Urban Decay Full Spectrum eyeshadow palette

You may be aware of the Holiday period having officially started in beauty land. I certainly have: special editions, gift sets and more have been added to the shelves of many stores and my Instagram feed explodes on a daily basis with limited edition items that make me go oooh. But there was one holiday 2016 release that I knew I had to have the minute I spotted it. For a few agonizing days, I wasn’t even sure whether I’d be able to get it, as Urban Decay was mum on a Europe release on this. And then, very randomly, I spotted this on Selfridge’s website and snatched it up straight away. Say hello to the Urban Decay Full Spectrum eyeshadow palette.

Urban Decay Full Spectrum eyeshadow palette

Let’s not beat about the bush: did I need this palette? No. I have more eyeshadow than is healthy to have for one person. But not many of the palettes I own are this colorful, which is why I felt it was justified to spend over €60 on a palette. Plus, I’m a bit of a collector when it comes to Urban Decay palettes. Not all of their palettes make me run to the store to go grab it, but plenty of them do. This was no exception. I ordered mine off the Selfridge’s website where the palette costs 45 pounds and it costs 15 pounds to ship it to Holland.

This will be a palette I will surely keep in its box, like the Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass palette. I am not one to hang on to boxes but this one is simply too pretty to throw away. The palette itself is square with the iconic UD anagram embossed in a rainbow color on the front.

The outer box this comes in shows the shadows all together in the front. The premise of this palette is a rainbow colored palette with a few neutrals thrown into the mix. There should be a mixture of finishes from matte to very shimmery.

On the back of the box all the shades are named and the palette is described as containing a spectrum of 21 shades from bold brights to matte white. The shadows are arranged into trios, but of course you can go mix and match to your heart’s content.

The palette itself is another great one if you’re into your palette packaging. The case is a square plastic box with a hinged lid. Unlike the Spectrum palette that was released last year (and which I don’t own as it had too many repeats of the 15th Anniversary palette which I do own), the packaging is very practical. It is thicker than a Vice palette and not as big.

When you open the lid you are greeted by the 21 shades. I don’t know about you, but this just puts a smile on my face. I hardly own any bright eyeshadow palettes, but I do like a pop of color and I was hoping for a bright palette to come out that was of a good quality. I passed up on the Urban Decay electric palette because it didn’t have enough variety in color, but as you can see this palette offers enough variety to last you a while.

What makes this palette super practical is the huge mirror in the lid. If there is one thing Urban Decay gets right it’s their mirrors. Where some brands give you a mirror that shows you no more than one eye, the Urban Decay palettes have always comes with a good sized mirror that is of a high quality. Instant plus.

As most Urban Decay palettes, the Full Spectrum palette also comes with a dual ended brush. I like these brushes! They are of a great quality and are good for travel. One end is a fluffy blender type brush and the other end a smaller brush that is great for packing on color. My own gripe is that I wish they would change up the type of brush you get in the palettes. I have 6 or 7 of these by now and while good, it would be better if there was more variety in the types of brushes you get.

On to the colors. Urban Decay promises, next to an array of colors, also different finishes. The shades are laid out vertically in trios of pinks, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples and neutrals. The neutrals are a must have in this palette: without these this palette would become a lot less wearable. Good thinking Urban Decay!

The colors look vibrant and intense in the palette and I like how each column has coordinated shades in similar hues, but different finishes and intensity and darkness. The darkest row is at the top and the lightest row is at the bottom. The middle row has the most vibrant looking shades that will make for some great pops of color.

In total there are 3 repromotes in this palette. Alchemy was in the Vice 3 and Hatter and Metamorphosis were in the Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass palette. I also found that Goldmine was in a different palette previously, but I personally don’t have that one yet I believe.

• Alchemy: shimmery berry toned pink
• Gossip: vibrant hot pink with what looks like a blue iridescent sparkle running through
• Paranoia: shimmery dusty pink

• Warning: shimmery warm toned orange
• Seize: matte coral orange
• Jones: shimmery semi sheer golden orange

• Midnight blaze: dark murky olive toned gold with golden sparkle
• Calavera: matte warm toned yellow
• Goldmine: shimmery semi-sheer yellow toned gold

• Hundred: dark green with golden sparkle
• Hatter: matte grassy green
• Mean: shimmery lime green

• Minx: deep navy with blue sparkle
• Blindsided: matte turqoise
• Metamorphosis: matte periwinkle blue

• Delirious: matte plum
• Sketch: satin mid toned purple
• Faded: murky dusty purple with golden sparkle

• Platonic: shimmery charcoal grey
• Iced: iridescent silver glittery shade
• Bump: matte white

Swatches:
Alchemy – Gossip – Paranoia – Warning – Seize – Jones
Midnight Blaze – Cavalera – Goldmine – Hundred – Hatter – Mean
Minx – Blindsided – Metamorphosis – Delirious – Sketch – Faded – Platonic – Iced – Bump

Some of the shades in this palette feel stiff and I had heard bad reviews of this based on the fact that these shades do not tend to go full on straight away. I personally think that is a good thing. This allows you to build and blend the shadows rather than ending up with a blob of color onto the lid.

The shades that were the least effective for me were Jones (only shows up when used with a finger), Iced (same thing) and Metamorphosis. All other shades went on nicely with or without an added base underneath. A white base, such as NYX’s Milk Jumbo Pencil, will help these shadows to stick out quite nicely.

Texture wise the shades are quite disappointing though. Where the swatches and the palette make it seem as if you’re getting a lot of different textures and finishes, I found that when applied to the lid, many of the shimmers and glitters were lost. Again this is easily solved by applying the shade with the finger and not blending it out, but still it would be better if the textures would simply show up. Right now, almost all shades apply matte or semi-matte which meant I had to go in with other products to create difference and dimension.

Look 1:
Faded (lid)
Cavalera (Crease)
Jones (Crease)
Midnight Blaze (Crease)
Delirious (Outer V & Lower lash line)
Gossip (lower lash line)
Paranoia (inner corner)
Bump (brow bone)

The first look I created with this, didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. But that wasn’t because of the palette but because of me. I simply picked the wrong shades at the beginning. I should have just stuck with the pinks and purples for this first look, but rather I started with the yellow. I also didn’t use a white base with this look.

It’s definitely something different, but I feel there is just too much going on for one cohesive look. I added some Anastasia highlighters from the Moonchild palette onto the lid and the inner corner to add some more dimension to this look. I used Purple Horseshoe, Blue Ice and Blue Moon.

Look 2:
Blindsided (lid)
Minx (Outer V)
Metamorphosis (dabbed onto lid)
Mean (inner corner)
Hatter (crease)
Hundred (crease)
Sketch (lower lash line)
Bump (brow bone)

So I took a note from my own book and for the second look I stuck with complementary shades. I opted for the greens and blues this time. However, I did throw in a purple lashline, just because I could and felt like it would complement the rest of the look. This time I did use NYX Milk as a base and set that into place with Bump.

As you can see, some shades that look a bit disappointing in the swatch can be build up to have great pay off. Blindsided and Hatter are both shades that swatched splotchy but packed onto the lid and then blended out, I think they work wonderfully. Because Metamorphosis didn’t have the intended effect, I took the Rhinestone shade from the Sleek Midas Touch highlighter palette and dabbed that onto the center of my lid for some added dimension.

Look 3:
Seize (lid)
Warning (crease)
Cavalera (crease)
Jones (dabbed onto lid)
Goldmind (dabbed onto lid inner third)
Alchemy (lower lash line)
Platonic (liner)
Bump + Cavalera (brow bone)

For my final look I think I created the most wearable of the three. After using the pinks and purples in the first look and the blues and greens in the second, I thought it was time to use the oranges and the neutrals. And that makes for a wearable, warm toned look. I attempted using Iced in my inner corner but that just didn’t show up at all. I also went back to some other shades which didn’t work out for me the first time round.

Like the second look, I used NYX Milk as a base and set it with Bump. I also used Bump blended together with a bit of the yellow to create a subtle brow bone highlight. Warning was a shade that truly surprised me, as did Cavalera. Those are two stand out shades in the palette. Other shades that I thought worked well were Hundred, Gossip, Mean, Minx and Platonic.

Did Urban Decay create the must have colorful palette out there? Yes and no. If you are a regular gal like me who just likes her make up and is looking for a palette to experiment with some more color then this is a great palette to get a bunch of colors to play with. If you’re a professional make up artist looking to expand your kit, then this may be a pass. There are definitely better colorful shadows out there that are better quality or at least more consistent. However, as I’ve hopefully shown you with my looks, the shades are very easy to work with and can be built up in intensity. That makes the Urban Decay Full Spectrum eyeshadow palette a perfect palette for people afraid of or not used to using color, but may not make it so perfect for those for whom using color is as natural as having breakfast.

What do you think of the Urban Decay Full Spectrum eyeshadow palette?