Blue eyeshadow: such a controversial topic. Popular in the 70s and 80s and therefore a bit of a fashion faux pas for years, but now back in full swing. In recent years many all blue palettes have been released and one such eyeshadow palette is the Huda Beauty Sapphire Obsessions. This mini, 9 pan palette is part of her Obsessions Gem Stones range. I already reviewed the Emerald and Amethyst, so let’s have a closer look at this one.
Review: Huda Beauty Sapphire Obsessions eyeshadow palette
I get my Huda Beauty products from Cult Beauty. There are a few other retailers that sell the brand by now, but it is as of yet still unavailable in The Netherlands. These little 9 pan palettes have been going up in price. At first these retailed for around $25 = €25. Now they retail for €29.95. The newer palettes in the Obsessions range may be worth that price point, but these earlier renditions definitely have a different quality compared to the later ones and the larger palettes Huda Beauty has to offer. Is it still worth that slightly inflated price tag?
What does the Sapphire Obsessions palette have to offer?
As with any Obsessions palette Huda Beauty does, you get a very curated color story that centers around a single color or theme. This range has expanded greatly by now with neon, nude and the newer pastel palettes. The 9 shades play off each other nicely, but I have yet to decide whether that bright yellow in the bottom left corner would really be necessary in such a small palette. All in all, I appreciate smaller palettes and therefore trying this 9 pan was much more up my street than many of Huda’s larger palettes. Of those, I currently only own the Desert Dusk, which does fall into my top 10 all time favorite eyeshadow palettes.
What is the color story like?
It’s an all blue palette with a pop of yellow and silver. For me personally, I would have preferred if there had been one more matte blue and a true light blue shimmer. I want more blue! There are currently four mattes and fives shimmers and that is not something I would change. However what I would change is the intensity of the matte in here. The dark blue is sadly not as dark as it looks in the pan and so a true navy would have my preference to be featured here. So that is my main complaint about this palette: it is just a bunch of mid tones and two shades that don’t really go. I wish it would go a bit deeper and lighter on the blue spectrum to make this more versatile.
How does it swatch?
Not the best. Of the three obsessions palettes I own from the Gem Stone collection, this is the one that performs the worst. There are some stunning shades in this palette: that bright blue and aqua shimmer are to die for. And do I spot a teal in the middle? In short, there are a few shades here that I like and keep this palette around for. What is not so great about this palette is the mattes: the dark navy looks luscious in the pan, but it swatches so light compared to what it would need to do. The yellow is a complete disaster and barely shows up and doesn’t even build up very well either.
2 Looks, 1 Palette
When I look at this palette there is a two way split: a more true royal blue leaning side and a more aqua/ turquoise side. So I did looks with both! This is the Royal Blue look. I put the matte royal blue in the crease with the shimmer all over the lid. I attempted to use the navy as a liner, but it barely shows up. And do you spot that hint of yellow that I used to blend out the crease? Yeah, me neither, but trust me: it’s there. This look pairs well with the silver shimmer which I used in the inner corner, but overall this look is nice but nothing mind blowing.
For this look, I went in with the turqoise shades in the palette. Of course if you were to put these with the blues, these would pull more blue, but I really like how turquiose looks on me. It reminds me of summer and the shade of pool water. I went in with the matte aqua in my crease. I had a bit of a hard time blending these mattes, but it did build up quite well and I have to say that out of the mattes in this palette this one performed the best. These shimmers look nice, but I felt they were a bit flaky and therefore more difficult to work with and make them look smooth on your lids. Here you can see the navy as a liner as it provides enough contrast. I dabbed a bit of silver on the center of the lid for that touch of brightness.
My final thoughts
This palette is a bit of a let down. While I really like the Huda Beauty Obsessions palettes I own, Sapphire Obsessions is not totally worth it if you ask me. The color story is a bit strange, the quality is lacking in the matte department and these shades are not as easy to work with as some other Huda eyeshadows I have tried. Especially since this is now more expensive than when I bought it, I do not think it is worth the price point.
Would I recommend Huda Beauty Sapphire Obsessions?
No I would not. I won’t say: stay away at all costs. I still think that for a 9 pan blue palette this is not bad and there isn’t much like it on the market. Recently I tried the Colourpop version: the Blue Moon and that was also not the best. So maybe blue eyeshadow is just very difficult to formulate? Who knows. If you must, then this palette has some shades that are nice if you need some blue tones. However, in this case I would recommend you invest in some single shadows and build your own. That is still your safest bet.
6 responses to “Huda Beauty Sapphire Obsessions review”
I’ve been to scared to mess around with blue eyeshadow lol. I love the looks you created! I think over this palette I would buy something that had blue shades and other colors so I could use it more and justify the purchase 😂
There are some stunning palettes out there with a pop of blue.
Hi Maaike, the Sapphire one is not my cup of tea,so I did not get this one. I do have the 4 other ones Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst and Topaz of which the last one is my favourite. The quality of these is fine.
I have a bunch of the small palettes now. I expanded quite a bit over the fall time when I got two of the Nude Obsessions palettes and the Neon Orange!
I haven’t tried any HUDA palettes yet. I am not a big fan of eyeshadows because my eyes are sensitive. And they tend to water- not a good combo with eye make up. But these Blues in the Sapphire palette, I might have to try!
Aw that shucks! Hope you can find a formula that works for you.