Battle of the Palettes

Monday 21 August 2017


The dilemma of whether we should be spending half our wages on make up each month still goes on and with the incredible products coming out from high end brands such as Clinique, Urban Decay, Charlotte Tilbury and TooFaced (to name a few!) it's kind of hard to resist. However, the market for drugstore make up brands are changing and drastically improving.

I thought it would be good to test out a couple of palettes from high end brands and a couple of palettes from drugstore brands, see how they fare against each other and see whether I'll be able to save some money picking up drugstore alternatives. I will be rating them out one to four stars on blendability, colour range and overall.

In the high end corner, we have the much hyped Naked Heat Palette by Urban Decay and the Modern Renaissance Palette by Anastasia Beverley Hill.

Naked Heat Palette


Price: £39.50
Available from: Feelunique (amongst others)
Review: Ding ding ding we have a winner! For me, although the price is quite steep there is a large choice of colours and this dared me to go out of comfort zone and experiment with more red shades (I've always been a traditional browny/ gold kind of smokey eye girl). It's properly shown me the light with using burgundy and red shades as they all tie in together.. I also found that the brush that comes with this palette is fantastic. The packaging is functional but I think it's really pretty. Not as pretty as the Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance palette but still pretty nonetheless.

Blendability:
Colour Range:
Overall:

Modern Renaissance Palette


Price: £41.00
Available from: Cult Beauty
Review: What can I say about this palette? I fell in love just looking at it. The packaging is sleek and the velour feel top is definitely different to the majority of plastic topped palettes. The colours were very pigmented, and it came with a good brush. The colour range is incredibly too and I have to admit- I'm literally obsessed with Love Letter. It's quite expensive but the pigmentation of the colours  is fantastic.

Blendability:
Colour Range: 
Overall: 

In the "drugstore" corner (I literally couldn't think of another way to term this, so American!), we have the Ultimate Shadow Palette in Warm Neutrals by NYX and Mad about Matte by E.l.f (which I was super excited to see a concession of in my local Superdrug!).

Ultimate Shadow Palette in Warm Neutrals


Price: £16.00
Available from: Cult Beauty (amongst others including Boots)
Review: I liked a lot of the colours from this palette, but for me, the wasn't a single shade which really stood out, unlike Love Letter from the Anastasia Beverley Hills Palette. It's definitely a good introduction to the warmer shades so before splurging on one of the higher end palettes purchasing this palette might be worth it to make sure that warmer colours suit you. I also don't think that colours came out as strong as they looked on the palette. The packaging is rather basic, but is definitely functional. For the price, I definitely think this palette is worth it.

Blendability: 
Colour Range: 
Overall: 

Mad about Matte


Price: £12.50
Available from: Superdrug
Review: The colours were all fairly similar however they came out of the palette rather strong. The lighter colours also barely showed on my skin- and I am pale! The packaging, much like the NYX palette is rather basic and it's a bit tricky to open if you have acrylic nails like I do! However, it is relatively cheap and would be a good introduction to the smokey eye.

Blendability: 
Colour Range: 
Overall: 

Overall Verdict: I definitely think that the higher end palettes are more blendable and pigmented but they are definitely more expensive. If you are unsure of the type of colours that would suit you- it would maybe work best buying a cheaper drugstore brand with similar colours before making the leap to the higher end, more expensive palette. Don't get me wrong however, the drugstore palettes are still blendable and with some good brushes you can definitely make them work for you. As I said before, for me the Naked Heat Palette by Urban Decay is my favourite.

Have you used these palettes? Which do you think is better?

XOXO Molly

24 comments

  1. Love this! I really want all of these palettes too but the urban decay naked heat is currently top of my list! I love the brand so much xxxx

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    Replies
    1. Thank you lovely! The UD palette is definitely my favourite at the moment, but the ABH is definitely a very close second! xxx

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  2. I want to try the Naked Heat palette so bad!! It looks gorgeous. Thanks for the reviews. My fav palette is the too faced chocolate bar because it's so versatile.
    Love, Molly
    Goodgollymisssmolly.wordpress.com

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    Replies
    1. Ooh, I've not tried the Too Faced chocolate bar palette! Maybe I'll try that next! Definitely give UD Naked Heat a go, it's wonderful! xxx

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  3. Such a useful post! I never know where to start with palettes but I really want to start experimenting more with my eye makeup. Thanks for the inspiration and the great and honest reviews!

    Carrie x
    www.thelipsticktrail.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Definitely just have a go on a rainy Sunday afternoon and experiment- Good luck!

      Molly xx

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  4. Love this post! I love the colours of all these palettes! The only problem is I was secretly hoping that the drugstore options would win, I'll just have to come to terms with the fact that I will be poor when I buy my new eye shadows! :') xx

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    1. Thank you so much! I was kind of hoping I'd find one on par with the more expensive but I just couldn't :( Maybe I'll keep looking- keep your eyes peeled- I may find one, one day! xx

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  5. love love love these palettes!! I really liked reading this post too! they are allll soooo stunning!!

    Sophia xo // sophiaaaxo.com

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  6. It's a real shame about the Nyx and Elf palettes as they are really affordable otherwise. I like how you've given each product a rating in stars. I think this is a really useful way of pitting products against each other, I love it. :)

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    1. I know, I kind of hoped they'd fare better. But I suppose if you are paying more money for a palette- at least you know it's worth it with these two? Thank you so much! x

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  7. Great post! I really liked the style of this post! I recommend giving Make Up Revolution Palettes a try (if you haven't already!) I love mine! xo

    Hanney | www.blogabouthanney.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! I haven't tried Make Up Revolution- I think I'll have to give them a go! xx

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  8. The colours are so pretty in the modern renaissance pallet! great post xx

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    Replies
    1. Aren't they just amazing?! I love them! Thank you xx

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  9. Oooh, this was such a fun post to read! I've actually never tried ELF's eyeshadows but I swear by their brow kit. Yay that they've made it to the U.K.!

    xx
    Emily
    emilyhallock.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! The eyeshadow is good, but not as good as the higher end shadows. I've not tried their brow kit, I usually use benefit! I'll have to give it a go. I was so happy to see it had made it here too... I thought I was going to have to order from America! xx

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  10. Still need to purchase the Naked Heat palette, as I have all of the others and love them. I think in this case, you get what you paid for and if you're willing to pay slightly more you're likely to get better quality and more pigment. Great post!

    Faye Jessica | fayejessica.co.uk

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    1. I definitely agree with that statement and definitely get the Naked Heat- it's life!

      Thank you

      xx

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  11. I'm yet to try any NYX shadows but quite like the elf ones. I've got their brow/eyeshadow palette and they payoff is great. Love Urban Decay but I can't get that excited about the heat palette. I'm dying to try the AHB palette though :D

    Sincerely, Sarah xx
    www.sincerelysarah.net

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    Replies
    1. I quite like the NYX shadows, they're not AS amazing as ABH / UD in my opinion but still good. Is the brow palette by ELF good? I've heard good things!

      How comes your not a fan of naked heat?

      xx

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  12. I've never thought eyeshadows suit me but I've been getting more into them recently... I'm starting off by using drugstore brands and will work myself up to the high end ones! Great review- really want to try the modern renaissance one eventually!

    rikkietc.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Definitely take your time and work up to it.. good luck! x

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