and Delilah has larger sparkles. Mia is the most reflective, seeming to have the most amount of sparkle. Delilah has significant fallout, more than what I remember being typical of other shimmers I’ve tried from the brand. Mia was a bit better in terms of fallout, and Sheen had the least.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• High quality cool-toned shades. Stone, Mesh, and Tender are the type of shades I look for when I’m going for a cool-toned look but cool-tones that blend well and apply smoothly are usually harder to find. They did a fantastic job with these.
• Feels complete for easy, everyday looks. Quick and easy to work with.
• If you like neutrals but already have basic browns, this will expand that neutral selection.

Drawbacks to consider:

• Some shades are too similar to each other: Stone and Mesh, Vague and Wit, Filigree and Ella. None of these are exactly duping each other but I’d rather have significantly different shades.
• Fallout from Delilah is pretty heavy, more than what I find typical for Natasha Denona shimmers.
• The new formula is a bit of a let down in terms of what I was expecting. The shadows are pretty and the shades Sheen and Mia give me a slightly different effect than other shimmers but I feel the name exaggerates the actual look I get.
• Filigree is a bit texturizing to my lid. It has a semi-creamy texture to it and when applied too heavily, it can look thick and textured on the lid.

Looks

Look 1:

• Fair – All over lid, inner corner, brow bone
• Stone – Transition, lower lash line 
• Tender – Outer lid/crease
• Silhouette – Deepen outer corner
• Whisper – Inner corner
• Delilah – All over lid

Look 2:

• Fair – Inner corner, brow bone
• Mesh – Transition
• Tender – Outer lid/crease
• Travertine – Lower lash line 
• Mia – All over lid (first applied with dry brush, then finger on one eye, then wet brush on the other eye)
• Silhouette – Pressed into base of upper lashes

Look 3:

• Fair– Transition
• Vague – Outer lid/crease
• Mesh – Inner lid/crease
• Tender – Lower lash line 
• Silhouette – Eyeliner
• Sydney Grace Snow Queen single shadow – Inner corner, center of lid, brow bone

Look 4:

• Silhouette – Most of lid, crease, smudged into lower lashline
• Tender – Above crease, to blend out Silhouette
• Stone – Transition to further blend out deep brown
• Wit – Inner corner
• Ella – Lower lash line 
• Filigree – Center of lid
• Muse – Inner corner, around edges of Wit (applied with dampened brush)
• Sheen – Cheek highlight

Look 5:

• Fair – Transition
• Vague – All over lid/crease, lining above crease
• Wit – Diffused outward from lashline
• Silhouette – Smudged into lower lash line
• NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk – Center of lid
• Sheen – Center of lid, over top NYX Jumbo Pencil
• Muse – Inner corner (applied with dry brush)
• Sydney Grace Snow Queen single shadow – Brow bone