Saturday, September 20, 2014

Maybelline "The Nudes" Palette

People hunting it down in stores, devoted fans of the brand, tons of chatter on social media, no I'm not talking about the iphone 6 but the new Maybelline eyeshadow palette "The Nudes". Beauty bloggers and professionals have been talking about this product nonstop since its release a few months ago. "The Nudes" is the first-ever drugstore eyeshadow palette, containing 12 neutral shades to create many different looks. Now the big question is can a $10 drugstore palette really replace our beloved, prestige palettes we've been using for years? 







   (Without primer) 

(With Avon Eyeshadow Primer in Light Beige) 

 "The Nudes" palette contains 12 brown-toned eyeshadow shades, with a mixture of shimmers and mattes. It can be found in most drugstores for around $10-12. Contrary to most larger palettes the individual shadows don't have names, which can be difficult when trying to talk about the different shades. (The lighter brown one next to the slightly darker brown one is much more wordy and confusing than rose next to charcoal). Anyway names (or therefore lack of) aside this is a good palette.....good, but not great. I'll definitely get lots of use out of it and the size makes it perfect for travel but it will never replace my Urban Decay or Bare Minerals shadows. The shadows have decent color payoff but aren't overly pigmented. They are fairly easy to apply, however you have to use quite a bit to achieve the look you want. The one great aspect I've noticed is staying power. This stuff won't budge! I've worn it all day, multiple times and there's no creasing or smudging at all. I would recommend this palette to anyone just starting out with makeup. It's inexpensive so if you mess it up it's no big deal. Also the colors are easy to blend and play around with. On the back of the case there are pictorials showing you different ways to apply the shadows. I created a few different looks using this palette. 


The first look was done with three matte shadows. I'm not a huge fan of matte colors, (I prefer lots and lots of GLITTER!!!) but I've been rocking this look all week! These colors are a great way to transition into mattes. They're easy to blend and work with, because let's face it mattes aren't nearly as forgiving as shimmers are.



The second look is with all shimmer shades. It was the first look I created with this palette. It's a good neutral day look, not too much but still pretty. I tried to do it similarity to how I would with a more expensive palette and I think it turned out pretty well. After applying a few different times, I noticed these shadows are very good for lining the top and bottom lash line. They're somewhat powdery which in this case makes them easier to smudge along the bottom lash line. Also they blend well into the rest of the shadow on the top lash line. 



 The last look is a bit more dramatic. The only color that isn't a brown in this palette is the black on the bottom right corner. I wanted to use it at least once, to see what it was like. I lined the top and bottom lashes with it and was very impressed. It's easy to work with and has great staying power much like the rest of the palette. 



(All shadows are applied over Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion, with various mascaras) 

 All in all this is a good product. You can't expect to get the same quality from a $10 product you would from a $50 one. As far as drugstore shadows go I think these are some of the best. They have great staying power and are super easy to work with. This is a great palette to travel with because you have lots of options, it's small, and if it breaks you won't have to work two Saturdays to buy a replacement. Props to Maybelline for opening the door to a whole new world of drugstore products.