I purchased the Nars Climax Palette near the end of 2021 and this is what I will be reviewing. I didn’t want “Climax Palette” in my title, although what better day is there than Valentine’s Day to discuss such a cheekily named product!
This has a great selection of mattes: a brightening, transition, colorful, and deepening up shade. Since I love bright colorful greens, I wish Up In Smoke was a bit brighter and less muted, but I can appreciate that the olive hue in that eyeshadow pairs well with the olive shimmer called Hooked. It’s similar to the way that Public Eye is the matte counterpart to Next Level.
Open Wide adds brightness to my eye area and it is pigmented enough to even partially cover darker shadows. Private Show is a little light as a transition shade for me, but it still works.
I was always under the impression that Nars eyeshadows were lacking in pigmentation, but that is at least not the case with the ones in this palette. They blend and build easily over MAC Paint Pot. Passion Play, Next Level, and Night Rhythm are all more shimmery than I anticipated! Even though they aren’t vibrant shades, the sparkle level is the intensity that I like in my lid shades. Envious is my preferred shade for the inner corner though. The inner corner is the spot where I most easily get shimmer particles in my eye. Envious isn’t to the same sparkle level as the others, especially when I wet my brush. The smoother the formula, the less likely I am of accidentally getting some in my eye while trying to apply it evenly. Envious gives me a nice amount of shine while also being easier to get on the inner corner.
I don’t even have much to say about this palette except that I’m glad I decided to buy it before it sold out, since it’s Limited Edition (it did get restocked recently on the Nars website). If all Nars eyeshadows are this quality, I would want to purchase more in the future as long as the selection of shades match my preferences. I’ve been waiting for years to pick the right one for me, so it might be quite a while longer until I’m interested enough in the color story to buy the next one.
Some of the biggest beauty gurus on youtube say that these two brands make the best eyeshadows they have ever used. Although I am an eyeshadow junkie, I needed to do some research first before I invested in these products. And they are certainly an investment because you get a ton of product in each pan, which is ideal for makeup artists, but would last the average consumer ages. They’re also not cheap. The 5 pan palette was the most I was willing to commit to from ND’s line of shadows.
Natasha Denona Palette 04
The single, 5-shadow, 10-shadow, and 28-shadow pans are available at Beautylish. Although ND has many other products for sale, the eyeshadows are the top sellers.
I used finger swatches without primer in the photos above. When using the fingers, these shadows are unparalleled in pigmentation. The tiniest touch (not even a full single swipe) produced those swatches above.
These are basically pressed pigments which are soft in texture, apply smoothly, and contain ingredients which maintain the shadow’s moisture while on the skin.
Although Natasha Denona stands behind the use of parabens in cosmetics, she removed all of them from her eyeshadows to assuage wary customers.
The shadows are very long lasting on my lids. The photo below is after 8 hours of wear.
The video of the swatches going on and on, although true, is only practical for those who prefer to apply the eyeshadow with their fingers. Using the finger to apply it like a cream eyeshadow is actually the recommended method. If using a brush, Natasha Denona recommends one which is, “fluffy…thick and round, not flat brushes.”
I do not own her brushes, so I used natural and synthetic bristle brushes from various brands in the photos for this post. I also used the Too Faced Shadow Insurance in the primed swatches.
Please note that if used like any other eyeshadow, the color can be built up just as intense as the finger swatches. The brush demos were performed using one swirl of color, except Cool Plum. That shade required much more product to become visible at all on my skin. Here are some comparisons between my favorite and least favorite shades in the palette.
Cool Plum perplexes me. It is so much stiffer, harder to work with, and less pigmented than the other shadows. Considering the effort required to work with it, I’d rather use a dark color from any other palette instead. I’m also confused by the fact that it looks matte in person but in the photos of the palette online, and the description of the individual pan on both the ND and Beautylish websites, it’s supposed to be a shiny pearl shade. I see sparkle in their pictures but zero in mine.
From ND:
From Beautylish:
I spoke with a friend who bought this palette at the same time that I did and hers looked matte as well. Aside from that mystery, there are a few more things to know; when using multiple colors they don’t just blend. They mix and form a new shade, like paint. So if you want to keep each shade separate you have to apply and blend carefully. Cool Bronze was partially on the inner corner when I applied Aura on top and it created a yellow gold color.
If you have hooded eyelids you could run into the issue of color transferring from the lid to just above the crease. I have partially hooded eyes but this is the first time I’ve ever had this occur.
There may be as simple of a fix as using a different eyeshadow primer, but I would have to look into it. Although not necessary for some, ND recommends those with oily eyelids to still use a primer.
Overall, the negatives aren’t enough for me to dislike this palette or ND’s eyeshadows in general. I think the shimmers are very nice and I can see why so many people have been raving about them. The way it looks in person is quite special and I’m willing to work on perfecting a technique in order to use the shadows exactly the way I want. Minus Cool Plum.
Viseart Eyeshadow Palette 4 Dark Mattes
This palette is also available at Beautylish but I purchased mine from Sephora.
The 01 Neutral Matte palette is what most people talk about but what makeup fanatic doesn’t already have at least one neutral palette after the Naked (and dupes) palette craze from 2014? There are seven of these 12-shadow palettes available and Viseart recently announced a new Rule of III collection of three half size (enfants) palettes coming soon to the makeup show LA.
For the rest of us, we can enjoy what is already available, like this Dark matte palette.
I’ve never seen such a beautiful arrangement of colors from a premade palette. I absolutely love fall colors and I will still be rocking these shades all year long. I absolutely love the first two rows. The last one is patchier but I don’t wear blue or green that often anyway. And when you build up the color it won’t be much of an issue. They all feel the same texturally. Not buttery but not super stiff either. They feel like Lorac matte shades but most of these perform even better. Below are single brush swipes over primer.
Although the color and pigmentation is on the same level to me as Lorac mattes, the blendability of the Viseart mattes are insane. I’ve never seen mattes perform this way (minus the bottom row). Now, non-shimmers aren’t terribly exciting. Even if the colors pop, I always feel like something is missing without some shine on the lids.
When I used an almost all Viseart eye look, I didn’t see what was so special about them at first. But then when I saw the pictures on camera it made complete sense. On camera they look ultra smooth/blended and just perfect. I’m certain a professional MUA can create even better looks with these eyeshadows than I can.
These and Lorac Pro mattes share similarities but this palette is free of parabens, mineral oil, and other such ingredients. I have heard good things about Viseart shimmer shades as well but none of their colors grabbed my attention.
Final Thoughts on Viseart and Natasha denona Eyeshadows
In certain areas they do live up to the hype. I wouldn’t use either of these palettes alone and even together these two aren’t quite enough for me. Anyone looking for practical makeup for everyday use will likely find the difference in quality between these and other good palettes not quite enough to warrant the price. Those who take a lot of photos, make videos, or are MUAs may be more interested in testing and purchasing them. I do just enough for these to be relevant for me and to fit my needs.
With all of the holiday (and my birthday) celebrations going on, I had an unplanned vacation from my blog. But today I have a review of the eyeshadow palette which is my new go-to for pops of color.
This was a limited edition palette that I bought at Sephora. It is no longer in stock but there is an email option for it on the official Kat Von D website, so it may become available again for purchase there.
*The link is no longer working, however, I have kept it there in case it does return again.
Rewind
I wanted to get Raw Power from KVD’s Metal Crush eyeshadow line but Rewind is close enough to that shade that I now feel I can go without it. This and Harpsichord are the two shades I was most excited to use. It looks burgundy on my arm swatch but on my eyelid it looks closer to plum. It’s a little uneven in my 2-swipe-swatch but it is buildable.
Harpsichord
This shade is perfection! It seems like the cosmetic industry makes coppery orange shades very well (that or I’m lucky) because I have not come across one yet that I have not liked. It is smooth both visually and in texture. I have found no negatives to this eyeshadow.
Analogue
I was surprised by how wonderful this matte orange looked on my skin. The quality is fantastic. Again, there are no negatives.
Fran
This is a nice matte as well. I will get the least use out of a shade like this but it’s nice to have in case I ever need a bright yellow.
Legend
I call this shade a lemon-gold and until now I had nothing like it in my collection. It does need to be built up in order to see its full vibrancy.
The Daybreak Look
Legend is the inner corner highlight and under the brow. Analogue is above the crease. Vox is in the crease. It is also mixed with Rewind on the outer third of the lid. Harpsichord is the transition on both sides of Analogue. Rewind is on the lid and 2/3 of the lower lash line. Black Metal is on the outer third of the lower lash line.
Destroyer
Destroyer is not a true red. It’s like an extremely dark pink. The pigmentation is noticeably lacking, even on top of a primer.
Swoon
The quality of this matte is a bit better than Destroyer, but still patchy.
Love
I liked this light pink shimmer shadow more than I expected. It is pigmented and smooth to the touch.
Anthem
This one is a pretty shade. Even though it feels soft, it looks chalky in swatches and on the lid.
Muse
This looks powdery like Anthem but it is a bit more even in color and texture.
Echo
On the flip side, Echo is worse than Anthem. It has a little fallout from the glitter, looks chalky and patchy. I had a difficult time capturing its true pan color on camera (perhaps from the reflective glitter). It is one of those violet-blue colors I see in many other palettes and I have not had very good luck with the quality of those shades.
Dark Wave
This is a little uneven and powdery looking too but it’s a step up from Echo.
Synth
This bright blue is similar in quality to Dark Wave but it’s very pigmented.
Hyperballad
I have to also draw comparisons to Dark Wave. It’s similar quality but much smoother. I have nothing else in my collection that is this shade of dark teal.
Black Metal
The swatch shows it all. It looks very dark at first but it’s patchy. When I try to add more and blend, it fades to a dark grey and not the intense black that it initially seems. In my Green Look, there was one spot that refused to get any color. I got so frustrated that I had to get my Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate Palette to touch up the corner and complete the look.
Skulls
Although I hardly use white, this shimmer shade is fantastic quality. No negatives.
The Green Look
Noble is under the brow, Analogue is blended out underneath. Vox is in the crease as well as slightly above it. Black Metal (and a touch of Licorice) is in the outer V. Vinyl is in the inner corner and inner third of the lid. Misfit is in the center of the lid and Lemmy is in the outer.
Lemmy
There was a little fallout when I used this shade but I do my eye makeup before the rest of my face, so I was able to get rid of it and the remainder stayed.
Misfit
This shade is of decent quality and color.
Vinyl
It takes quite a bit of product to build this up.
Lyric
This shadow surprised me because it looks light beige but it has this gorgeous white-pink sparkle sheen to it. I swatched it several times in different lighting to confirm that I wasn’t seeing things.
Moulder
I didn’t like this at first but it has grown on me. It’s so light that it looks white but there is a bit of yellow to it. It can work as a highlight shade. It’s a touch powdery though.
The left side is without flash. The right side is with flash. The flash version shows Noble and Strutter correctly. Neither version captured the dark brown that Vox looks like in the pan, however the non-flash version accurately shows its swatch color.
Vox
This looks black and it’s not easy to blend at all. I wish it was a richer brown. In fact, if I use this in the future I will continue to pair it with Analogue to help bring out the brown tones in it. In the Daybreak Look, I couldn’t smoke it well enough so I used Harpsichord to mute out the harsh line between Analogue and Vox.
Noble
It’s the highlight shade in the Green Look. It takes a lot of product to show on my skin tone. A few swipes is too sheer.
Strutter
There isn’t anything that I like about this eyeshadow. To me, it’s an unflattering color, is patchy, and looks almost dirty.
Overall, I can get so much use out of this palette. The shade variety is fantastic and I love the mix of mattes and shimmers. The majority are pigmented although many are also patchy. The real disappointment for me are the neutrals. The palette could have benefited from having a true medium brown shade replace Strutter. The quality is so lacking that I need a separate neutral palette if I want to create a more wearable, everyday look. However, the positives outweigh the negatives. I think it’s a beautiful palette and is thankfully more than just a collector’s item.
*You can change the setting of the video for higher quality.
This Ulta Exclusive is really a pack because it includes a mini Better than Sex mascara, Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer, 6 tutorial cards, and Glamour Dust loose pigment. The extras are worth at least $18 at the most competitive pricing. This puts the palette itself at around $27. I think the Stardust palette is worth the price although there are some major flaws, depending on your preferences.
Row 1
Chandelier looks stark white on my hand but I was surprised to see it wasn’t too light to use as a highlight shade. It looks completely matte but upon closer inspection in the pan, it has a little shimmer. Millennial is a peachy tan matte shade which I also find works nicely as a highlight shade. Girl’s Night is a rust colored matte shadow and a little inconsistent in swatches. Sometimes it comes off as a little more orange, or more red. At times the brown looks in a way I can only describe as “dirty” and other times it’s bright.
I still like this as a transition color, although it can be tricky to make each eye the same shade when using it. All three of these are well pigmented, blendable, and soft in texture.
Row 2
#selfie is essentially Chandelier with much more shimmer and a metallic finish. Showgirl is another metal and the most impressive shadow in the palette. It’s a beautiful golden shade with a smooth texture, well pigmented, and no fallout. Jackpot is a deep brown with gold glitter and good pigmentation but the amount of kick up is the worst of any palette I’ve ever owned. It’s one step away from being a loose pigment. Jackpot, The Strip, and Golden Nugget are the eyeshadows with the loosest formulation.
Row 3
This is the least exciting row for me. Pink Pearl is a pale pink with slight purple tones and minimal fallout. The Strip is the color that made me realize just how similar these light shades are. In the pan, The Strip looks like someone mixed #selfie, Pink Pearl, and a ton of glitter. If you apply your foundation and concealer before doing your eye makeup, I hope you have the best glue-like shadow primer to keep the fallout away. I wear contact lenses so this shade is particularly nightmarish because of how easy it is to get glitter in my eyes. I used it as an inner corner and lid color for two of the suggestion cards and it looked like no pigment, just sparkle.
Insta-Star
Comment Queen
I was afraid to put The Strip on the inner corner again, so I put #selfie instead. The strip is on the lid though.
Jackpot is messy but at least it shows up on my skin, unlike this one. Even with a pencil brush, the inner corner looks messy. Follow Me is a pretty violet purple shade with only minor fallout. I haven’t experimented with this shadow as much as the others but I imagine I can use it for the same purpose as Sugared Violet from the Too Faced Sugar Pop palette.
Row 4
I can’t tell if the shimmer on Double Tap is supposed to be there or if it’s just glitter from another shadow, especially because it looks mostly matte in swatches. It’s a burgundy shade with dark brown tones. I wish there was more purple in it, because when I apply on my eyes, I only see brown with a touch of red. It’s the lid color in my custom eye look photo.
Custom
I use both Double Tap and Girl’s Night as crease colors or for the outer V, and I don’t see an instance when using one would be better than the other. If Double Tap was a truer burgundy, I wouldn’t feel like this shade is redundant.
Golden Nugget is a stunning yellow gold color but that beauty is spoiled by the same fallout-heavy formulation as The Strip. Too Faced makes a glitter insurance primer and considering how many of these shades perform like loose pigments (plus the inclusion of the glamour dust) I have no idea why they didn’t include that as the mini primer instead. In my custom eye look, I tried to use Gold Nugget as an inner corner shade but nothing stuck to my eyes. I attempted to use water and it was still unsatisfactory. This eyeshadow was one of biggest reasons I wanted this palette, so I am willing to try switching to my usual primer (Lorac) to see if it will work better. Sin City is a matte black (when glitter from other shades don’t get into it). It’s soft and blendable. I do wish it was more intense, but it’s still darker than Licorice from my Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette.
I kept pushing back the date of this post because I wanted to ensure I tested this thoroughly and gave this palette a fair review. Despite having this for 6 weeks, I haven’t tried every possibility. I could buy another primer and see if it yields better results. I know that using a finger in swatches held the pigment better in place, so I could apply the sparkly lid colors with my finger in the future. I could use all the colors wet to see if they would adhere more intensely and stay put, but for the time being, I have no more desire to try and make this palette work. Not when I have the Vice 4 which is better formulated and has more variety.
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