When people ask me about luxury eyeshadow palettes, one of the first brands to spring to mind for me is Natasha Denona. Her palettes are so gorgeous to look at and people rave about the quality of them. But luxury quality usually means a luxury pricetag. And I had always been personally reluctant to try out her shadows due to the cost of her palettes. With some of her larger palettes costing over $200 here in Australia!
So when she started releasing five pan versions of some of her more well known palettes, I figured that was a good oppotunity to test out her formula and see if it’s actually worth the high price tag. And the palette I ended up choosing was the neutral themed Camel Palette. So, if you want to see how I liked the Camel Palette, just keep reading!
NATASHA DENONA CAMEL EYESHADOW PALETTE – $75.00 – sephora.com.au
Starting as I always do with the packaging, and I have to say that’s it’s very well designed. It’s an slim and sleek acrylic palette with a clear lid so you can easily see the shades you’re getting. They also have the names of the shades as well as other ancillary information written on the back of the palette. One thing I did notice is that the eyeshadows are pressed well into their pans. I did hear that with some of Natasha Denona’s older five pan palettes there were issues of eyeshadows falling out of the pans. And it also appears that you can pop the pans out and add the shadows to a magnetic palette. The eyeshadows are all talc free, paraben free and cruelty free.
As already mentioned, the palette contains five shades, three mattes, one shimmery metallic and one foiled metallic, that all live in the neutral/warm colour spectrum. They are all universally wearable shades that can easily accommodate a lot of different skintones, which is a definite plus. Some may comment that they are very safe, boring shades, but personally, I like safe and boring shades for everyday use.
As this is such a small palette, I’ll chat about the two metallic shades first. The first metallic Dune is described as a sheer golden peach with a metallic finish. While I will concede that it’s not the most pigmented shade in the palette, it builds up nicely and it has the most gorgeous, natural sheen. I did notice that there are flecks of microglitter in this shade, which I don’t mind but it may be a problem for some people. I mostly use this shade as my brow bone/inner corner highlight. But I especially love it dabbed on the centre of the eyelid for a brightening effect.
The other metallic shade, Copper Stone, I do not have a bad thing to say about. This shadow is beautiful! It’s easily the creamiest shade in the whole palette and it’s so rich in pigment. So rich that I don’t even need to hit it with a spray to get it’s foiled effect. I have worn this all day with no eye primer and it lasts without fading and creasing on me. Which is definitely impressive! This one also has small gold microglitter flakes, but they aren’t as noticeable as they are in Dune.
The three mattes however are interesting. When I first swatched them, I was surprised by the texture. They were still nice and smooth, but they weren’t as creamy as I thought they would be. Almost leaning a teeny bit dry. Thankfully, this doesn’t translate to the eyes, as I found all three shades to be very easy to blend out and work with. There is some kickback when I tap my brush into the shadows, but it’s not as much kickback as other shadows I’ve used.
The deep brown shade, Amaretto, is pretty much precisely what I want in a deeper shade. Deep enough that I can use it as a liner, but not so pigmented that I can easily botch a look if I go too heavy.
The other two matte shades, Safari and Zand, I will concede that they look very similar in the pan. It’s only when you swatch them or apply them to the eyes that the differences become noticeable. Safari is definitely lighter and has almost an olive tone to it. Whereas Zand is a more ochre, warm brown. Both of the shades work well together. I would use Safari lightly in the crease as a transition shade and Zand to add more definition. I especially love Zand as an all over the lid shade.
So, do I recommend the Camel palette? You know what? I do. While I will definitely say that the price is way up there (it appears that Sephora Australia has risen the price on Natasha Denona products since I bought this palette), the quality is exceptionally good, there isn’t a dud shadow in the mix and if these are shades that you’ll use every day, I say go for it! This palette get a thumbs up from me. If the price is too much however, wait for a sale. Have you tried any of Natasha Denona’s palettes? Let me know in the comments below!
Cheers and love
Emmie xo
such a beautiful palette! it’s so expensive but the quality is definitely good!
https://www.clairetalksbeauty.com/
I was very impressed! The shadows were so easy to use!
Xx
ND palettes are always so expensive and we only have two of them here in Portugal and it’s the Nude and the Sunset, so I don’t think the colours are actually worth the price for me, because I’d rarely use them. But if we get the other palettes I will definitely consider them 🙂
Susana
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The smaller ones are still pricey but the colour selection is pretty decent on them
Xx