The Natasha Denona Tan Palette is a softly warm toned neutral palette with golden, peach, rosy, and olive toned shades. Compared to other neutral and warm toned palettes I’ve tried from this brand, this is one of the “less warm” warm-toned palettes and the selection of shades tiptoes lightly enough into warmth that it still feels comfortable for someone who is better suited to cool-toned neutrals. I think it could be a good option for someone that already has cooler neutral shadows and would be interested in experimenting with adding a bit more warmth. This goes for $72 and can be purchased from Natasha Denona, Sephora, Ulta, and several other large retailers.

The looks I get out of this palette read ever so slightly warm on me but I feel it fits my complexion well. For reference, the Natasha Denona I Need A Nude Palette (my review) is probably one of the best fits for my complexion and others like I Need A Warm and Golden are obviously warm on me. This one feels like a good companion to the I Need A Nude because if I wanted something slightly warmer that still feels like it fits well for me, this does that.

Looking at all the swatches together, I feel there are too many similar shades. None are exact dupes but this 15 pan palette could have been reduced down to like a 10 pan palette or even less while still offering plenty of shades to get the same types of looks. I can see how these specific shades with their subtle differences might be nice for someone that only wears these kinds of shades but if you like to play a little, the shades that are in here can start to feel redundant. 

Color payoff varied from shade to shade but I didn’t feel any were TOO sheer. The slip creams are sheerer than regular powder eyeshadows but can be layered and built up easily. The true powder mattes had just the right level of pigmentation where they showed up easily while still offering that buildable quality that makes shadows easy to work with. The shimmers were the same story. Some were more opaque than others but the ones that were more sheer felt intentional and not like they were too dry or lacking in pigment. I didn’t have any trouble getting the shadows to adhere to the skin or to layer and build on themselves.

Most shades had little to no fallout. The ones I did get noticeable and somewhat annoying fallout from were Dip (deepest brown), Spritz, Villa, and Celeste. For all of these, the fallout was not bad enough to discourage me from wanting to use this palette or those shades specifically. I’d still use them but be a little more cautious (make sure to powder under the eyes extra well, tap excess shadow off my brushes, press them on more than buffing over them).

Blending was easy for all the shades. The mattes were all exceptionally easy to blend and only the most sparkly shimmers were a little more challenging to blend (mainly because blending can make fallout worse).

Swatches

SANDAL – Slip cream. Medium brown with golden undertones. This is a cream-powder. Good color payoff, easy to build up fairly quickly, blends out super easily. Leaves a very faint dewy finish but doesn’t feel greasy or oily. Still feels mostly like a powder. Feels thin, lightweight, silky smooth, glides over the skin with little resistance. This worked well on the lower lash line, adhering well and applying evenly with good color payoff. Nice formula, I enjoyed it. Similar to Glide but slightly warmer than that one, especially if it is sheered out.
BURNT – Sparkling foiled. Light peach base color with larger copper, gold, and silver sparkles. It’s hard to tell if the base color is made of super fine shimmer, matte pigments, or a mix of both. Thicker, almost creamy feeling, but not waxy. Picked up and transferred to the lid easily and built up fairly quickly. Using this on the lower lash line, I got a very small amount of sparkle fallout. Used on the upper lid, it adhered very easily and built up pretty quickly. Fallout was minimal approaching moderate and easy to clean up. Reflect shows up well, isn’t too subtle but also isn’t blinding/foiled. It has strong opacity and I can clearly see the sparkles.
BROOK – Sparkling foiled. Deeper taupe with silver sparkle. Minimal fallout. Adheres well and builds up easily. Stays sparkly even when built up. Applying this with a brush gave me semi opaque color payoff and using a fingertip gave me closer to full opacity with this shade.
VILLA – Metallic formula. Pale nude fine shimmer with somewhat larger pale pink sparkles. The sparkles in this are smaller than in some of the sparkling foiled shades. I get moderate sparkle fallout from this which takes a bit more work to clean up than some of the other shimmers. The finish gives off a soft reflect with subtle sparkles. 
KISSED – Metallic formula. Light warm taupe with a satin finish. Small amount of fallout if I wasn’t careful to tap excess off brush. Good color payoff with not much effort. Soft reflect that gives a subtle glow to the lid. 
LAZY – Silky matte. Pale peach. This has enough depth to show up as a crease color on me and adds a noticeable peachy warmth. Good pigmentation. No need to spend a long time building it up. Didn’t make my lids look dry.
DIP – Slip cream.  Deep brown with mostly neutral undertones. Using this as eyeliner with an ABH #12 brush wasn’t my favorite. I was able to get it to work but I got fallout and it didn’t adhere super easily to the lid. Using this again with an old Morphe angled brush, it applied slightly better as an eyeliner. It adhered better but I still got some specks of fallout. It works as an eyeliner but I prefer true powders for this. Using this on the upper lid, it has quick easy color payoff. I can do an easy sheer layer that blends out relatively evenly but if I want to build up intensity, it can take more time/effort to get it to look even. It sits nicely on the lid without looking heavy. Fallout was much more minimal using it this way.
SPRITZ – Sparkling wet. Yellow gold sparkle with a sheer cool brown base color. Minor-ish fallout when used on the inner corner with a thick eyeliner brush. Less than I was expecting. Moderate fallout when used on the center/outer lid with a slightly larger flat synthetic brush. The fallout is somewhat annoying because the sparkles are large and they kind of go everywhere. They feel lightweight and they disperse in all directions (forehead, nose, upper cheek). They don’t stick terribly but I find the fallout from this shade more annoying than some of the other sparkly shades in this palette. It has more opacity than I thought and is easy to build up to a point where it almost looks opaque. I prefer how this looks built up and not used as a wash of sparkle because the particles are kind of dark when the light is not being directly reflected off them.
DAYDREAM – Metallic formula. Sheer medium-deep neutral bronze with a satin finish. Feels firmer in the pan, not dry, not waxy. A sheerer amount of color picks up on the brush and applies color lightly and evenly to the lid. 
SERENE – Sparkling foiled. Light gold and pink sparkle with not much base color. In person I can see both colors but it doesn’t pick up easily on camera. This felt firmer than Burnt (also a sparkling foiled) and was harder to pick up and transfer to the skin. It took me a while to build it up but it did adhere well. It had mild sparkle fallout used on the lower lashline. Fallout was also pretty minor and not annoying when used all over the lid.
SOFT SPOT – Powder matte. Feels less dry than Lazy which is a different type of matte. Medium brown with subtle red undertones. On me, this looks fairly neutral if I use it alone but in general there is some warmth to this shade. If I pair with Lazy, the peachiness in that shade emphasizes the warmth in this shade. This is a repeat shade that was in the I Need A Warm Palette. It has good color payoff but at the same time isn’t too intense. Easy to blend out.
CELESTE – Metal gloss formula. Pale warm nude shimmer with larger sparkle. Has a peachy base color when swatched but on my eye this looks very bright and reflects of a lot of light. Picks up and transfers easily to my lid with a good amount of intensity and shine. Feels thicker/emollient but not waxy. Used on the inner corner with a dry pencil brush, this adhered easily, applied in an evenly dispersed way, and gave me minimal fallout. Used on the upper lid, I got a bit more fallout.
PADDLE – Silky matte. Very light brown with subtle rosy undertones. Just a little bit darker than my skintone, a great depth to use as a transition shade for a low-contrast makeup look. Wasn’t too intensely pigmented but easy to build up and blend out. Not dry, adheres to the skin well, a little bit of kickup in the pan but nothing crazy, looks even on the lids. This one does look a bit warm on me but its subtle enough to feel fine with. Using this as a crease shade compared to using a combo of Lazy/Soft Soft as crease shades gives a similar look up close in photos but this looks more neutral from a distance whereas those look obviously warm on me. 
TOASTED – Metallic formula. Slightly warm toned light bronze. No sparkle, all fine shimmer. 
GLIDE – Slip cream formula. Medium warmer brown with golden/olive undertones. It’s like the slightly deeper sister to Sandal with less obvious warmth to it when sheered out around the edges. Very good color payoff and super easy to blend out.

Looks

Look 1:

• Sandal – Inner/outer lid/crease
• Lazy – Center of the lid
• Dip – Liner
• Burnt – Lower lashline (dry brush)
• Morphe Bi-Liner in Give – Lower waterline

Look 2:

• Dip – Inner/outer lid
• Sandal – Crease, lower lashline
• Burnt – Center of lid (dry brush)
• Celeste – Inner corner, brow bone (dry brush)
• Morphe Bi-Liner in Give – Lower waterline

Look 3:

• Glide – All over lid, blended into crease
• Kissed – Center of lid (dry brush)
• Serene – Lower lashline (dry brush)

Look 4:

• Matte white shadow – inner corner, brow bone
• Lazy – Applied heavily all over lid and crease area
• Soft Spot – Outer corner
• Villa – Center of lid (dry brush + fingertip)

Look 5:

• Paddle – Crease
• Daydream – Outer lid
• Brook – Outer lower lashline
• Kissed – Inner lower lashline
• Spritz – Inner lid/inner corner

Look 6:

• Paddle – Crease, lower lashline
• Spritz – Lid (dry brush)

Look 7:

• Sandal – Crease, lower lashline
• Brook – Lid (dry brush)

Look 8:

• Glide – Crease, lower lashline
• Serene – Lid (dry brush)

Look 9:

• Soft Spot – Outer lid, crease, lower lashing
• Celeste – All over lid (dry brush)

Look 10:

• Toasted – All over the lid, crease, lower lashline
• Daydream – Outer lid/crease
• Kissed – Inner corner

What it is: The Natasha Denona My Mini Dream Glow Blush is a mini cheek trio based on the larger cheek palette from the earlier My Dream Collection release. It contains 2 matte blushes and 1 highlighter all pressed artfully into a single pan. The color of the deeper matte blush is the same as the one from the larger palette in the collection.

Price/Quantity: $20.00 for 4 grams

Availability: Natasha Denona, Sephora, Ulta, Beautylish

Shade Range: 1 shade option.

Packaging: Plastic compact with a soft-matte finish and feel that opens most of the way but not completely flat and has a magnetic closure. It has a fairly large mirror inside the lid and the pan inside is not removable. The weight feels lighter than expected in the hand but otherwise it still feels like well-made, nice quality packaging. 

The pan is about the average size of a blush (see comparisons below). The side that contains the matte blushes is plenty large enough to fit a normal sized blush brush into without dipping into the shimmer next to it. It’s not super easy to pick up only one of the matte shades though as they are very slim and somewhat splotched into either. I can only realistically mix the two mattes but the resulting shade works well and is neither too light nor too dark. 

Smell/Fragrance: Smells like absolutely nothing to me.

Expiration/Shelf Life: 24 months after opening.

Performance

When mixed, the color of the matte blushes is a very slight warm-leaning medium mauve. It is similar and very comparable to several other blushes that have been favorite go-to shades. The color payoff is easy to control. I can apply it lightly and build it up easily to look more intense. Either way, the color goes on evenly and sits smoothly, almost seamlessly, on the skin. It doesn’t look dry or powdery even up close. The finish of the matte side is like a natural-matte. It’s not totally flat and dull but does not have any visible shimmer in it.

The shimmer is fine, not chunky or sparkly. It has a good amount of reflect that is very buildable. I can apply it very lightly and get a subtle glow or build it up to something more dewy looking. It gives a smooth, soft glow. It’s not a blinding metallic sheen but it can be built up to be strong enough to look a bit “unnatural” if that’s the type of highlight you prefer. It has a slight rosy-neutral tone to it but still looks very neutral/nude on my complexion, definitely not pink. Though it is a powder, the texture is almost “creamy”. Not dry in the least and melts into the skin well.

There is a bit of powdery kickup in the pan if I try to mix the blushes and highlight together all in one swirl. If pick them up separately, I don’t get as much kickup. I think the shimmer is pressed a bit looser or just crumbles much more easily when touched than the mattes do. The amount of kickup is a noticeable but I don’t think it’s too excessive.

After one wear test of 9 hours, the blush was still visible by the end of the day. It faded a little bit but I was touching my face occasionally over the course of the day. For this test, I used the highlighter as a topper on one side of the face and mixed into the blush on the other side. The highlight on the side where I used it as a topper faded much more than the side where I mixed it together with the matte blush.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• Color works well for me personally. The type of shade I’d reach for when I’m not sure what blush to pair with the rest of my makeup. Very “neutral” on me. “Goes with everything” kind of color.
• Buildable color payoff. Easy to add subtle color or build up the intensity.
• Even application of color without patchiness whether applied lightly or heavily.
• Not inexpensive but not unreasonably priced for the quality.
• Pan is large enough to use just the mattes or the shimmer if I want.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• There is only this one shade. I like the formula and having the blush and highlighter together but more shades in this format would be awesome.
• There is some kickup when using a brush to mix the highlighter and blush together in the pan.
• The color of the matte blush is easily dupable.

Do I Recommend It?

Yes. Even though the color isn’t the most unique, I really like how both the blush and the highlighter apply and sit on the skin, and the presentation is super cute. I like the convenience of having the highlighter included and being able choose to just use the matte side or swirl it all together for a more glowy and slightly lighter looking color.

Swatches

Comparisons

The first two swatches are of the Natasha Denona Blush and the rest are:

• Too Faced Cloud Crush Blurring Blush in Velvet Crush
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed
• Benefit Rockateur (discontinued)
• Benefit Wanderful World Blush in Willa
• Essence Satin Touch Blush in Satin Love (discontinued)
• Essence Pure Nude Baked Blush in Rosy Rosewood
• Nars Blush in Orgasm

There are some similar shades, especially of the matte portion of the Natasha Denona blush. It’s not super unique in color but it does have a slight warmer peachy nuance.

Above I have:

• Fenty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in Lightning Dust
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal
• Benefit Cookie
• Benefit Dandelion Twinkle
• Maybelline Master Chrome Highlighter in Molten Rose Gold
• Essence Pure Nude Highlighter in 10 Be My Highlight

The Natasha Denona highlight is brighter and has a slight pink tone to it compared to the others. On the face, I don’t find that it actually looks pink, though. The reflect I get from it is right in the middle, not being as shiny as something like Benefit Cookie but more reflective than Essence Pure Nude Highlighter and Benefit Dandelion Twinkle.

The Natasha Denona My Mini Dream Palette is probably the closest thing to a truly neutral palette I have from the brand. The shade selection stays mainly beige and brown and only leans very slightly warm-toned. There are 3 powder mattes and 2 shimmers with all small particles that offer a soft but still satisfying sheen. It includes one shade from the larger My Dream Eyeshadow Palette (Nurture) and 4 new shades.

Price: $27
Availability: Natasha Denona, Sephora, Ulta, Kohl’s, Beautylish

Swatches

Devotion

Devotion is medium warm beige shimmer with all small particles. In the pan, this looks cooler-toned than it looks on the skin. It is definitely warm and has a peachy tone that keeps it from being too yellow or gold.

Balance

Balance is a light peachy nude with a matte finish. It has just enough depth to contour the shape of my eye with but is light enough to get away with using in a no-makeup makeup look. It looks like it would be similar to the lighter mattes in the I Need A Nude Palette but this one is warmer in tone. Those are definitely taupe and this is more visibly peachy/brown once placed on the eye.

Passionate

Passionate is a light peachy pink shimmer with mostly fine particles. There are a very small amount of comparably larger (but still small) shimmer particles that give the finish a little bit more dimension than the other shimmer. They don’t cause a significant amount of fallout though. This is cooler-toned when seen side by side with the other shimmer in the palette. The depth of this is bright enough to use as an inner corner/brow bone highlight and at the same time doesn’t give me a blinding frosty look when used all over the lid.

Loyalty

Loyalty is a very deep brown with subtle red undertones and a matte finish. I like that this has strong pigmentation and adheres well but I am still able to blend it. It requires more time and effort to get a smooth blend with this one but for a very deep shade, I prefer that over something that dusts away too easily.

Nurture

Nurture is a medium brown with very subtle peachy tones and a matte finish. This one looked warmer than I was expecting when used as a transition shade. If I use it to add depth to the crease along with Balance as the main transition shade, it doesn’t add too much warmth, though.

Performance

This palette is not for everyone but it happens to work perfectly for my complexion and for the style of makeup I like to do. Though it is mainly neutral, I did describe a few of the shades as leaning warm (in the peachy pink direction). Having a neutral-cool complexion, these types of shades don’t look warm on me. They look totally neutral against my skin tone. But this is relative, so I’m not sure how they would come across on someone with more yellow or olive undertones.

The three mattes are spaced apart nicely so that the lightest one is just barely deeper than my skin tone, the medium brown steps down in depth just the right amount, and the deepest one is dark enough to use as liner or as a rich smokey eye color. The two shimmers are also different enough from each other to justify having them both in the palette. It is tiny and only has a handful of shades to choose from but feels totally complete on its own. 

The quality does not disappoint either. The past few palettes I’ve used from the brand have been really nice quality and this one is no exception. Color payoff is more intense from the mattes than the shimmers. The deepest matte is the most intensely pigmented of them but isn’t difficult to apply or blend. The shimmers have more of a buildable color payoff. I can pick them up with a dry brush and get a softer sheen from them or press them on with my finger for a bit more shine. These are not the most reflective shimmers but I’m happy with the amount of shine they give off.

I’ve wear tested it twice and got excellent wear time with it. Over primer, I got 10 hours of wear before I noticed slight creasing starting to show and without primer, it started creasing around 6 hours in. On another day, I wore it the same way with primer on one eye and without primer on the other, but I also added a glitter primer to the lid to amp up the metallics. This lasted all day as well but with the glitter primer, I had even less creasing by the very end of the day.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• One of the best shade selections I’ve found in a long time for everyday use. Feels “complete” and very neutral (only slightly warm).
• I can get a decent variety of looks out of it even though it’s only 5 shades.
• Quality of the powders is great. They apply well and last all day. Mattes have that smooth “buttery” quality, blend easily, and have good color payoff. Shimmers don’t have any large chunky particles in them and give a good amount of sheen to the lids.
• Very little fallout overall. I don’t feel the need to be extra careful when applying any of the shades.
• Wears well all day on me.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• It’s not gonna be the perfect shade selection for every skin tone.
• You might already have shades like this in your collection.

Do I Recommend It?

Yes. I’m thrilled about this little palette. It’s tiny but has all the basics there and in a good quality formula. Personally, I feel it’s well worth the $27.

Looks

Look 1:

• Balance – Transition, lower lashline
• Nurture – Deepen outer corner
• Devotion – All over lid
• Passionate – Inner corner
• Loyalty – Liner

This is the way I usually place neutral eyeshadows for a soft glam look that is still wearable for everyday. The shimmer on the inner corner was applied with a dry brush and adhered fine with not much fallout. The shimmer on the lid was applied with a combo of a dry brush and my finger. I get a bit more pow out of the shine if I use my finger. The shimmer particles are all tiny and are not as prone to falling out. What little does fall down onto my cheeks is not super noticeable. The dark matte brown is very pigmented and worked well as liner.

Look 2:

• Balance – All over lid/crease as a base (most of this got covered by other shades)
• Nurture – Inner/outer part of crease, lower lashline
• Loyalty – Inner/outer lid, smudged into base of lower lashes
• Devotion – Center of lid, layered over mattes on lower lashline

I wanted to use the deep matte brown and the deeper of the midtone matte browns more prominently. The deep brown is nice quality. It applies evenly and blends out smoothly with good adherence and minimal fallout. I was going to just do an all matte look (see the last slide) but decided to top it off with one of the shimmers at the end.

Look 3:

• Balance – All over lid/crease, lower lashine
• Passionate – Center of lid

This one is meant to show the depth and tone of the lightest matte shade and give you a better idea of the lighter shimmer as well. The light matte is deep enough on my skin tone to contour the shape of my eye with but is light enough to use in a no-makeup makeup look. It has a warmer, somewhat peachy-pink tone to it. The lighter shimmer has a subtle pinky tone and it’s not too light or bright.

Look 4:

• Nurture – Crease/transition, outer lower lashline
• Balance – Inner lower lashline
• NYX Glitter Primer – All over lid
• Devotion – Pressed over the glitter primer with my finger

This last one shows the deeper of the midtone browns used as a transition as well as what the metallics look like when used over a sticky primer. I get an overall slight warmth out of these shades but it’s a good amount that doesn’t veer into looking unnatural on me.

Comparisons

Here is the Natasha Denona My Mini Dream Palette shown along with the Natasha Denona I Need A Nude (left), My Dream (right), and Mini Starlette (bottom) Palettes.

When looking at it next to the I Need A Nude Palette, it looks like the same kind of color scheme but it’s not. There is some similarity but this one is more brown and that one is more taupe. On me, I find it to be a nice light neutral brown, not particularly pink-toned and for sure not yellow-toned.

Looking at it next to the Patrick Ta Major Dimension 3 Palette, the shades in the My Mini Dream Palette are closer to the bottom cooler-toned row in the Patrick Ta palette. I don’t consider the bottom row of the Patrick Ta palette to be truly cool toned but closer to true neutral.

Above I picked out the Morphe 18CT Matte Palette to show side by side with the My Mini Dream Palette. The Morphe palette is very cool toned on me through and through. Even the warmer-looking browns in the top right look cool-toned on me. The shades in the My Mini Dream look like they might be similar in tone just judging by how they look in the pan, but once I’m wearing them, they are slightly warmer. I throwing this in here just for visual comparison.

The Natasha Denona Xenon Palette is a greyscale themed palette with whites, greys, and blacks in multiple finishes. Some of the midtone and deeper shades have a blue tint or blue shimmer that skews the entire palette extra cool-toned and frosty.

In case you’re wondering, my palette arrived broken and I didn’t want to wait to return and have a new one sent. I just cleaned it up and repressed the broken shades as best I could.

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

Swatches

Rime – Metallic. Shimmery white with all fine particles.
Cygnus – Sparkling Foiled. Deep grey with larger silver sparkles.
Stellar – Sparkling Wet Effect. Sparkling white, more reflective than Rime.
Blizzard – Powder Matte. Very pale grey with a slight blue tint.
Greu – Sparkling Metallic. Medium silver with a mixture of fine shimmer and larger sparkle.
Ebb – Metallic. Deep muted navy blue with a satin finish.
Superionic – Sparkling Foiled. Silvery shimmer with lots of larger multicolored sparkles. Silver in direct light and gives off a light lavender reflect at an angle.
Sposh – Creamy Powder. Deep grey, almost black.
Snowbow – Crystal Sparkling. Pale pinky lavender that shifts to a light nude with larger blue-green sparkles.
Night Sky – Metallic. Soft black base with a subtle blue satin sheen.
Contrail – Powder Matte. Matte white.
Snirt – Powder Matte. Medium blue grey.
Névé – Sparkling Metallic. Warm white shimmer with larger gold and blue sparkles.
Flurry – Powder Matte. Pale, warmer-leaning, greyish nude.
Skift – Sparkling Foiled. Warmer pinky-nude with lots of silver sparkle.

After doing a bunch of looks with the Xenon palette, I am surprised I ended up liking it more than I thought. I feel like the quality of the shadows is good and is on par with other Natasha Denona palettes I’ve tried. Color payoff/blending/fallout are all good with some variation between shades. I have nothing to knock it for as far as quality goes. The more tricky thing to consider is the shade selection.

For me personally, this is definitely not a palette I would reach for when doing my everyday makeup or to go to work or run errands. I could make it work for that, for sure, but I have other stuff that’s much better suited for that. This palette, for me, is mainly just for fun and to challenge myself to be creative with a limited set of shades.

Because it is so greyscale, it’s easy to look at this shade selection the same way you might look at a wall of text. It’s a little overwhelming. What do you do with it all? So much white. So much black/grey.

There are lots of similar shades in here but no actual repeats within the palette. For example Rime, Stellar, and Névé are all shimmery whites and could have technically been reduced to a single shade. From afar, from a glance, in passing, they all sort of look similar. BUT, they aren’t all exactly the same. One is sparklier/blingier, another is soft/diffused/ethereal, and the other has hints of purple and pink with bits of blue-green sparkle. Consider whether those small differences matter to you.

I think for this to be worth it, you have to be someone that appreciates subtle difference in texture and color and find those things useful and/or fun. Those differences are easier to notice in person than they are to capture on camera. In person I find it pretty easy to quickly move around to different lighting situations and look at things up close. I find capturing those things on camera much more tricky. Maybe a pro phographer/videographer may be able to pick them up but just taking a few quick snaps with your phone, for example, you’re more likely to just see a white-ish reflection from many of the lighter shimmers in here. The deeper shades stand apart from each better.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• No issue blending out the deeper shades. Cool grey tones, especially deeper ones, are often difficult to use. These are very user friendly.
• Fallout varies but even the most fallout-heavy shades were reasonable.
• Good color payoff overall.
• The shadows adhered well with or without primer and were not too easy to dust away.

Drawbacks to consider:

• Contrail is not as bright of a white as I’d like, but does have good color payoff.
• Contrast between a few of the shades (especially Contrail, Flurry, and Blizzard) was not high enough for my liking. If I used them together in a look, it was not that easy to tell them apart.

Do I Recommend It?

Having gone into this skeptical, I’m now glad that I have this palette. I have some shades like these scattered across many other palettes but I probably would never have thought to gather them all and focus on greyscale looks. For me it was worth it. If it fits into your budget, you like to be creative and appreciate nuance, then I do recommend it.

Looks

Look 1:

• Contrail – Inner corner, brow bone
• Blizzard – Inner lower lashline
• Snirt – All over lid
• Flurry – Crease/transition
• Sposh – Liner, outer lower lashline

I wanted to use all the powder mattes that are in the palette in a single look. Sposh is the only outlier, being a creamy powder.

Look 2:

• Sposh – Thin layer all over lid, outer lower lashline
• Cygnus – Layered heavily over Sposh all over the lid and taken up into the crease. This was difficult to get to the look even and I spent some extra time packing it in certain spots.
• Superionic – Inner corner, applied with a dry brush. 
• Stellar – Outer part of brow bone, far outer corner of the eye.

I used the creamy powder as a sort of creamy base and then applied the sparklier shade, Cygnus, over it thinking the sparkle would adhere well. For as much shimmer as I used in this look, fallout was not terrible.

Look 3:

• Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in Whatever Black – Lower waterline, smudged below lower lashline
• Night Sky – Layered over the black liner, also use for detail lining near inner corner and below lower lashline
• Snirt – Outer crease
• Greu – Outer half of lid
• Blizzard – Inner half of lid
• Snowbow – Inner corner
• Skift – Detail line below lower lashline (used a wet brush)
• Contrail – Mostly on the center part of the brow bone

Look 4:

• Sydney Grace Snow Queen single eyeshadow – Brow bone, inner corner
• Flurry – Crease/transition
• Stellar – All over lid, lower lashline

Just wanted to try this brighter combo of shades. Sydney Grace Snow Queen is definitely brighter than the white inside the palette. Flurry is a nice all over lid shade for evening out the skin tone but is not quite dark enough to be used as a crease/transition shade. Stellar has a good amount of reflect and shine but doesn’t have a “wet looking” effect to me. Fallout from this shade was mild/moderate and not too hard to dust away. I applied it mainly with my finger and then smoothed it out with a brush.

Look 5:

• Snirt – Crease
• Flurry – Lid, Transition
• Greu – Inner lower lashline
• Névé – Outer lower lashline
• Night Sky – Eyeliner

Snirt Blends out quite smoothly for being so cool toned. Most of the time I have trouble getting mid-to-deeper cool tones to not look patchy as I sheer them out in the crease. Night Sky took me some time to apply but I felt it had plenty of pigmentation to be able to use as liner. Fallout in general was not bad.

Look 6:

• Ebb – All over lid/crease
• Cygnus – Lower lashline (applied wet)
• Snowbow – Inner corner (applied wet)

Ebb blended out really well all by itself without the help of a transition shade. Fallout was minimal and very reasonable. Good color payoff all around.

Look 7:

• Night Sky – All over lid, crease
• Greu – Inner corner
• Skift – Outer lower lashline

I mainly wanted to see how different Night Sky looks once used on the lid compared to Ebb. Both are pretty deep and both have blue shimmer in them. Night Sky, I’m pretty sure is supposed to be a metallic black. To me it’s a satin soft black with subtle deep navy shimmer. It didn’t apply quite as evenly or easily as Ebb but still ended up looking nice once I got it all done.

Look 8:

• Blizzard – All over lid, crease, lower lashline
• Contrail – Inner corner, brow bone
• Ebb – Outer wings, inner lashline
• Stellar – Center of lid (dry brush)

Mostly everything I used here worked well. I got a bit of sparkle fallout from Stellar (maybe try using this with a wet brush if you recreate it to minimize that fallout). Would’ve liked for Contrail to be a bit brighter to add more contrast between it and Blizzard. Ebb took me some time to wing it out slowly using a small angled brush but had very little fallout and blended out with ease.

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
  

The Natasha Denona Yucca Palette is a mostly warm neutral palette inspired by summer tropics with many shades that lean gently into green, yellow, and orange tones. A few bolder shades are also incorporated but this is generally a very comfortable set of shades to wear even for those that may not be all that into colorful makeup. The palette is the same format as most of Natasha Denona’s recent larger palettes. It has magnetic, removable mid-size pans housed in a high quality plastic case and a large mirror inside the lid.

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

Formula Overview

Here’s a breakdown of what all is inside this palette:

There are 4 sparkling foiled shades with a mixture of large sparkles and fine shimmer. These include Plantasia, Komorebi, Elysian and Makia. They are more reflective and give off a higher shine than a regular shimmer eyeshadow. The particles are larger but they are flat and they lay smooth on the skin and don’t have any gritty or chunky feel to the touch. I am able to pick up color from these shades with a dry brush and get plenty of color payoff quickly and they build up easily. If I use my finger to apply these to the lid, it really amps up the intense “foiled” effect. They have some fallout but I find the amount reasonable compared to other sparkly shimmers I’ve used and not particularly difficult to brush away as long as I’ve used enough powder to set my foundation/concealer.

The only “regular” shimmer in the palette is Ray. There are no large sparkles in this one and the particles are generally smaller but they vary in size. This is slightly less reflective than the sparkling foiled shades but still gives off a satisfying amount of shine. It also picks up and applies easily with a dry brush and has much less fallout than those.

8 of the shades are powder mattes. All of these have less pigmentation than I remember from previous palettes. For most of the shades I think this is a good thing. I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Natasha Denona mattes over the years because I’ve found their intense pigmentation time consuming and difficult to use but also very satisfying when I’m able to get them to apply well. The ones in this palette apply a bit more sheer but they still show up well, go on evenly and blend quickly. They are just more user-friendly. For two of the deepest mattes (Flax and Willow), I think it’s somewhat of a drawback depending on how you plan to use this palette. They require more layering/packing for even-looking application. If you are not a perfectionist, this is probably not something that will bother you much. Using these just to wear makeup for the day and live my life, the little bit of unevenness is not really that noticeable. It is more noticeable when they are seen from up close in photos.

The last 2 shades are creamy powders. These are less dry than a regular powder matte. I’m not well versed in cosmetic chemistry but looking at the ingredients for Calathea and Fushi, I see they have silicones listed high up in the ingredients. They definitely still have that powder-based feel to them but they are more emollient and seem to meld with the skin more than a regular powder matte and blend out more seamlessly. Calathea has similar sheer/buildable color payoff as creamy powders I’ve used in older Natasha Denona palettes but Fushi has a waxier feel (and smell too!) with noticeably higher color payoff.

Pros and Cons

Things I love:

• Neutral but not basic.
• Shimmers have impressive shine and color payoff.
• Formula is easy to work with.
• Excellent wear time for most shades. 7-8 hours without primer, 10-12 with primer.
• A few brighter/bolder complementary colors to play with.

Drawbacks to consider:

• Sparkling metallics do have some fallout. 
• Two deepest mattes require extra time to get even application.
• Wear time is pretty short for the creamy powders. Around 4 hours with or without primer.
• Acacia and Tipu are nearly dupes.

Do I Recommend It?

Yes. The overall quality is there and the color story is approachable without being boring. The drawbacks I mentioned are not enough to deter me from getting a lot of enjoyment out of this palette.

Looks

Here are some looks I did with this palette. If you’re interested in one specifically, these are available as tutorials on YouTube.

Here are some of the looks I did using the Natasha Denona Yucca Palette. These are all available as tutorials on YouTube. Also check out my swatch post here.

Look #1

Shades used:

• Tipu – Outer transition shade
• Flax – Outer lid
• Fushi – Inner lid/crease, lower lash line
• Elysian – Center of lid (dry brush)
• Komorebi – Inner corner, brow bone (dry brush for both)

Look #2

Shades used:

• Calathea – All over lid/crease
• Acacia – Lower lashline 
• Plantasia – Center of lid

For this one I included photo of the way it looked before I applied the shimmer as an alternative. Calathea is a creamy powder and it takes a while to build up to this level of color payoff. I found using my finger the fastest way to build up color but I still had to use a few brushes to get it to look evenly applied. Wear time for this look was not great. I wore it for about 4 hours before I saw creasing both with and without primer. The rest of the non-cream shades seem to be pretty long wearing on me though.

Look #3

Shades used:

• Ixia – All over lid/crease
• Willow – Lower lash line
• Elysian – Outer corner, inner corner

I used Elysian initially with a dry brush which made it easier to blend around the edges but I went over it again with a damp brush to kick the shine and color up a notch.

Look #4

Shades used:

• Acacia – Outer crease/transition, lower lash line
• Valley – Inner lid/crease
• Calathea – Outer corner for depth
• Komorebi – Center of lid (dry brush only)

Look #5

Shades used:

• Malia (Natasha Denona Safari Palette) – Inner corner, brow bone
• Aya (Natasha Denona Safari Palette) – Transition
• Valley – Crease, very lightly and very blended
• About Face White Noise Matte Fluid Eye Paint – Center of lid
• Plantasia – Center of lid (dry brush)

For this one I wanted to try Plantasia over a light base color. I used a white cream shadow just on the center of the lid and blended it out before placing the shimmer over top.

Look #6

Shades used:

• Ixia – All over lid
• Tipu – Outer crease
• Fushi – Lower lash line
• Makia – Inner corner (applied with wet brush)
• Calathea – Tiny bit on the outer corner

Look #7

Shades used:

• Acacia – Outer crease/transition
• Willow – Outer lid/crease, inner lower lash line
• Citrine – Inner lid, outer lower lash line
• Camu Camu – Inner/outer corners
• Ray – Center of lid (dry brush)

Look #8

Shades used:

• Acacia (right eye) / Tipu (left eye) – Crease/outer lid
• Flax – Liner
• Calathea – Lower lash line
• Elysian – Center of lid (dry brush)

There were a few things I wanted to accomplish with this look. First, I wanted to see how different Tipu and Acacia look when used side by side. I used Acacia on one eye (first image) and Tipu on the other (second image) and then wore the look all day. I could not tell them apart. In swatches, they are not 100% identical but they are very similar. I also wanted to see if Flax was pigmented enough to be used as eyeliner and how Elysian looks as a complementary shimmer to the warmer/greener toned mattes.

The Natasha Denona Yucca Palette came out around 2 months ago and I almost picked it up at launch but held off for a bit. I’m kind of a sucker for green-themed palettes and this one looked right up my alley and not too similar to other palettes I already had in my collection. There isn’t actually all that much overt green in here besides the emerald on the bottom right and the sparkling shimmer called Makia. There are shades in here that veer far enough toward the edges of what I consider green that I consider it more of a neutral palette with hints of green.

It has 15 shades that I would categorize into 4 formulas. There are 8 powder mattes, 2 creamy powders, 4 sparkly metallics, and 1 high-shine standard shimmer. 

After several days playing with the palette and trying every shade, I am happy overall with the quality, the shade selection, and ease of application. I haven’t used my older Natasha Denona palettes in months but from memory they weren’t as easy to use mainly because of the intense level of pigment and how well the shadows adhered to the skin. It seems to me that some of the formulas in this palette are slightly different/updated, especially the powder mattes and one of the creamy powders.

Plantasia

Plantasia has a sheer bronze base with a lot of highly reflective sparkle that gives off a metallic sheen when applied heavily. The sheen shifts from greenish gold in direct light to pinkish purple in angled light. It is pretty easy to see the shift in person but not as much in photos and as far as shifty shades go in general, this one is on the more subtle side.

Calathea

Calathea is a cool-toned medium olive and is one of two creamy powders in the palette. In the pan, this looks like a deep grey. I had no idea it was green till I put it on the eye. It is lighter/sheerer than you might expect but can be built up to a decent amount of depth and it blends out very nicely.

Komorebi

Komorebi is a sparkly metallic, bright greenish gold. There are a few specks of shifty sparkles that are vaguely noticeable and they go from pink to blue depending on the angle of the light. They are easier to see in real life than in photos but can be seen when they are not perfectly in focus. The metallic sheen is a bit more opaque in this shade than in Plantasia.

Acacia

Acacia is a warm khaki brown with a subtle greenish tinge. It is nearly identical to Tipu in the second row but that one is ever so slightly more golden. Easy to blend with buildable color payoff. This and all the other powder mattes in this palette have a similar, less pigmented quality than mattes in older palettes. I find this to be a good thing because it makes them easier and faster to work with.

Camu Camu

Camu Camu is a yellowy lime green somewhere between a neon and a pastel. Not too sheer, shows up quickly without too much layering.

Tipu

Tipu is a light golden khaki. It has a strong warm tone once blended but stays true to color as it is sheered out.

Elysian

Elysian is a medium silvery taupe with a sparkly metallic finish. It looks like a subtle deep grey base color and a lot of fine shimmer form the majority of the shade with fewer larger sparkles than some of the other shimmers.

Valley

Valley is a medium brown with strong orange tones. Works as a warm neutral without becoming too orange.

Citrine

Citrine is a mustard that leans very green.

Ray

Ray is a light gold with subtle green tones and is the only shimmer of its type in the palette. Compared to the rest, it has a smoother finish and is slightly less reflective with finer particles and much less fallout. It is similar in color to Komorebi but is a bit deeper and more yellow.

Flax

Flax is a medium-deep neutral brown. This shade and the other deep one, Willow, are where the pigmentation difference is really noticeable compared to older Natasha Denona palettes.

Fushi

Fushi is a light yellowy orange. This is the second creamy powder shade but it applies a bit differently than Calathea. This one feels (and smells) waxier and it builds up much more quickly. The blend is just as smooth along the edges though.

Makia

Makia is a sparkly metallic similar in finish to Plantasia. It has sheer but deep grey base color with a lot of golden olive sparkles. The lighting in the photos makes it looks like a shifty duo chrome but it isn’t. The second photo is just darker. This one looks like the same color at all angles.

Ixia

Ixia is a medium-deep orange. Buildable and blendable. Has good color payoff but doesn’t immediately go on the lid the way it looks in the pan, which I like. Easy to work with.

Willow

Willow is a deep bluish green. This is the one shade I wish was a bit more like the older, more intense mattes. It shows up fine but it is quite dark and the color doesn’t go on as evenly as I would like. I have to apply several layers for very even-looking color.

Here are all the looks I did while focusing on the Natasha Denona My Dream Palette. This post is meant to show this used mostly as a standalone palette. For nearly all of these looks, I pulled in a matte brow bone and inner corner highlight from other palettes and singles I have.

Look #1

Shades Used:

• Nurture – Outer lid/crease, lower lashine
• Serenity – Center of lid
• Invention – Lower lashline, layered over Nuture
• Blackest Black – Upper lashline, a tiny bit to darken brows

I’m pretty sure it was a work day when I wore this, so I went super “wearable”. The sparkly shade on the lower lashline can be applied more heavily than I did it here.

Look #2:

Shades Used:

• Unity – Transition
• Nurture – Outer lid/crease, lower lashine (much less diffused than Look 1, in a smaller area), brows
• Blackest Black – Upper lashline

Another work look, so I applied everything with a light hand on purpose. The brow color mismatch was a little unfortunate LOL.

Look #3:

Shades Used:

• Instinct – Outer lid/crease
• Edgy – Deepen outer lid
• Vision – Inner half of lid/crease
• Thrill – Inner lower lashline
• Aspiration – Outer lower lashline, brows
• Unity – Add warmth above the crease

I wanted to use some of the more interesting shades in this look. Vision is a shifty shade that looks green at an angle and purple in direct light. Edgy is a cream powder formula.

Look #4:

Shades Used:

• Nurture – Used very lightly as a transition shade above the crease, more heavily on outer lower lashline
• Familia – Outer crease
• Aspiration – Outer lid
• Blackest Black – Tiny amount smudged into upper lashline

Warm + cool all matte smokey eye. Aspiration looked darker on the lid than I was expecting it to.

Look #5:

Shades Used:

• Carpe Diem – Crease
• Nurture – All over most of the lid
• Spontaneous – Inner corner
• Invention – Brow bone
• Risk – Lower lashline

Sometimes I unintentionally wing out my crease color, and then I just have to go with it.

Look #6

Shades Used:

• Edgy – Outer lid/crease
• Thrill – Inner lid/crease

This was done in a rush so I kept it simple.

The Natasha Denona My Dream Palette contains 15 neutral eyeshadows in several finishes in their midi-sized palette. As has been true for previous midi palettes, the shades are magnetic and removable. The palette is generally the same as older versions – same size plastic case, same type of mirror, etc. There are 8 mattes and 7 shimmers. Two of the mattes, Instinct and Edgy, are their cream powder formula. The shimmers come in both smooth, uniform finishes and sparkly shimmer finishes. There are two shifty shades, one being Vision with quite a visible color shift from different angles, and Thrill with a more subtle shift. The palette retails for $69 and can be purchased from Natasha Denona, Sephora, Beautylish, and Kohl’s.

Blackest Black

Blackest Black (powder matte) is not actually that dark of a black but I like how smoothly and evenly this shades goes on. I have used this smudged into the lashline and found it had plenty of color payoff and no fallout used that way.

Aspiration

Aspiration (powder matte) is a dark grey with a plummy brown tone to it. This one swatched terribly but went on the lid way better than it looks here, as you’ll see in looks coming up. It seemed to adhere so well to my finger that it didn’t want to transfer to my skin when swatching.

Serenity

Serenity is a medium bronze shimmer with all fine shimmer particles. I wore this one on the lid and had a very easy time getting it to pick up and transfer to the lid with very good color payoff.

Carpe-Diem

Carpe-Diem (powder matte) is a medium muted orange. This one looks darker in the swatches and on the lid than it looks in the pan. The same has been my experience with a lot of the lighter mattes in this palette.

Babies

Babies is a little more of a sparkly/flakey type of shimmer with a firmer, waxier feel to the touch.

Instinct

Instinct in a cream powder. It is a darker pinky red with a hint of a satin finish to it. On the eye, this mostly looks matte. This is one of the drier cream powders I’ve tried from Natasha Denona, so much so that I didn’t even realize it wasn’t just a regular matte powder shadow until I read the shade descriptions. Color payoff was very good though and I thought it blended out easily.

Thrill

Thrill is a light gold to light pink shifting shade with a sparkling shimmer finish. The particles are larger but they are numerous so it can easily be applied to look opaque or sheered out for a sparking effect. The shift in this is pretty subtle and I didn’t realize it was there at first, even after using it on the eye.

Unity

Unity (powder matte) is a light cantaloupe orange.

Risk

Risk is a brownish burgundy with a satin-shimmer finish. It has a matte base color and some fine shimmer mixed in, resulting in a low level of light reflectance. This one swatches fine but I wasn’t super satisfied with the color payoff on the eye. It seemed to need extra building to get it to show up as well as some of the other shimmers.

Invention

Invention has a sheer pinky base color and lots of larger, flakier gold shimmer. The particles are smaller than I typically think of glitter but noticeably larger than regular shimmers and they reflect light well. The base color is ultra sheer so I really don’t notice it when I use this on the eye.

Vision

Vision is a sparkling shimmer multichrome that starts out as a warm purple in direct light and moves through bronze, olive green, and finally true green when seen from an angle. The shimmers are somewhat larger than the smooth shimmers in this palette so moving this shade through the light will result in more visible dancing pinpoints of light rather than a smooth metallic finish. It has a dark grey base color that is noticeable when the shade is sheered out but I didn’t find it looked muddy. The color shift is very easy to see in real life and I thought the matte shades in the palette compliment the colors in this shade well.

Edgy

Edgy is another cream powder and is similar in tone but slightly darker than Instinct. I think this shade also feels and behaves more like a cream than Instinct. Impressive color payoff when I compare to past experiences with other cream powders I have used from Natasha Denona. Still, less pigmented overall than the powders.

Spontaneous

Spontaneous is a light golden beige. It is a smooth shimmer with all fine particles and punchier color payoff than I was expecting.

Nurture

Nurture (powder matte) is a warm taupe with a matte finish. This goes on the eye darker than it looks in the pan. It can be blended out to look more sheer but I think this formula lends itself more to intense applications of color and looks more even when applied that way.

Familia

Familia (powder matte) is a warm orangey brown with a matte finish.

The Natasha Denona Pastel Palette contains 15 shades of (mostly) pastel eyeshadows in various formulas and finishes. 8 of them are matte (with half being creamy powders and the other half being true powders) and 7 of them are shimmers. Some shimmers are nothing but fine particles and some have larger sparkles mixed in. This is one of their midi-sized palettes which has smaller pan sizes and retails for $65.

Swatches

• Tulle – Creamy powder. This one has a very subtle sheen that the other creamy powders don’t have but it essentially looks matte on the eye. This is the most pigmented of all the creamy powders and looks slightly drier on the lid than some of the others.
• Illusion – All fine shimmer, no large sparkles. This is a sheer pale pink shimmer with a clear base. When swatched heavily, it has a bit of a grayish cast behind the pink shimmer but I don’t notice this the way I use it on the eye.
• Mint Frost – Mixture of fine shimmer and large sparkle. Similar to Adriatic but this one is more of a dulled teal shade and that one is brighter. That one also has a different texture, being all fine shimmer.
• Bora – Creamy powder. This shade is sheer and requires lots of building. I get the most color payoff when using a small dense brush like a pencil brush or a smudge brush. Blends out super easily and smoothly and does not look dry at all on the lid. Fades in the crease during application. Wear time seems inconsistent with this shade. Some looks lasted only a few hours and others lasted all day
• Dainty – Mixture of fine shimmer and large sparkle. Reasonable amount of fallout when applied with a brush but a LOT of fallout if applied with my finger.

• Brisk – Powder matte. This shade has good color payoff but is a bit dry and that can make it not adhere the best. It went on more evenly and looked punchier over a primer.
• Adriatic – All fine shimmer. This type of texture usually has less fallout, or even none, but I got some noticeable fallout with this one. It’s a teensy bit crumbly and I think that may be why. Good color payoff and adhered easily.
• Starlet – The coral base of this seems to be matte with a bunch of large golden sparkle.
• Bellini – Powder matte. Good color payoff, maybe a hair better than Brisk, which is the same type of formula. Shades like this sometimes don’t show up well on me, but the one had plenty of pigmentation.
• Bubble – Creamy powder. This is the sheerest of all the cream shades but I can build it up to what you see here. Just needs many layers.

• Limoncello – Mixture of fine yellow shimmer and larger blue sparkle. There is more fine shimmer in this than sparkle and the blue shows up only sparingly.
• Duet – Pinky base with fine blue shimmer. This is a sheer shade and the blue sheen shows up much better if I apply this over a deep shade. The pink is even pretty sheer though it looks heavy in the swatch.
• Airy – Powder matte. Similar to Bubble but “warmer”.
• Zest – Creamy powder. This looks more green toned in the pan but on the eye it looks more yellow to me. It is slightly dry looking on the skin. Good color payoff.
• Feather – Powder matte. This looks more like a light pink in the pan but comes off more lavender on the eye. Good color payoff and not all that far off in depth compared to Bora once both are on the eye together.

Formula Overview

There are four creamy powders in the palette: Tulle, Zest, Bora, and Bubble. They seemed like the longest lasting of all the finishes and can be used as bases sort of on their own. They aren’t full on cream shadows and don’t have a tacky or sticky feel at all, mainly just a slightly more emollient version of a powder shadow. They generally feel dry to the touch but they don’t have that dusty, kickup-y quality that true powders have. With a primer, they last longer and are much slower to crease completely (takes several hours). I’ll start to notice creasing around 8 hours but it will still look decent several hours after that. Without primer, I they last around 5 hours. These take longer to use than all the other formulas in the palette. They require lots of building (especially Bora and Bubble) so they aren’t the best choice if you are in a rush but they are super easy to blend. Bora and Bubble are very flattering on the lids, good for more mature/textured skin. Tulle and Zest are a little more dry looking.

The powder mattes apply noticeably better over primer with more color payoff and more even adherance. They are kind of dry and when I apply them over bare lids, I’ll sometimes get areas of balding where the shadow just wont stick and this ends up giving a sort of patchy appearance. Compared to other pastels I’ve tried, pigmentation is generally good though with a nice texture that isn’t chalky or difficult to blend.

There are 7 shimmers. 4 of them are a mixture of sparkle and shimmer and 3 are just fine shimmer with a smoother finish. They all pick up and adhere easily. To the touch, they have a slightly thicker feel to them and they require some layering to build them up. The ones with larger sparkles are more shiny, reflect light more and have a reasonable amount of fallout. The ones that just have fine shimmer in them have a bit of a softer, more subdued reflection. Illusion and Duet are the sheerest and Adriatic and Starlet are the most opaque.

Shade Selection

I don’t love the shade selection in this palette as a whole but I do like many of the shades individually. After doing like 12 looks or so, I’ve either gone for very straightforward color combinations or used way too many shades together. I think I may just be sick and tired of pastels LOL.

Some of the shades are very similar to each other:

• Bora and Feather, once applied to the lid. And Tulle really isn’t that far off from these either.
• Bubble and Airy (subtle difference but still lol…)
• Mint Frost and Adriatic (different finishes but very similar hue)

Something to know is that some of the shades are a bit deceiving, not looking as I’d expect on the eye based on how they appear in the pans. These are Bora, Dainty, Duet, and Zest. Both Bora and Dainty are lighter than expected, Duet is much more blue than pink, and Zest is more yellow than neon green to me.

Worth Buying / Do I Recommend It?

I can’t say yes to this. If I were buying this again I’d be doing so for certain shades. Mint Frost, Dainty, Starlet are probably my top picks in this palette. Bubble is beautiful for the color that it is but I think I have some similar shades in a true powder formula that offer more color payoff than this one. Zest seems unique in the pan but it doesn’t seem so once on the eye. That’s not enough reason to spend $65 for the rest of the palette.

It’s not that I think the quality is bad, just that it’s meh, okay, average. If you are looking at pastels in general, I don’t see why this should come in above others unless you are looking for something very specific that this palette has that a competing product doesn’t.

Looks

Look #1:

• Bora – All over lid and blended into crease, part of the lower lashline
• Bubble – Inner crease, outer lower lashline
• Bellini – Transition, inner lower lashline
• Illusion – Inner corner
• Starlet – Center of lid

This was one of the first looks I did so I went for several of the shades that initially intrigued me and ended up with a cross between a sunset and sunrise eye. Both shimmers were applied with brushes and I didn’t get a whole lot of fallout from them. The purple that I used on most of the lid is a cream and that one required lots of building. Even so, the second photo shows that it still looks somewhat sheer in the crease.

Look #2:

• Zest – Crease/transition area (looked a bit dry on the skin)
• Airy – All over lid
• Dainty – Center of lid (applied with finger, lots of fallout, adhered easily though)
• Adriatic – Under inner part of brow
• Feather – Inner corner
• Bellini – Most of lower lashline
• Limoncello – Inner lower lashline (applied with damp brush), brow bone (dry brush)
• Mint Frost – Outer crease

I was still in that excited phase of using a new palette where I want to use ALL the colors so I used a ton of shades in this look. For the most part I was happy with how they all performed but I did get a whole lot of sparkle fallout from all the shimmers I used (4 in total) and I applied the lid shade with my finger on top of that). Here, Zest looks very yellow in the crease compared to how it looks in the pan. In the pan, it looks more green to me.

Look #3:

• Bora – All over lid, crease
• Feather – Transition (more so on inner part of eye), lower lashline
• Dainty – Center of lid (applied with brush, much less fallout this time)

This was meant to be a fast and simple look. It was simple but took me longer than I thought because I had to spend a lot of time building up Bora on the upper lid. The purple on the top lid and the lighter lavender on the lower lashline look fairly close in depth here but in the pans they look much different from each other. Bora is a cream and Feather is a powder. The shimmer used in this look adhered more easily over the creamy shade than it did over a powder in a previous look.

Look #4:

• Tulle – All over lid, crease, lower lashline
• Bora – Outer corner
• Illusion – Inner lid
• Duet – Center of lid
• CPRC Hot Spot – Smudged into lashline
• CPRC 2 Coal 4 U – Winged liner

Another pretty simple and fast look. The main shade used all over the lid is one of the most pigmented of the 4 creams and builds up quickly. Illusion has a pink sheen which is very hard to see against the matte pink background but the blue from Duet shows up a little better on the center of the lid. I used a matte black eyeshadow to darken the lashline and a deep shimmery grey eyeshadow to do the winged liner.

Look #5:

• Brisk – Lid, above crease
• Adriatic – Under the grey on lower lashline
• CPRC So Tuff – Crease
• CPRC 2 Coal 4 U – Lower lashline
• A white liquid liner (Rimmel Colour Precise White Felt Tip Liner) – Outer corner, inner lower lashline near tear duct

This look and the next two were my attempts at using this palette as an accent or pairing palette. I used a matte and shimmery grey from the ColourPop Rock Candy Palette for this one.

Look #6:

• Mint Frost – Center of lid/crease
• Brisk – Lower lashline
• CPRC I Dig You – All over lid and crease
• CPRC So Tuff – Inner lid, outer part of crease
• CPRC Hot Spot – Lashline, used as eyeliner

I paired this again with the ColourPop Rock Candy Palette and went for something more wearable.

Look #7:

• Zest – Above inner crease
• Airy – Above outer crease
• Duet – Center of lid
• Limoncello – Center of lower lashline (applied with damp eyeliner brush)
• CPSVL Topanga Blvd – All over lid/crease
• CPSJ Sapphire – Lower lashline
• CP Swerve Gel Liner – Lower waterline

Third pairing palette look. This time I used the ColourPop So Very Lovely and So Jaded Palettes.

Look #8:

• Bubble – All over lid and inner/outer lower lashline
• Airy – Just a small amount of this above the crease (then stopped and switched to Brisk)
• Brisk – Above inner/outer crease
• Zest – Center part of crease, center of lower lashline
• Limoncello – Center of lid, brow bone, inner corner
• Eyeliner?

Ugh this look. Lol I really don’t like how this came out. Airy is similar enough to Bubble that I would’ve preferred to just have Bubble in the palette. Bubble is cooler (closer to purple) and a bit more unique. Putting the two next to each other makes it really hard to tell where one starts and the other ends. Brisk was much easier to distinguish.

Look #9:

• CPRC Nugget – Transition
• CPRC Crushed – Crease
• Feather – Lower in the crease
• CPRC Dynamic – Lid
• Dainty – Lid (layered over previous shade)
• Zest – Under inner part of brow
• Illusion – Inner corner
• Mint Frost – Outer lower lashline
• Adriatic – Inner lower lashline
• Duet – Brow bone
• Bellini – Transition (applied over CPRC Nugget from ealier)

This look and the next were me just playing with tons of shades and they really had no plan, rhyme or reason to them. On the lower lashline I used both shimmery teals next to each other to see how different they were. The inner corner on this eye is Illusion and in the next look I used a very similar shade from Terra Moons on the inner corner to see how those compared to each other. The Terra Moons shade has a deeper red sheen and just looks warmer overall.

I used a few neutral browns from the ColourPop Rock Candy Palette in this look.

Look #10:

• Terra Moons Red Giant – Inner corner
• Bora – All over lid, blended into crease
• Bubble – Outer crease
• Tulle – Above outer crease
• Bellini – Center of lid
• Limoncello – Inner lid/crease
• Airy – Outer lower lashline
• Brisk – Inner lower lashline
• Starlet – Winged outer corner

Look #11:

• Tulle – All over lid/crease
• Illusion – Applied over top Tulle
• Limoncello – Inner corner, brow bone (dry brush)

Look #12:

• Bellini – All over lid/crease
• Starlet – Center of lid
• Zest – Lower lashline
• CPRC Hot Spot – Smudged against lashes
• CP Swerve Creme Gel Liner
• Matte highlight on the inner corner and brow bone

Finally getting around to posting swatches of the Natasha Denona Pastel Palette. Out of the 15 shades, 8 of them are matte (with half being creams and the other half being powders) and 7 of them are shimmers. Some shimmers are nothing but fine particles and a some have larger sparkles mixed in. 

The creamy mattes are sheerer than the powder mattes and the shimmers have a somewhat thicker texture to them that requires some building up. 

I’ve had this for like (maybe?) a month or so and I’ve worn it about 10 times but I’m still unsure how I feel about the quality and shade selection. This has been a very distracting month and that has gotten in the way of putting the time and attention into this palette that I’ve wanted to.

Tulle (creamy powder) is a warm light pink with a finish that is lies somewhere between a matte and a satin. On the lid, it might as well be used as a matte but it has the slightest sheen to it. It is slightly warmer than Feather but the two aren’t all that different from each other. This one looks a bit dry on the lid. Seems a bit more pigmented than the other creamy powders.

Illusion has a clear base with a pinkish red sheen. The way it reflects light isn’t very shiny but more flat/deadened giving the feel of a warm misty glow. Similar to Red Giant from Terra Moons Cosmetics, which has a much stronger, warmer, and more obvious red tone and reflection to it. All small particles, feels pretty creamy and smooth to the touch. Picks up easily, no noticeable shimmer fallout.

Mint Frost is a light teal shimmer with lots of larger silver sparkles. Somewhat thicker creamy feel to it. Swatches with good color payoff but doesn’t pick up super heavily on a brush. Needs a few layers if using a brush to apply. Good amount of visible sparkle and shine on the lid and shows up well when used over or next to deeper shades. Not too much sparkle fallout for the type of shade that it is.

Bora (creamy powder) is a medium matte orchid. This looks way lighter and more pink on the skin than it does in the pan. Takes a while to apply because I have to build it up, going into the pan MANY times to pick up color. It looks nice once applied, sits nicely on the skin, blends out smoothly and you really don’t need a transition with it at all, but it does take longer to use these creamy shadows than it does with the regular powder formula.

Dainty has a pale, icy pink base with large gold sparkles. This looks darker in the pan than it does on the eye. Very similar in texture and feel to Mint Frost. Applied with a brush, I don’t get that much fallout but if I apply with my finger I get a LOT of sparkle fallout. Adheres easily both over the creamy powders and regular powder mattes.

Brisk (regular powder matte) is a pale mint green. It applies better and more evenly over a primer than over bare lids. I wore this prominently all over the lid one day but did not take photos. I remember it not adhering well to just my skin alone. Builds up well though.

Adriatic is similar to Mint Frost but has no larger sparkle in it. It has a little bit of a brighter green hue and a subtle golden sheen in some lighting conditions. Similar formula as Illusion. Good color payoff, applies and builds up easily with a brush.

Starlet has a bright coral base with lots of large gold sparkle. Sparkle fallout is a bit heavier with this shade than the other sparkly shimmers, especially if I use my finger to apply it. Using a brush, I get much less fallout.

Bellini (regular powder matte) is a very bright, bordering neon, peach. It applies the same way that the other powder mattes do, working better when applied over a primer. But it does have better color payoff than similar shades I’ve tried in other palettes.

Bubble (creamy powder) is one of the sheerest shades in the palette, requiring lots of building to get the same level of opacity as most of the other shades. It is similar to Airy but more purple toned and a different formula (that one is a powder matte). This one also sits nicely on the skin without looking dry or patchy. 

Limoncello is a pale yellow shimmer with larger blue sparkles. Applied by itself or over another light warm matte shade, it appears more yellow and the blue sparkles are less noticeable. If I apply this over one of the cooler toned shades (like Bubble or Airy) or over a deep shade from another palette, the blue sparkles stand out more. Fallout is reasonable.

Duet has a light pink base with a fairly strong blue sheen. It is sheer enough and light enough that I can use this as a brow bone highlight but it also works very well to top deeper shades on the center of the lid. All small particles, smooth finish.

Airy (regular powder matte) is slightly warmer than Bubble. The two probably didn’t need to both be in this palette but they are different enough depending on what you want to use them for.

Zest (creamy powder) is a very light greenish yellow. This is the driest looking on the skin of all the creamy powder shades and to me this looks much more yellow on the skin than it does in the pan.

Feather (regular powder matte) is a pale pinky purple. This looks more pink the pan. On the lid, it looks more purple and isn’t all that far off in depth from Bora if they are both used together.

For the second look with the Natasha Denona Mini Gold Palette, I wanted to do something easier and more approachable. 

The shade on the center of the lid is Antheia. What makes this shade interesting is the bright green shimmer in it. I see the green easily in real life but it’s hard to get it to come across in photos, so I included two here. 

I took the first one in lower lighting and edited it to try and get the green to show up more, like it does in the swatches below. Unfortunately the way I edited it makes the makeup look much more dramatic/smoky. The second only has some contrast added. I see the green in real life but it gets washed out when I take pictures the way I normally do.

Those little green and gold specks made for a lot of fallout in the first look I did but not so much in this second one, when I applied it with a flat shader brush.

Where all the shades are applied:

• Lodge – transition
• Bia – lower lashline
• Dark Sepia – Outer lid/crease
• Antheia – All over lid
• D’or – Inner corner

Whenever I’ve used the Natasha Denona Mini Gold Palette in the past, I’ve always seemed to create the same safe kinds of looks with it and I wanted to try something different with it. I knew I wanted to do some sort of graphic winged liner using the deeper brown. The placement of most of the other shades was both an afterthought and an avoidance of placing them in the obvious ways.

Usually when I do a look that is not typical for me, my immediate reaction is that I don’t really like how it came out. This is one of those looks.

Where each shade is used:

• Lodge – Applied this in the crease/transition area and on the inner third-ish of the lower lashline to start out. Later in the look, I placed this on the center of the lid.
• Dark Sepia – Used a small angled brush to create a sort of double wing on both the inner and outer part of the eye.
• Bia – I placed this between the wings on the inner corner with a pencil brush and feathered the side next to the bridge of my nose.
• Antheia – On the upper part of my eye, this is placed over Lodge in the outer crease and then swept upward toward the inner part of my brow. It is also placed on the outer lower lashline.
• D’Or – Inner/outer corner accent

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Product Details

The Natasha Denona Lila Palette is one of the brand’s older palettes and was one of the first to cater to those looking for a purple palette. At the time, I remember there not being a whole lot of options for palettes that had lots of purple shadows in them. There are 4 mattes and 11 shimmers. Nearly all the purple shades are shimmer with the exception of Per Se, which is a grey with subtle purple tones. There are also pink, red and orange toned shades that complement the purples nicely. Each shade is 2.5 grams / 0.08 oz and the palette retails for $129.

Formula Overview

Of all the Natasha Denona palettes I tried, the mattes in this palette were my favorite. Per Se was the trickiest to work with as it had a tendency to dust away more easily than the other three mattes. Given that drawback, I still appreciate having it in the palette because of its cooler, greyish purple undertone. The other three mattes were a joy to work with. It was just as quick and easy to build up color payoff as it was to blend them out. They also sat on the skin in a flattering way.

The shimmers were also quite nice. They were more of your old-school type of standard shimmer that have a uniform, fine texture to them with very little fallout. None of them had any chunky, large particles and they also weren’t particularly metallic or shiny. They were easy to pick up and apply with brushes and didn’t seem too dry or emollient.

Shade Selection

As I was making my way through the Natasha Denona palettes, I found myself dreading this one the most. It’s funny because it surprised me the most as well. There is more versatility and color variation than I originally thought. I do think that there could have been some improvements, though. A deeper matte would have been nice as well as maybe a lighter matte. Nude Mauve and Nude Vino were just a little too similar for my liking. The four deeper shimmers in the bottom row aren’t necessarily too similar but perhaps more variation in depth would have been nice.

Wear Time

Wear time was generally shorter with these shadows. Looks where shimmer was predominantly all over the lid creased pretty quickly on me – within a few hours. The mattes seemed to wear longer but still creased a bit earlier in the day than I’d prefer.

Looks

Look #1:

• Nude Mauve – Outer transition area
• Nude Vino – Outer crease
• Per Se – Inner crease
• Purpure – Inner lid
• Amethyst – Center of lid
• Layla – Outer lid
• Magnolia – Inner corner

Look #2:

For this look, I did some mixing of shades on the center of the lid/crease. I went back and forth with the shimmery orange, pink, and gold till I got the brightness I was looking for. The shades are listed in the order I used them, for the most part, until I mixed them.

• Amara – Inner/outer crease
• Cyclone – Center of crease
• Viola – Inner/outer lid
• Magnetic – Center of lid
• Magnolia – Used this to brighten center of lid/crease
• Juneau – Inner corner

Lower lashline mirrors the upper lid with the shimmery shades.

Look #3:

• Amara – Above crease, lower lashline
• Per Se – Crease, lightly on lid
• Magnolia – Center of lid, inner corner

Other stuff used:

• On Holiday from the ColourPop Bare Necessities Palette – Transition
• Whisker from Menagerie Cosmetics – Deepen crease
• Fenty Fly Pencil in Bachelor Pad – Waterline

Look #4:

• Nude Vino – Outer half of lid/crease
• Per Se – Inner half of lid/crease
• Helio – Center of lid, inner corner

Look #5:

• Nude Vino??? – Inner/outer crease
• Magnetic – Center of crease, outer edge, inner lower lashline
• Dragon Bite – All over lid
• Magnolia – Inner corner, center part of lower lashline, very outer edge

This is what happens when you don’t immediately note which shades you used where. You can’t remember which one exactly you used

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Product Details

The Natasha Denona Love Palette was released for Valentine’s Day this year. It is mostly a purple, pink, and red themed palette with a few neutral shades thrown in. There are 6 shimmers, 7 mattes, and 2 cream/powder hybrids that have a nearly matte finish. As with many other Natasha Denona palettes, the pans are magnetic and can be popped out of the palette. It retails for $65 and contains a total net weight of 19.25 grams / 0.67 ounces.

Formula Overview

The mattes in this palette seem dustier than the ones in the Bronze and Safari Palettes. By that, I don’t mean they blend away too easily, just that they don’t seem to adhere as readily or strongly to the lid as the mattes in those palettes. Also, there is almost something hydrating, maybe emollient, about them. Valentine was the driest and longest wearing one on me. The deeper shades seemed to have more of that hydrating quality than the lighter shades and had a shorter wear time. Most of the mattes were very easy to apply and blend out except for Heartbeat and Heart, which tended to look patchy if not applied heavily with a dense brush. 

The two cream/powder hybrids are similar to the one in the Bronze palette in that they go on more sheer than you would think. Especially with Dream, I had to dig my brush into the pan quite a bit to get a decent amount of color payoff from it. This shade formed hard pan quickly, within the first few uses. Commitment was less sheer and easier to pick up on a brush. This shade had some pigment fallout, even when tapping the excess off my brush. And being a creamier type of product, that fallout would sometimes stick to the skin and smudge.

Four of the shimmer shades had larger sparkle particles and some fallout onto the cheeks during application. They all had plenty of base color and color payoff to be used as standalone shades or could be sheered out and worn as toppers. Transparent and Blind had a smoother, finer formula and offered a softer finish with little to no fallout.

Shade Selection

There is a lot of pink in this palette but it is still pretty well rounded and I feel you can get a good variety of looks out of it. Keep in mind First actually goes on darker than it looks in the pan. On me, this is more of a pale peach transition shade. It doesn’t work too well as a brow bone or inner corner highlight. Heartbeat and Soul are somewhat similar but they look more different on the eye than they do in the pans. Same story with Trust and Dream.

Wear Time

The shimmers were the longest lasting formula on me, wearing around 7 hours before creasing. I got about 3-4 hours out of the mattes before creasing, except for Valentine, which wore for 10 hours.  The cream/powder hybrids lasted maybe 2 hours before starting to crease.

Looks

Look #1:

• Intense – Outer lid/crease, lower lashline
• Valentine – Inner lid/crease
• First – Blended around edges of first two shades with this
• Lifetime – Center of lid

Look #2:

• Heartbeat – Inner/outer crease + lower lashline
• Intense – Center of crease + lower lashline
• Trust – Inner/outer lid
• Transparent – Center of lid, inner corner

Look #3:

• Commitment – Outer lid, lightly on lower lashline
• Dream – Outer crease
• Valentine – Transition, inner lid/crease
• Giving – Layered over lid

Look #4:

• Heart – All over lid, crease, outer lower lashline, inner part of brow area
• Blind – Brow bone, inner corner, inner lower lashline
• Commitment – A bit on outer lid/crease

Look #5:

• Passion – Outer half of lid, crease, winged out a bit
• Lifetime – Inner half of lid/crease

Look #6:

• Heart – All over lid
• Heartbeat – Outer crease
• First – Outer transition area
• Dream – Inner crease
• Giving – Layered all over lid
• Trust – Outer lower lashline
• Valentine – Inner lower lashline

Look #7:

• Valentine – Inner crease
• Soul – Outer lid/crease, a bit on lower lashline
• Pure Love – Center of lid
• Transparent – Inner lid
• Commitment – Used as eyeliner

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Product Details

The Natasha Denona Bronze Palette contains 15 shades mostly concentrated in the gold, orange, and red color families. 9 of them are shimmers, 5 are matte, and one of the shades (Deep Dive) is a cream/powder hybrid with a nearly matte finish. It retails for $65 and contains a total of 19.25 grams / 0.67 oz of product.

Formula Overview

The 5 mattes that are true powder shadows are very similar to the matte shades in the Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette (see review). They are highly pigmented and take some time to blend but they blend out well. The matte shade that took the most time and effort to work with was Magma, which looked best when used together with one of the lighter transition shades. Where they differ from Too Faced is how they apply. Because of the color payoff, the looks that come out of this palette tend to be more intense. It takes more time soften up the color than it does to build it up, if that makes sense.

The cream/powder hybrid shade has a very slight satiny sheen but on the eye it reads as matte. It is sheerer than the other true matte shades and blends out more quickly and easily. It can be built up to a degree but I find it difficult to get it to look true-to-pan on the eye. This shade creases quickly on me.

The shimmers vary in their finish, ranging from a sheer sparkly wash to foiled. There was shimmer fallout from most of the shades, which is to be expected. True Bronze and Silk, being flakier types of shimmers, had the most fallout. Most of the shimmer shades applied fine with a brush. The two sheerest shades, Rhodium and Bliss, could be applied with a brush but the color would go on much sheerer than you see in the swatches. Especially with Rhodium, to get that blue sheen to really show up, you really have to pack it on.

Shade Selection

After struggling with this palette for a bit, I have found it is more versatile than you might think but there are still some shades I think are too similar to each other. Sundown and Ridge are different enough in swatches or when applied very heavily but if used as transition shades, they essentially look the same. True Bronze and Silk have slightly different finishes but look so similar on the eye. I prefer shimmery shades to have more variation because the light that reflects off them kind of dulls out whatever color they are.

Wear Time

I got a pretty consistent 7 hours of wear out of these shades when worn over Nars Pro Prime Tinted Eyeshadow Primer. By that point I would begin to see minor creasing. For me, that is better than average but not the longest wearing ever.

Looks

Look #1

• Deep Dive – All over lid + blended into crease, lower lashline
• True Bronze – Center of lid

Look #2:

• Beach – Crease, lower lashline
• Bliss – All over lid
• Deep Dive – Worn as eyeliner

Look #3:

• Beach – Crease, lower lashline
• Deep Dive – All over lid
• Rhodium – Layered over Deep Dive

Look #4:

• Sundown – Transition, lower lashline
• Suntan – Crease
• Magma – Inner/outer lid
• Alloy – Center of lid

Look #5:

• Magma – Above crease, lower lashline
• Beach – Blended the top portion of Magma with this
• Silk – All over lid, crease, a little on lower lashline

Look #6:

• Ridge – All over lid + blended into crease, lower lashline
• Gloaming – Layered all over lid

Look #7:

• Deep Dive – Outer lid/crease, outer lower lashline
• Magma – Inner lid/crease, inner lower lashline
• Beach – Blended around edges of previous two shades with this
• Palladium – Center of lid and lower lashline

Look #8:

• Magma – Inner/outer lid and crease
• Sundown – Center of lid and crease, transition area
• High Degree – Inner and outer lower lashline
• True Copper – Center of lower lashline
• Silk – Inner corner, brows, also applied over top True Copper on the center of the lower lashline to add more brightness. After applying it to the inner corner, I took whatever residual was still on the brush and lightly dusted it over the brow bone area.

Product Details

The Natasha Denona Safari Palette contains 15 matte eyeshadows in a fairly wide range of shades and depths. Each shade is 2.5 grams / 0.08 oz. This palette has been around for years and is now on sale on their website for 50% off its original retail price of $129.

The palette is made of plastic and has a matte finish to it that both hides fingerprints and makes it easier to grip. The lid houses a large, high quality mirror, and opens all the way flat or can also be left halfway open without collapsing shut. The pans can be popped out via holes in the back of the palette and rearranged or placed into a different magnetic palette.

The size of the pans in this product is something that Natasha Denona has been moving away from recently. These pans are larger and contain more product. Their newer palettes like the Love and Bronze palettes both have smaller pans with less product but retail for about half as much as this one (at full price). Price per gram is very comparable for this palette and the newer ones.

Formula Overview

After using this palette for about a week, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not the biggest fan of this formula. While the shadows are highly pigmented and swatch nicely, they are hard to work with on the eye. They are somehow both difficult to blend but they also dust away easily. They don’t build on themselves well, so I end up with parts that look “bald”.

Performance isn’t consistent across all shades either. The lightest grey dusts away easily, the deep blue is difficult and time consuming to blend, even the warm yellows and oranges take more time to work with than I’m used to with other brands. I can certainly *make* them work but I don’t enjoy the process.

Shade Selection

Most of the palette is warm toned but there are a few cool toned shades in the top row. None of the shades are too similar to each other. This color story seems to be versatile in theory, but the more I worked with it the less I was able to execute color combos I had in my head. With some formulas I am able to blend cool tones into warm tones with relative ease but the blending process is so hard with these that’s it’s not worth it to me. I found monochromatic looks to be the least frustrating to do.

I’m Gonna Be Brutally Honest…

Don’t buy this palette. It’s not worth the money, even at the discounted price. I decided not to test for wear time because the application process made it not worth it to me. With the vast array of eyeshadows on the market, surely cheaper and easier to use formulas exist in these shades.

I’m not knocking the brand as a whole, just this particular palette. The week I was using this, I was also swatching and playing with the Lila, Bronze, and Love palettes. The formula seems to be different across the palettes. I haven’t fully tested those others yet but I was less frustrated creating looks using them than I was with this one.

Looks

Look #1:

• Rhino – Above crease, applied lightly with a small fluffy brush
• Stone – Used this to blend around the edges of Rhino
• Malia – Brow bone, inner corner, all over lid
• Fata Morgana – Used as eyeliner
• Savanna – Lower lashline

This is a variant of Look #1. I just added the pressed glitter in Light Show from ColourPop all over the lid.

Look #2:

• Thorn – Crease
• Amhara – Transition, lower lashline
• Aya – Blended around edge of Amhara with this, inner part of lid
• Fata Morgana – Outer half of lid

Look #3:

• Fata Morgana – Center of lid
• Thorn – On either side of Fata Morgana
• Amhara – On either side of Thorn
• Desert Date – On either side of Amhara

Same look as above with the addition of Antheia from the Natasha Denona Mini Gold Palette.

The matte shades used in this look are from the Safari palette and the shimmers are from the Love palette.

Look #4:

• Malia (safari) – All over lid to set primer, brow bone, inner corner
• Lotus (safari) – Transition
• Maasai (safari) – Crease
• Voodoo (safari) – Outer corner
• Giving (love) – Center of lid
• Pure Love (love) – Lower lashline
• Transparent (love) – Inner corner

The matte shades used in this look are from the Safari palette and the shimmers are from the Bronze palette.

Look #5:

• Aya (safari) – Transition
• Desert Date (safari) – Crease
• Shea (safari) – Outer lid, outer lower lashline
• Tribe (safari) – Lower lashline
• True Copper (bronze) – Inner lid, inner lower lashline
• High Degree (bronze) – Center of lid

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Yesterday’s warm look using the Menagerie Cosmetics Pastel Pup Palette, the Natasha Denona Bronze Palette, and a couple of singles from Terra Moons Cosmetics.

Menagerie Cosmetics Pastel Pup Palette:

• Sun Bathe – Under the front part of my brow
• Fishy – I initially applied this all over the lid and then decided to go in a different direction with the look
• Saddleback – Lid, layered over Fishy
• Whisker – Worn as eyeliner

Natasha Denona Bronze Palette:

• Suntan – Deepen crease
• Magma – Lower lashline
• Silk – Lower lashline

Terra Moons Cosmetics Singles:

• Sun Sign – Layered between Sun Bathe and Fishy, inner corner
• Io – Inner corner, to add a bit more brightness

Base:

• Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup in 1N1
• Too Faced Born This Way Multi Use Sculpting Concealer in Snow
• Too Faced Peach Perfect Loose Setting Powder

Brows, Lashes, Liner:

• Viseart Brow Palette – deepest powder shade
• Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in 500 Boundless Bisque
• Whisker from Menagerie Pastel Pup Palette – Worn as eyeliner
• Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Here’s a look using the Natasha Denona Bronze Palette. With this look I wanted to try using textures in a way I normally don’t. I’m trying to break out of the rut of always doing the same kinds of looks. I almost always keep shimmery shades on the lid and maybe the inner corner. Usually not on the lower lashline and I have never tried putting it in the brows. I also wanted to still keep that “halo eye” effect by just using a lighter matte in the center of the lid. I ended up with a ton of shimmer fallout which I could have minimized if I had used a damp brush to apply the shimmers but I never think of these things until after I’ve finished the look LOL.

Natasha Denona Bronze Palette Shades Used:

• Magma – Inner and outer lid and crease (Very pigmented, high adherence. Took some patience to blend out.)
• Sundown – Center of lid and crease, transition area (This shade got a bit lost in the transition area with all the blending I did.)
• High Degree – Inner and outer lower lashline
• True Copper – Center of lower lashline
• Silk –  Inner corner, brows, also applied over top True Copper on the center of the lower lashline to add more brightness. After applying it to the inner corner, I took whatever residual was still on the brush and lightly dusted it over the brow bone area.

From the little bit I’ve played with this palette so far, the mattes are very pigmented and can be a bit tricky to blend. The blending took quite a while to do here. The shimmers seem to vary in color payoff depending on the shade but the ones I used here were pretty easy to work with.

Base:

• NYX Angel Veil Skin Perfecting Primer
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup in 1N1 Ivory Nude
• Too Faced Born This Way Multi-Use Sculpting Concealer in Snow
• Physicians Formula The Healthy Powder in LC1 – I use this to add coverage to my dark circles and the inner corner where concealer doesn’t fully do the job on its own
• Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder

Brows + Lashes:

• Viseart Brow Palette – I used mostly the deepest (almost black) shade because I wanted the brows to balance the depth of the look.
• Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Mascara