Catrice chocolate nudes eye shadow palette

With each product line change, Catrice seems to bring out a new eye shadow palette. Where I usually read quite negative reviews about these, I have tried both the Matt and Rose versions of these palettes and have liked them. Not loved, but liked: the quality of these is reasonable considering their price point. So when Catrice released yet another palette in the series for their fall/ winter 2015 make up collection, I decided to also give this a whirl.

Catrice Chocolate Nudes 010 Choc’let It Be eye shadow palette

I think it’s clear where Catrice got the inspiration for this palette. The Too Faced Chocolate products are super popular so I can see why a budget brand like Catrice would like to hop on that bandwagon. Their Chocolate Nudes palette features 6 shades that are centered around taupes and browns with a range of shimmers and mattes dispersed over the 6 shades. It retails for €4.99.

For the past two palettes there have always been a few ifs and buts and I am hoping that for this palette that is not the case. One this this palette has in common with its predecessors is the packaging. The palette comes in a black plastic case that has a clear lid. The name of the palette is embossed on top in a shiny gold finish.

On the back of the palette some more information can be found as well as directions for creating an eye look. Like the other two palettes, this palette comes with a brush that includes a sponge tip applicator on the one end and a fluffy brush on the other. Personally, I find the quality of the brush to be laughable. I’d much rather use my own brushes than this flimsy number.

The palette contains 2 highlight shades, one matte, one shimmer, followed by two taupe browns that also come in shimmer and matter. The final two shades are browns, one is almost glittery and the final one is matte. Where the other two palettes I reviewed, seemed to include dupes for Urban Decay Naked Basics and a shade from the Naked 3 palette, I don’t feel this palette is a straight up dupe per se. However, shades like these aren’t very hard to come by in the make up world. These aren’t some exciting new shades, but it does appear like a solid, every day palette. I have numbered shades as there is a lack of names.

1 – 2

1: a shimmery champagne

2: a matte beige

3 – 4

3: a matte taupe brown

4: a shimmery taupe brown

5 – 6

5: a shimmery brown

6: a matte chocolate brown

The only true chocolate shade in this palette is the very last shade in the palette. So I do feel this palette is a bit misnamed because of that. The two highlighter shades are gorgeous, but I do feel this palette lacks some versatility. Where the other two palettes looked like 6 distinct shades in the pan, this palette already shows you what you are about to get: similar colors, but with a different texture to them. Exciting? No. Versatile? No. Practical? Yes.

The texture of these eye shadows is quite soft and powdery like the other palettes. The shades do not create a lot of fall out thankfully, but I was curious to see how easy these would blend. Some of the shades in the other two palettes were so easy to blend that you would simply blend them away and you’d need to reapply quite a bit of shadow to build up the desired colors. But the fact that these shadows are buttery soft does allow for some great color pay off.

Swatched, I am actually quite satisfied with what I see. Again, it’s nothing groundbreaking or awe inspiring, but for a budget drugstore palette that is only 5 euros, this really isn’t all that bad. The only shade that looks a tad disappointing to me is shade no. 3: the matte taupe brown. That still seems a little sheer in the swatch, the other shades however look nice.

I do have to say that when I look at the colors in the pan and then to the colors in the swatch, that I feel there is a different. Shades 3 and 4 look closer together in the pan and shade 6 seems to have a reddish undertone in the pan, but that is completely gone in the swatch. Shade 5 looks more like a caramel shade in the swatch rather than brown. Of course, that could happen because of my own skin tone affecting the shades once applied, but this isn’t a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of palette.

On to the look. I was only able to satisfactorily create one eye look. I played around with this palette for a week or so before I could take pictures for this post, but pretty much every day I came up with something like this. It is a pretty every day look nonetheless that is perfect for any occasion: work, school, or just running errands. This isn’t a night time smokey palette, but if you are looking for a good every day eye shadow palette that doesn’t break the bank than this is a pretty safe bet.

For the look, I used all 6 shades. I applied shade 5 all over my lid. Shade 6 went into the crease and shade 2 went on the brow bone. I used shade 3 to softly blend out the crease, whereas shade 4 is perfect for the lower lash line. Finally I used shade 1 in my inner corner for a bit of shimmer in that area. I applied Urban Decay Bourbon 24/7 eye liner pencil on my waterline and tightline for a bit of extra definition and I topped everything off with mascara.

Application was a dream. These shades do not just blend away into nothingness, which is an improvement from the other two palettes. There was little to no fall out and with a primer underneath these shadows stick around all day. As expected the matte taupe shade is a bit patchy in its application, but that is truly the only shade that doesn’t seem to be doing much. It is still very usable if you’re looking for a shade that can blend out colors or if you want a softly defined crease or lower lash line.

The result? A soft, brown toned, neutral eye look that will go with anything and everything. To show you just that, I decided to include this same look with two different lipstick shades. On the left I am wearing a nude (CatriceShine Appeal Fluid Lipstick 080 Rose, Would You…?) and on the right I am wearing a berry shade (Bite Juniper).

All in all, I think the Catrice Chocolate Nudes palette is a reasonable palette. Like the previous 2 palettes, this palette has a few minor let downs: the colors are a bit samey and not too versatile. One shade is a bit patchy in its application, and the colors appear different on the skin than in the pan, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a workable palette. At a €4.99 price point, I think this makes for a great every day eye shadow palette for the make up noob, or for anyone who simply isn’t into shelling out 10x the price for a Naked palette.

Which Catrice palette do you prefer?