Catrice Absolute Rose eyeshadow palette

In last week’s Catrice shoplog I showed you the bits and pieces I picked up from Catrice’s renewed make up line for Spring/ Summer 2015. One of those pieces, was this eyeshadow palette. I’ve been reading many mixed reviews on this palette. Many people think these shadows aren’t intense enough. However, I feel, that it’s actually pretty decent for a budget proof eyeshadow palette.

Catrice Absolute Rose eyeshadow palette 010 Frankie Rose to Hollywood

When I first spotted this in the press release it immediately caught my eye. Could this be a drugstore dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 3? When it comes to eyeshadow Urban Decay is pretty much my holy grail and anything that can be potentially as good, but at a cheaper price is worth exploring to me. And at €4.99 it’s a price point that makes this eyeshadow palette worth a shot. Below you will see what I think of this compared to Naked 3, so keep reading!

Just like it’s sister, the Absolute Matt eyeshadow palette, the Absolute Rose eyeshadow palette comes in a clear plastic case that isn’t that impressive. A nice touch on this one is the fact that the name is printed onto the case in a pretty metallic rose gold finish. The palette comes with an applicator which I find quite useless. The palette is otherwise of a small size which is perfect to traveling. It’s small and handy. The lack of a mirror may be something that will make you think twice about carrying this with you though.

There is some information on the back. According to the description this palette contains 6 rose-nude shades that are silky smooth and have different finishes. The packaging also comes with a suggestion for creating a look, but it’s nothing too informative. What appealed to me about the palette was the fact that this is a neutral eyeshadow palette, but that all the shades have this pinky undertone. I find it makes for some very soft and romantic looks. So in a way this review is right on time for Valentine’s Day too, if you can still get your hands onto one of these palettes.

In total the palette contains six different shades. At first glance this looks like a very pretty and well thought through palette. There is definitely a pink undertone in these, especially the first three shades. The two medium shades in the middle do look fairly similar and it’s been my experience with Catrice products that shades that look similar in the pan also end up being similar on the eye. There are two matte shades, a satin matte and three shimmers. The deepest shade definitely looks like it could be the most interesting shade in the bunch and reminds me a lot of Urban Decay’s Blackheart.

Shade 1: a matte soft pink highlight shade
Shade 2: a semi-matte rosy pink
Shade 3: a shimmery dusty rose
Shade 4: a shimmery dusty rose with a greyish/ purple undertone
Shade 5: a matte mauvy taupe
Shade 6: a shimmery reddish brown with red/ pink micro glitter

When dipping my finger in these I find they disperse quite a good deal of product. These eyeshadows are soft but I find them to not be as powdery as the Absolute Matt shades. The second rosy pink shade looks like it is the sheerest of all, but the dark shades seem to be well pigmented.

On the swatch you can see that the pigmentation is actually pretty decent. Again, I’ve seen reviews where people barely got any pigment, but in my case that is definitely not happening. Are these colors as saturated as an Urban Decay Naked 3? No, but this is definitely an amount of pigment that you can easily work with and that’s what matters right?

The first shade is very similar to my skin tone (which I like), but that’s why you barely see it against my skin tone. Swatched, the two middle shades don’t look all that similar anymore: one is definitely more cool toned than the other. The shimmer in the darkest shade is pretty much non-existed once swatched.

And just because I was curious I held this next to my Urban Decay Naked 3. Unfortunately, none of these shades come anywhere close to the Naked 3 shades, apart from that interesting dark shade. I decided to compare it to Blackheart inthe Urban Decay Naked 3 and where in the pan they look like they could be dupes, this certainly isn’t the case on the swatch. The Catrice shade is much more brown and slightly less pigmented. And where this shade seems to have glitter that disappears into thin air, Blackheart remains having a hint of sparkle to it.

Of course I also used this palette on my eyes. I created two different looks which you can see below. I found these eyeshadows easy to work with. Because the pigmentation isn’t wham-bam in your face, you can build up the colors to the desired effect and unlike other soft textured eyeshadows I’ve tried by Catrice, these eyeshadows blend easily but don’t disappear into thin air when you swipe them onto your lids with your brush. The only shades that give me problems are the two middle ones. For some reason I can apply tons of either shade, but it will still look like there is nothing there.

The first look I created is very much a no make up/ make up kind of look. I used all 6 shades in the palette for this. Shade 1 is on my browbone, which is so close to my skin tone that you can’t really tell it’s there on the picture. I used both medium shades on my lid. Shade 3 is on the first half of my lid and I put Shade 4 on the outer half. The matte taupe is blended softly into the crease. Shade 2 is in my inner corner and I used the darkest shade as eyeliner. The lipstick I’m wearing is Catrice Luminous Lips lipstick in 080 Don’t Mind the Pink. As you can see it makes for a very subtle and pretty girly look. To me, this is date night make up at its finest.

For the second look I created, I decided to see how well this palette would preform at making a smokey eye. And lo and behold, it worked. I used Shade 1 on my brow bone, Shade 4 is all over my lid, Shade 5 is in the crease and I used Shade 6 in the Outer V and my lower lashline. I finished it off with Maybelline Master Precise eyeliner and Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Zero for my tightline and on my waterline. I’m wearing Catrice Ultimate Colour lipstick in 390 On the Pink Side of Life on my lips.

I keep going back and forth between these pictures and can’t actually believe that both looks are made using the same palette. I think that if you’re a beginner at make up or simply do not like super intense make up looks, this is a palette you may enjoy. I remember when I first started and would come across a color like the darkest shade in this palette and be sort of afraid of it, but in this case that is absolutely unnecessary.

The shades in this eyeshadow palette are buildable and easy to work with. It can be used to create soft romantic eye looks as well as soft smokey looks. I think it’s safe to say that I like this palette. Will it be to everyone’s taste? No. There are some shades (the middle two!) that take effort to make them work. However, maybe if I try setting these shades over a different base color, the colors may even be a bit more special then they seem. The first three shades especially are so close to my natural skin tone that my camera barely picks them up. All in all, this is a nice quality eyeshadow palette that for it’s price point gets the job done.

What do you think of the Catrice Absolute Rose eyeshadow palette?