Natascha Denona Gold

So I am super excited about today’s eyeshadow review as I am reviewing the Natascha Denona Gold eyeshadow palette. This bougie, expensive palette is one that I ummed and arred about for months before biting the bullet last summer. The reason for my hesitation? I bought the Lila and didn’t love it. I just didn’t get the hype these pricey shadows were getting. Then I saw more and more people talking about this and I decided to swatch it when I was in Paris. It was love at first swatch.

Natascha Denona Gold Eyeshadow Palette // Review, Swatch, 3 Looks // Is it worth it?

So let’s try to answer that question first: is it worth it? Because this palette costs a whopping €113 from the French Sephora website. That makes this a luxury makeup product and often I have felt in the past (ahem, Viseart) it is not worth putting your money into. But there is something about this palette that is just magical. All the shades work well together and while this is very neutral, it also pops a great punch. Time to have a closer look.

The Packaging

For an eyeshadow palette this expensive, the packaging is definitely nothing to write home about. It is quite simple in its design, with a magnetic closure as smallish mirror and a plastic overlay with the shade names. The gold outer packaging is shiney and a bit tacky looking in my opinion. What is a good thing about this palette is that you get 15 pans that contain 2.5 grams each. That is even more than a Viseart palette which comes in at 2.3 grams per pan. For comparison: a MAC shadow which is quite a standard eyeshadow size contains 1.5 grams per pan. So Natascha Denona doesn’t skimp on product.

The Palette

When you open the palette, what you get is a very neutral color story with a lot of shades that at a glance all ook the same. You get 9 shimmers and 6 mattes. The mattes are in the second and fourth colum. The shimmers are in the first, third and fifth colum. The shimmers all have a different texture to them: some are more stain, others are more metallic and again others are a bit chunkier. The mattes are all smooth and come in an array of undertones to make for a good basis to build up looks with. And that is one reason why I love this palette: the different textures. It is those textures that make this palette to me.

The Color Story

The Natascha Denona Gold palette is mainly a neutral palette. The majority of the shades are ‘boring’ browns, golds, bronzes, beiges and champagnes. I say ‘boring’ because once you start working with these you will find they are anything but. A few shades add some interest to this palette. There is a matte mustard yellow, two teals and two shades that look like golds in the pan, but that have a green shift to them.

Additionally, some of the seemingly neutral shades are quite transformative: when you layer these and blend the together, you can find these shades adapt to whatever you put them with. If you put the neutrals and golds next to the greens, they instantly look more green. If you put the neutrals together they just look like neutrals. That makes this palette not only versatile, but really gives it a another level that is lacking in a lot of neutral palette.

The Swatches

Don’t believe me? If we start by looking at some swatches first, I think you can start to see what I mean. I swatched these per row and you can clearly see how these shades all go together very well. The different textures also show up very well. The blendability on these is incredibly great: these take no effort to blend. The shimmers to on well with a finger and need no foiling: the different textures will show up on the eye without any help from additional tools such as specific brushes or a setting spray.

3 Looks, 1 Palette

Look 1

So what better way to show you how this palette works than adding a few looks. As usual I did three looks with this palette, focusing on a different area of the palette every time to ensure using each of the shades. I first went in with some of the shades that appealed to me the least, but in the end this is one of my favorite looks. I usually don’t like yellow golds, but this yellow gold has a bit of a green vibe to it, especially when applied with some of the greens in the palette. For this look, I paired it with some of the deeper brown mattes and bronzes, which makes for a stunning, festive, glam look.

Look 2

For the second look I focused on the neutrals on the right side of the palette. I used some of the more muted brown mattes and played around with the lighter golds and champagnes. Side note: I am wearing the same inner corner highlight in each of these looks. It is that bright white in the top middle of the palette. Doesn’t it look different in every look I did? That’s because that is one of those transformative shades in the palette that adapts, like a chameleon depending on what you place it next to.

Look 3

But I have left the best for last. For look number three I focused on the left side of the palette and pulled in the teals and those two seemingly gold shades that have a green flip. Paired with the greens, they pull so much more green than they would with the browns. I like the vibe this look gives. It is very fall and it brings a different dimension to this palette that truly takes it to another level.

My Final Thoughts

I truly am a little bit smitten with the Natascha Denona Gold palette. It is a palette that looks very basic and which can totally deliver on the neutral front. However, if you pair these shades well you can get some stunning, different looks that you won’t likely create when using other neutral palettes. To me, this is a neutral palette that truly adds something unique to my eyeshadow palette collection. I don’t feel you should have to spend this much money on a palette though. There are cheaper alternatives to this for sure and if you are not willing to splurge, then definitely look into those. But with the Holidays coming nearer, this may be something you can put on a wishlist?

Would you spend this much money on an eyeshadow palette?