Catrice The Essential Nude eyeshadow palette

A budgetproof eyeshadow palette is always worth looking into and when I spotted Catrice’s revamped version, I wanted to give them a try. I already reviewed The Precious Copper Collection, which had many similar shades to the older Soft Metal eyeshadow palette.  Today I’m bringing you the nude version of this palette and am comparing it to the most similar eyeshadow palette of the old Catrice eyeshadow palettes: the Chocolate Nudes eyeshadow palette.

Catrice The Essential Nude Collection eyeshadow palette ReNude My Style

One thing that is great about the new Catrice eyeshadow palettes is that these are so similar to the old line: if there was a palette you really liked, then you will still be able to rebuy the palette. Smart move! At just €4.99 the price also hasn’t changed and you do get more shades. Where the old palettes had 6 shades, these now come with 9 shadows.

The Packaging

The packaging isn’t high end per se, but I always appreciate the look of Catrice products. For such an affordable brand, they certainly know how to package their items to look much more expensive than they actually are. The sturdy, plastic case has a see through lid, so if you have a few of these, there is no problem finding which one you need. There is no mirror and no space is wasted on a sponge applicator that is too flimsy to do any good.

The Product

Inside, you will find 9 eyeshadows ranging from matte to shimmer. There are 3 shimmers, the rest is nearly matte. I would classify the remaining shades matte to satin as they do appear to have a little bit of shine to them, but this is very minimal. The two lightest shades on the left are probably closest to a true matte.

The Shades

The Light side of the palette consists of one shimmery and two matte highlight shades. The two matte shades seem very similar in the pan. Then there are also two medium shimmer shades for on the lid. And remember, this is called the Essential Nude eyeshadow palette and that is what you get: these shades are incredibly light and nude.

The Sculpt side of the eyeshadow palette contains 4 darker shades. These mostly have a satin to matte finish and appear lighter in a swatch than in the pan. There is one good medium/ blend shade as well as three darker shades with cool and warm undertones for deepening up a look. Still, this is very basic and neutral.

The Swatches

Now I am very fair skinned so the two matte highlights barely show up against my skin. The texture is okay: the shadows are still quite powdery but not as much as the old formula. I like the range of textures this gives. I never bought the old ‘Nude’ palette as it consisted of 6 shimmers: this is a lot more versatile.

Blending was an issue with these, but that has been the case with Catrice shadows for as long as I can remember. These need quite some building up and while they blend smoothly, they also have a tendency to blend away pigment. So this is a palette that requires some work.

The Comparison

As I mentioned, I never bought the original Nude palette by Catrice, as it only contained shimmer. That is why I compared it to the next best thing: The Chocolate Nudes palette which already offered a mix of mattes and shimmers. In the pan it may not seem like there are many similar shades, but in fact there are.

I swatched all of the Chocolate Nudes shades next to a similar shadow of the Essential Nude eyeshadow palette. As you can see, the new palette runs cooler and darker than the older version, which I think is a great improvement. I can dupe 4 out of 6 shades with this newer palette: two of  the highlights are the same, the warm toned lid color is the same and the medium matte shade is similar to the medium matte shades in the new palette.

The Application

I already mentioned that I think this palette is one that needs a little bit of work. This look did take some time to come together and I had to layer a shimmery champagne cream shadow onto the lid to ensure the light shimmery shade would truly pop. I’d say the shadows that require the most work in this palette are the shimmers, not the mattes. The mattes can be build up, but the shimmer just wipes away if you try to blend so it helps to put something sticky underneath to create a good impact and to go back in by dabbing on some shadow with a finger.

The Conclusion

Overall, I think the Catrice eyeshadow palettes are good, affordable eyeshadows. But you do get what you pay for. At just €5 each, these palettes do not break the bank, but that also means that the quality can be lacking. It is still a workable palette though and if you like your neutral shadows than I think the Catrice The Esssential Nude eyeshadow palette will be a great one to own.

What do you think of this Catrice eyeshadow palette?