Natascha Denona Lila eyeshadow palette review

Let’s get bougee shall we? Today we are looking at the Natascha Denona Lila eyeshadow palette. It was the first Natascha Denona palette I bought, but it is the second one I am reviewing. I first reviewed the Gold palette, which I far prefer over this one. When I got this I didn’t understand what the fuss with Natascha Denona was all about. But now that I tried that I understood and it made me reappreciate the Lila palette. So let’s have a good look at this one.

Review: Natascha Denona Lila eyeshadow palette

As we all know, Natascha Denona makes some expensive eyeshadow. In recent times she has been releasing shadows in different price brackets and the Lila palette is definitely not her most expensive palette. The Lila retails for €113 or $129. That is a hefty price tag, but you do get a lot of shadow for that price point. These palettes come with 2.5 grams of product per pan. That is almost twice as much as a standard shadow pan which usually comes with about 1.2 – 1.5 grams of product. So in that sense it might explain some of that price.

What does the Lila palette have to offer?

The Lila palette is one that takes some time to wrap your head around. That is probably why this didn’t instantly hit the mark for me. The packaging, which is purple, makes you think this is more purple than it is. Essentially there are only three purples inside. Where I praise (and rave about)
the Gold palette for the many different textures it boast, this palette is less extreme in its variety of texture and more a variety of shades. It features 4 mattes and 11 shimmers.

What is the color story like?

This is not a purple palette. Let’s get that out of the way first. What it is, is a neutral palette with a pop of purple and berry that ranges from cool tones on the left to warm tones in the middle to neutrals all the way to the right. This palette features mattes and shimmers and especially those shimmers do have some variety in texture but mainly it is shimmer and some more metallic shades. There are few surprises here: one shade in particular called Dragon Bite (bottom row, 4th shade from the left) is a red/ brown/ green duochrome that is unique and unexpected.

What do the swatches look like?

I swatched these shades in rows, but it possibly would have been better to swatch it in the columns so in groups of three as that is how the palette is organized. These swatches show well what I mean with how the palette is quite samey samey in terms of texture: there are few mattes and everything else is a shimmer. Nothing is super foiled or different but there are a lot of different shades here. The quality is great as these shades are pigmented and easy to apply, but the lack of texture makes everything look a bit samey.

3 looks, 1 palette

So let’s have a closer look at how this palette performs by showing you three looks. As per usual I have used all 15 shades of the palette to create these looks. Let’s go!

When I finally got my hands on this palette the shades that stood out to me in real life did not end up being the berry shades, but the berry shades in the middle column. So that’s what I started off with. These pinky tones are pretty and they make for a great take on a berry look, but to be quite honest: I can create something similar with the ABH Modern Renaissance, making this look less unique than I had hoped.

Of course I had to work with those purples! I used the six shades on the left hand side of the palette to create this look. I love the look itself but I was a bit bummed that these purples don’t really go together. Why? Because they all have different undertones. They are warm and cool and so some of these would better go with the berries rather than the purples. Where you might expect me to love the bright purple in the middle row, my favorite purple in this palette is in fact the one in the bottom row as it is a great dirty lilac sort of shade.

The stand out look for me would be this one as it features Dragon Bite all over the lid and Dragon Bite is the one reason I love this palette. Seriously, I will be keeping this palette for all eternity just to be able to use that shade. Think MAC’s Blue/ Brown pigment but than in a Red/ Brown/ Green vibe. It is a shade unlike anything else I have seen before and these picture only capture a smidgen of what this shade looks like in real life.

My final thoughts

The Natascha Denona Lila palette is beautiful, but terribly overpriced if you’d ask me. I feel the shades aren’t unique enough save for one to warrant the price point and the lack of different textures makes this palette less versatile. It has beautiful quality and I like how you get cool tones, warm tones and neutrals all in one palette so you’d think this would be totally up my street. Now that I have it I won’t get rid of it any time soon, but if you’re thinking of buying into this expensive brand I don’t think Lila is a good place to start.

Would I recommend the Natascha Denona Lila eyeshadow palette?

It really depends on what you are looking for. For me, I just wanted more from this palette because of its price point. If I pay over €100 for an eyeshadow palette that stuff better be good. And while a good quality palette and you get a ton of product and yada yada yada, this just didn’t do it for me. I wanted to love this, but I just think this is a good palette. This did not make it into my favorites list and at this price point I need a palette to be amazing for it to warrant its value. If only Natascha Denona would sell Dragon Bite as a single shadow… (and yes I know these shades are magnetic, so I ‘could’ technically take it out and swop out the one shade in the Gold palette that I like less…).

What do you think of Natascha Denona as a brand?