Another Shadow Saturday and you know what that means right?! Yup, an eyeshadow palette review. And today’s palette is Juvia’s Place’s Afrique. This palette is one that is going in and out of stock on the Juvia’s Place website, so I figured I would review it as I was able to pull some pretty looks from it and of course, if you own the palette, maybe the looks I created can be an inspiration to you too. Let’s get to the review!
Review: Juvia’s Place Afrique eyeshadow palette
So currently this palette is not for sale on the Juvia’s Place website, but some of the older palettes have been going in and our of stock for a while (think: Tribe, Saharan II). So you just never know: in a few weeks or months you might still be able to get this. I got this a while back and at the time it was on sale for $11 but I think this mainly retailed for around the $15 mark. Quite affordable for a 12-pan palette!
What does this palette have to offer?
This was one of the first palettes by Juvia’s Place I bought that had 12 pans along with the original Saharan palettes. I picked up the Afrique as it seemed to have quite a colorful color story, but also quite some good neutral shades. The blue background of the palette has always put me off this palette and it just doesn’t make the shades stand out enough and it makes the palette quite convoluted and makes it look much more interesting than it actually is.
What is the color story like?
This palette features 7 mattes and 5 shimmers. While the palette looks quite colorful at first glance, it has in fact only 5 true colorful shades, everything else is a warm toned neutral for the most part consisting of some browns, bronzes, and some reddish copper tones. When I first got this, I had no clue what to do with it as it looked like it was going all over the place. However, once I starting playing around with swatches, I felt the blue and purple could go together well as well as the greens and yellow. And then there are a bunch of neutrals that are left.
What does the palette swatch like?
As you can see in the swatches there are quite a few good shades here but also some that are very ‘UnJuvia’s’. The shades in this palette just aren’t as saturated as some other shades in other palettes I have tried by them. Especially the matte blue looks sheer, but can still be build up. The shimmers, an area Juvia’s Place usually excels at, are not as vibrant, intense and unique as they usually are. The green and purple stand out most in terms of how they swatch. However, that is not the only issue I have with this palette: the undertones are too varied and just don’t really go together well. This means I don’t feel this palette is as versatile as I had hoped.
3 Looks, 1 Palette
If you know my blog, you know I like to try all the shades in a palette before I review it and see if I can create some different looks with them. I did and here I have used the different shades in 3 different looks: one centered around the blue and greens, one contrasting the bronzes with the purples and finally a look centered around the reddish copper tones.
As I was a bit stumped how to go about the looks for this palette, I decided to throw together the shades that I felt most drawn to which were the blue and the greens. Unfortunately I felt these shades underperformed compared to other palettes I have tried from the brand. The blue was sheer and a bit patchy. The greens pretty but the green has a weird grey undertone that doesn’t really go with anything else in the palette. I like the final look, it just didn’t work out the way I had planned.
For the second look I played with some of the more neutral shades and the purple shimmer as an accent on the lower lash line. The purple is another shade that is a bit of an odd one out. Against all the warmth this palette offers, the purple is oddly cool toned and it just doesn’t go well with the other shades. The bronze and neutrals I used here are pretty but nothing special compared to other neutrals I already own.
To my surprise however, this palette had something else to offer that I hadn’t quite expected. The red toned I put all over the lid was an unexpected love. I normally don’t go for super warm toned looks and feel I always need a black or dark brown liner to ground the look. But against my brown eyes and with my fair skin I really felt it stood out nicely. And this shade was one that swatched not that great, but applied to the lid it was really pretty and I love the sheen.
My final thoughts
The Juvia’s Place Afrique palette was one that I bought for a few particular shades and then ended up liking it for completely different ones. Yes it has some pretty shades, but in the end it wasn’t as special as I had hoped. Some shades underperformed, either didn’t really go with everything else in the palette or just otherwise didn’t really feel that unique. There is only one shade that really stands out to me which is the red. So I will be keeping that one and leave the rest for what it is.
Would I recommend the Juvia’s Place Afrique eyeshadow palette?
I think this is a great palette if you are a beginner and would like to try some Juvia’s Place but the intensity and color stories seem to overwhelming. It features lots of good neutrals for very basic looks and then it also offers some unique shades for some fun pops of color. Another thing this has going for it if you are a beginner is that the palette makes it easy to create looks that are a bit more than just your basics and that I think is a great thing. To me, with nearly 200 palettes in my collection it is not unique enough to keep it around, but it was a fun palette to play around with. That’s for sure.