It’s becoming increasingly more apparent, the cool toned palette trend is here to stay. So of course we wouldn’t expect anything less from the palette queen herself, Natasha Denona, and disappoint she did not. While you’d think by now we’d all be over neutral palettes, the newly released Natasha Denona Glam Palette created quite a stir.
I think it’s interesting, because I certainly wasn’t looking to add any more neutral palettes to my collection (Lord knows I don’t need more). But there was enough buzz surrounding the Glam palette and a 25% off coupon pushed me over the edge. So is it worthy of a coveted spot in my palette drawer? Lets discuss.
- Natasha Denona Glam Palette Overview
- Natasha Denona Glam Palette Review
- Cruelty-free and Vegan Status
- Where to Buy the Natasha Denona Glam Palette
- Final Thoughts
Natasha Denona Glam Palette Overview
The Natasha Denona Glam Palette is a fifteen shades eyeshadow palette that retails for $65. It’s the same size as Natasha Denona’s smaller sized palettes, with a total of 0.67 oz of product. The shadows come in a small plastic palette with a mirrored cover and rubberized texture. There are small holes behind each shadow so you can push them out to rearrange or mix with other palettes.
The Glam Palette takes a rarely used route in terms of labeling the shadows. Rather than the pop culture references we’re used to seeing, they chose to name each shade based on function. The result is that you’ve got several shades all labeled “inner corner” or “center eyelid”. I think a beginner would probably benefit, though I didn’t stick to the designated uses of each shade.
Natasha Denona Glam Palette Review
Color Story
The Glam Palette is an all neutral color story with shades of pink, taupe, bronze, and browns.
There are five matte shades and ten shimmer or metallic shades. Within the mattes there’s a few medium blending shades in both cool and warmer brown options, and a slightly deeper brown, with a charcoal being the darkest color. The palest matte is a cool beige with maybe a hint of taupe. Although it’s labeled transition, I was able to use it a highlight though fairer skin may need to pull in a separate shadow.
Overall there’s a great balance of matte to shimmer and a decent range of light to dark so it can function as a stand-alone palette.
As far as the shimmer shades go, I was actually surprised at how similar some of the colors are, especially considering that there are only ten of them.
You’ve got a light mauvey pink (center eye lid, top row), and then three pale peachy neutral shades ( inner corner top row, center eye lid, brown bone bottom row) that are very close to one anzother. Granted one has bits of sparkle which the other two lack, and one is a hair deeper but still. There’s not much difference between them and they really could have replaced at least one if not two of them with something different.
The two shades in the bottom left corner of the palette (Center Eye Lid and Outer Eye Lid) are probably the warmest shades in the palette. The first is a true bronzey gold followed by a deeper bronzey brown.
Inner Corner and Center Eyelid (middle row) are both taupe shades. The first is lighter and leans beige while the second has a silvery lavender undertone.
The final two shimmers (both lableled outer eye lid) are deep, cool toned bronze shades. Once again they’re pretty close in color; the main difference would be that the one in the bottom row has a plummy undertone and some silver sparkle.
To sum it up, the Glam Palette is not the icy color story you might assume it would be. Yes most of the shades have cooler undertones but they lean more toward neutral than outright harsh grays. Personally I think it’s a much more flattering way to wear cool toned shadows and the fact that they threw in a few warmer shades gives the palette more versatility.
However if cool-toned to you means silver, grays, and gunmetals, I don’t think you’d be satisfied with this shade selection and you may want to look into something like Colourpop’s Blowin’ Smoke Palette.
Formula
Much has been said in praise of Natasha Denona’s eyeshadow formula and while I personally don’t find it that unique, it does perform well. The Glam Palette feels like the same quality as some some of her other palettes that I’ve tried.
The mattes all have a luxuriously soft feel to them but they’re firm enough that they don’t kick up lots of excess powder. They apply fairly evenly, though I’d describe the pigmentation as buildable rather than intense full color in one swipe.
As far as the shimmers go, several are embedded with bit of silver sparkle and these tend to have a chunkier texture. These are the shades Outer Eye Lid and Inner Corner on the top row. Inner Corner in particular feels pretty loosely packed and leaves a fair amount of fallout.
The rest of the shadows were all standard shimmers though some like the bronzey gold has a more metallic finish. These shades are the best performers in the palette as they have smooth textures and intense, even pigmentation. Some feel more firmly pressed but for the most part there’s little to no fallout.
Swatches
Dupes for the Natasha Denona Glam Palette
I don’t know about anyone else, but the first thing I thought when I saw the Glam Palette was Oh look, they’ve recreated Naked 2. The mix of pink, taupe, and bronze is very reminiscent of Urban Decay’s Naked 2 Palette (may she rest in peace).
I went through and swatched each shade in Naked 2 with a comparable shade in the Glam Palette. While I definitely didn’t get an exact match for each one, there was reasonably similar shade in Glam for each shadow in Naked 2.
Bottom Row: Natasha Denona Glam Palette
So yeah, overall they’re similar enough to where I wouldn’t say that you’re gaining much by purchasing Glam if you already own Naked 2. Of course Urban Decay discontinued Naked 2 so if you don’t have it, this is a very close alternative.
There’s been talk comparing Glam to Colourpop’s Stone Cold Fox Palette which I’ve already reviewed. I tried to find a similar color for each shade in the Glam Palette but there were several that had no dupes. It’s surprising because Stone Cold Fox is such a big palette. You’d assume it would be easier to find dupes but I think Naked 2 is actually more similar than Stone Cold Fox.
Bottom Row: Colourpop Stone Cold Fox Palette
Cruelty-free and Vegan Status
Natasha Denona is a cruelty-free brand. As per the brand, they don’t test on animals, nor do they sell in countries where animal testing is required by law. They source all their ingredients from manufacturers in Europe where animal testing is banned. Note however that they are not Leaping Bunny certified.
The Glam Palette contains carmine and is not considered vegan.
Where to Buy the Natasha Denona Glam Palette
- Sephora – Free shipping on orders over $50 and free returns.
- Natasha Denona – Free shipping on orders over $50. International shipping available.
- Beautylish – Free shipping on orders over $35 and free returns. International shipping available.
Regardless of where you choose to purchase from, make sure to check if Rakuten (ebates) is offering cash back. Sephora offers cash back for anywhere from 2% to 8% so it’s definitely worth looking into. If you haven’t signed up for Rakuten yet, you can do so here.It only takes a minute and you’ll earn cashback every time you shop through their link. They also have an extension which I recommend installing, that activates cash back on all eligible websites with one click. It also scans for coupons.
Final Thoughts
For me this really came down to the uniqueness of the color story and that fact that it’s so similar to Naked 2 (which is one of my all time favorites) makes it kind of redundant in my collection. I also don’t love that some of the shades are similar to one another. That being said, I think it’s a beautiful selection of staple neutral shades that can work for multiple occasions.
If you’re looking to invest in one neutral palette and you don’t necessarily like the super warm coppers and bronzes, I think you’ll really like this palette. As I said above, if you want a truly cool toned color selection this probably won’t be the best value for you and I’d look elsewhere.
Pros
- Nicely textured and pigmented shimmers
- Smooth and buildable mattes
- Good balance of matte and shimmer shades and decent selection of light to dark
- Compact packaging
Cons
- A few repetitious shades
- Chunky texture and fallout on the shades containing glitter
Thanks for reading, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Bye now,
