Welcome to Shadow Saturday! In this blog post I would like us to take a closer look at a fun, bright eyeshadow palette. It’s spring, we are all pretty much confined to our homes and so I felt we could use a pick me up. And what better way to lift our spirits than to play with some bright colored shadows? NYX Ultimate Brights is a fun, pretty affordable, rainbow palette that I think is perfect if you want to try brights, but are unsure of how to use them.
Review: NYX Ultimate Brights eyeshadow palette
NYX is quite possibly a brand that you will be looking into if you are new to makeup. They have generally good quality products that are not crazy expensive. From time to time they release a product that is incredibly hyped up (NYX Taupe blush anyone? Or the Soft Matte lipsticks?). There shadows are not necessarily their most hyped up products, but they do some decent ones. NYX is one of those brands who has been raising their prices. This palette used to be a bit less expensive, but now it retails for nearly €20.
Why did I decide to buy this?
This is a palette I have owned for a while. The reason I got it? Because it was recommended to me by a friend. I bought this in 2018 which was the year when I had a very particular makeup goal: to try out colorful shadows. I used to pretty much only wear neutral looks for years. So in 2018, I decided to kick myself in the butt and force myself to use more colorful shades and create colorful looks. At the same time, I decided to teach myself some new eyeshadow techniques as well. So this palette and the looks I created should be placed in that framework. I definitely had fun playing around with this one!
What does this palette offer?
The Ultimate Brights palette offers you 16 pans of colorful shadows. There is a range of warm tones and cool tones, most of them are matte and you get a good range of colors. This is a rainbow palette that has all the colors you might want if you are looking for brights. But there is one major but: these work best over a white, sticky base and if you pack them on. This is a palette you need to be patient with. That is why I have decided to declutter mine. I have come a long way since 2018 and feel I have better rainbow palettes by now. However, at this price point and for the purpose I bought it for originally, I was happy enough with the quality and as you will see below I was able to create some very fun looks with it.
How do these swatch?
As you can see in these pictures: the swatches are not the best. These are quite sheer. That is why using a colored base to stick these against is what is absolutely necessary to make them stand out. The best shade in this palette? That mint shade for sure. It’s the reason why I kept this around as long as I have. There are a few more shades that I feel work well, but there are also some duds. The red looks cool in the pan, but it has some glitter in it and it looks more pink than red in the end. In the end I feel that this color story has some fun brights, but also a bunch of pastels that makes this palette perhaps lighter in color than you had expected when you first glanced at this.
3 Looks 1 Palette
Look 1: reds, pinks & purples
This look is the first one I am sharing because it is my favorite. This was unexpected to me as reds and pinks can make you look a bit sickly. What I found really helps with wearing brights is to ground the look with a bit of black liner on the lower and upper lash line. The darkness around the eye avoids your looks from looking like you have pink eye and makes it look more sultry. I liked how these shades blended and I love how this came together.
Look 2: blues, greens & yellows
Another great look that I knew would work instantly was this color combo. In the end I felt this palette needed more shimmer. I am wearing two different shades on my lid. However, you can barely tell as they are both so close in color and there is hardly any texture in the look. Since there are quite a few shades, I think this palette would have much better if some of those very similar blues and greens, would have been replaced by shades not different in color, but with more texture.
Look 3: All the shades that were left
And then I was left with a bunch of leftover shades. The corals didn’t appeal to me as they are just not very flattering on me. Plus, I also found out that this palette is sorely lacking some definition. There are hardly any deeper tones. Every shade in the palette is a mid tone bright. This means that things muddy together and it can be difficult to get a full look. To make this one work, I tried to get creative by adding a glitter half cut crease. I think the look came out okay, especially for this featuring all the leftover shades. However, I feel that some of these should have been darker. This palette would have improved greatly if it had a bright cobalt blue and a royal purple for instance.
My Final Thoughts
What do I think about the NYX Ultimate Brights eyeshadow palette? I think this palette is a great beginner palette if you want to own lots of colors to try out. If you are someone who is only wearing brights for Halloween or makeup play time, this is one that gives you lots of shades that work decently well. If like me, you are a bit of a makeup enthusiast, then you will be able to find better rainbow palette. I much prefer the Ace Beauté Slice of Paradise (even though I feel that has its flaws) and of course the Juvia’s Place Zulu palette. If you would like to see more rainbow palettes, then watch this video in which I showcase 10 of my favorites.
Would I recommend the NYX Ultimate Brights eyeshadow palette?
Yes, I would recommend this if you are a new to colorful shadow. It is a palette that really helped me easy my toe in and gain the confidence I needed to do more colorful looks. Are there better bright palettes on the market? For sure. But this gives you such a good range of colors that will allow you to do loads if all you want to do is play.
2 responses to “NYX Ultimate Brights eyeshadow palette review”
This looks great for those times you just want some colourful makeup for Halloween or even festivals. I think it would be perfect for me as I don’t often wear makeup of those colours. Thanks for posting this review and super looks!
Yes that is exactly what this is great for.