If you saw Thursday’s video about neutral palettes, you will have seen me feature the Dose of Colors 5 pan monochromatic palettes as some of my favorite picks for a neutral matte palette. These palettes feature small, curated, monochromatic, matte color stories that are cleverly laid out and that is why they are so easy to use. So easy in fact, that I have been using these two palettes for nearly 2 years now without ever featuring them on the blog. High time to make a change! Meet Marvellous Mauves and Blushing Berries.
Dose of Colors Monochromatic Eyeshadow Palettes // Marvellous Mauves & Blushing Berries // Review Swatch & Makeup Look
These palettes are great for a number of reasons. The one part that is a bit ‘ouch’ about them is their price point. These retail for $32 each or €36 if you are in Europe and need to buy them via Beauty Bay. You therefore are best off getting these on a sale. Because that is a lot of money for 5 pans of eyeshadow. This is easily some of the most expensive eyeshadow I own. At 1.7 grams per pan this shadow is over €4 per gram. That is more expensive than a Natascha Denona palette which will cost you €3 per gram. Just to give you a comparison. So why would I still recommend these?
The Packaging
Reason no. 1: the slim, easy to use packaging. These palette aren’t just carefully curated, the packaging is also fuss free and easy to use. The small size makes these palettes easy to pack and you still get everything you might want. The 5 shades combine into a stunning day to day look, you get a mirror and a little brush and you still have a palette that can do a lot. That is a feat as most brands stick 12 shades into a palette and you still don’t know how to use it. Because there is so little going on in these, you will have no stress about using it.
Marvellous Mauves
In this review I am featuring two of the 6 available palettes. Marvellous Mauves was the one highest on my wishlist. I love mauves and this gives you 5 cool toned mauves that work together very well. There is enough lightnes and darkness in this palette which means that despite this being all matte, it can still create some stunning mauve looks. My favorite way to wear this? Setting up the base of the look with this and then topping it off with one of my Stila Glitter & Glows (which I also still have to review, I know, I know… I have more product than I can review at this point. Time for a declutter!).
Blushing Berries
As I featured Marvellous Mauves might be a touch too boring for my makeup tastes, I also bought Blushing Berries. That has a lot more depth to it and I figured that putting the two together would give me more versatility and add more interest to the looks. They go together quite well as you’ll see below, but I actually ended up using them more as separate palettes as they are so perfect as stand alones. Blushing Berries is a touch too deep for me in the lighter tones, but that matte in the middle and just to the right of it are the type that make my eyes look greener. Paired with a darker base (I use Chanel’s Rouge Noir cream shadow), this palette makes for a great berry smokey eye which I love doing in the fall time. I top off the look with another Chanel cream shadow in New Moon by the way to add a bit of interest.
The Swatch
A third reason why I love this, apart from the stunning color stories, is the fact that it has a great formula. It is a very soft, powdery formula which reminds me a lot of the shadows in Lorac palettes. Because they are so soft, the pigmentation and payoff you get is stunning. Even the lighter shades show up well, all of these are incredibly easy to blend and these are the kind of palettes that you can use to just throw any quick look together. As these shadows do all the work for you, it is so easy to use. These shadows pretty much create the look without any effort on your part. So if you’re like me and do your makeup still half asleep, than these palettes will have your back.
3 Looks, 2 Palettes // Application & Makeup Looks using all shades
Look 1: Marvellous Mauves
For the first look I just used all the shades from Marvellous Mauves. I used Shade 1 in the inner corner. Shade 2 is all over the lid. Shade 3 is in the crease, with Shade 4 in the outer V. I used Shade 5 to deepen up the Outer V and on the lower lash line. As you can see this is quite a cool toned color scheme on my complexion. Mauves can be cool toned, but don’t have to be. Most often they are quite warm, so I am glad this has that more cool toned vibe to it. We need more cool tones!
Look 2: Blushing Berries
So like Marvellous Mauves, I had to do a look with just Blushing Berries. This way you can also clearly see that Blushing Berries can look quite warm toned if you reach for certain shades. The main difference between the two looks is that here I used the darkest shade to use as eyeliner, but I pretty much used the shades in a very similar way. As I mentioned, I mainly use two shades from this palette in conjunction with some Chanel cream shadows that I love to create a berry smokey eye, so I don’t often wear this palette like this anymore.
Look 3: Combining the two
However, I knew when buying these that there would be merit in combining the two palettes. And they do as you can see here. The Marvellous Mauves helps tone down the warmth of Blushing Berries and Blushing Berries adds depth and dimension to Marvellous Mauves. I don’t feel you need both to make these work, but if you do end up with multiples, know that you can combine them very easily and make for a perfect pairing.
Are These Any Good?
To answer that question, I can only give you a full-rounded, shouted from the roof tops: YES! These are some of the best shadows in my collection and that is why I reach for these despite they are not necessarily my favorite type of palette at first glance. I am not a fan of all matte palettes that don’t do much, but I actually really like these as they are so easy to use. I do like to grab another shimmer or glitter to add a bit more oomph when I use these, but these just make for some stunning basics. And we all need a good basic matte eyeshadow palette in our collections, now don’t we?