As soon as I saw the Natasha Denona Love eyeshadow palette I knew I was going to order it. There are many other similarly themed palettes out right now and I was inspired to do some swatching and comparing. This year I’m cutting back on how many products I buy and with that comes being aware of what I already own. Keep reading to see my thoughts and comparison swatches.
Here are swatches of the shades along with descriptions from Beautylish.com (they always have the best descriptions!):
Top 2 rows (L-R in pan):
- First: Peachy beige with a creamy matte finish
- Lifetime: Warm gold with a shimmer finish
- Heartbeat: Deep maroon with a creamy matte finish
- Transparent: Bronzed champagne with a metallic finish
- Trust: Deep plum with a creamy matte finish
- Heart: Rich red with a creamy matte finish
- Giving: Coral with a pink duochrome finish
- Pure Love: Warm plum with blue reflects and a duochrome finish
- Commitment: Burgundy brown with a creamy matte finish
- Blind: Silver with a metallic finish
Bottom row (L-R in pan):
- Soul: Deep dusty rose with a creamy matte finish
- Passion: Deep burgundy with a shimmer finish
- Intense: Peachy pink with a creamy matte finish
- Valentine: Rose pink with a creamy matte finish
- Dream: Amethyst with a metallic finish
Quick note about swatches…
I don’t think swatches give a true indication of how a shade performs and this definitely rings true for this palette. When I swatched the shade Valentine on my arm it was powdery, ashy, and needed to be built up to show the true pigmentation. I applied it yesterday as the transition shade with a fluffy brush and it went on effortlessly without looking ashy.
Also think about how swatches are done: you swirl your finger around a few times and lightly press it onto your arm. I don’t know about you but I don’t apply shadow on my eyes like that. Swatches can, however, be helpful in determining what the shade will look like against your skin. The shade Intense looks to be a light-medium pink in the pan and is described on Beautylish’s site to be a “peachy pink with a creamy matte finish.” When I swatched it on my arm and applied it on my eyes I noticed that it appeared deeper.
Just because something doesn’t swatch that great doesn’t mean it won’t perform well. On the contrary, just because it does swatch great doesn’t meant that it will perform well. Some shadows can look good swatched on the arm and go on to perform well on the eyes, and some can swatch horribly and perform horribly. TL:DR Take arm swatches with a grain of salt for eyeshadow performance.
Comparisons
Here are the comparisons with the palettes and single shadows I already own. I picked the shade that stood out as the most similar to me.
Natasha Denona Sunrise Clove (bottom) vs Heartbeat (top)
Pat McGrath Labs La Vie En Rose Paranormal (bottom) vs Trust (top)
Colourpop Ooh La La Poodle (bottom) vs Intense (top)
Anastasia Beverly Hills x Jackie Aina Supreme, Pinker, & Big Wig (2nd, 4th, & 6th swatches) vs Love Intense, Heartbeat, & Trust (1st, 3rd, & 5th swatches)
There will be a post of my weekly eyeshadow looks coming soon as I’m still testing every shadow. I’m making it a point to use every shade in this palette to get a better idea of how it performs. Don’t want to hype up any product without being able to show proof. I will say that so far I’ve experienced fallout with a couple of shimmers but that doesn’t bother me since I now do my eyeshadow before my base.
Anyway let me know what you think of the Natasha Denona Love eyeshadow palette and if this post helped you make a decision either way.
