For me, the term 'nude' conjured up the image of wearing nothing at all, and that may be why I have avoided nudes until now...boooooo-ring! But when BR emailed me with the superhero task force offer to trial this palette (from a company I've often had good results from!), I had to say yes. This product has been hyped, and so I figured it would be a good place to start! Plus, I was on my way back from a dream trip to Japan and needed a new focus...perfect! (Thanks, BR xx)
The Maybelline The Nudes Palette comes packaged in a sleek black case with a clear window through which you can easily see the 12 shades. There is a plastic sleeve around this when you first pick it up, which has info on Quads, Trios and Duos from the product which go together. Interestingly this same information is on the back of the actual case - but it's different there, and the one on the plastic sleeve makes more sense. Typo? Confused packager? Not sure, but don't throw out the sleeve!
The palette tends towards shimmers in the lightest shades, with a couple of matte bone/taupe shades thrown in, and more matte darker colours from a mid brown through to a black.
I used all three quads, then went back to a couple of the colours that suited me better to trial this for brows, lips, and as an under-cheekbone contour. I found that using the guides helped, but instinct also helps, and if you like two colours together then they are worth a go! There is a golden shimmery shade 3 in on the bottom row that I love for inner eye and upper central lid as it really pops the gold flecks in my hazel eyes.
This is a multi-use palette, but it can't do everything – I still used base, liner, mascara etc as normal.
I haven't tested this on a full work day yet... my workdays can get up to 13 hours though :S However, I've worn the shades 4 days in a row and I'm happy with how they've lasted through a chill holiday time where I've put my makeup on closer to lunchtime than breakfast! They've also helped make me look less jetlagged and more myself!
When I applied the shadows as lip colour (over a clear gloss) they adhered exceptionally well and I was really impressed. When applied as a contour you need to blend them out with your face powder to avoid a line. On the eyes, they blend nicely. I've heard people complain about the pigmentation but I feel it's adequate for a nude palette, especially as the colour is buildable and easy to work with.
In short, I'm really impressed with this palette. I'm a 'brights and darks' girl and this was my first real foray into nudes, and I like that you can go softer or more dramatic with this palette depending on your mood. I think the shades are really well thought out and complement each other (and me!) well. I would recommend this to most people but feel that it might be too much of a range for a beginner, especially as the instructions are a little confusing with being non matching.
I purchased this palette from splashstore about a month ago- kind of exciting since it hadn't quite hit other stores in NZ yet. The concept with the palette is that it is sorted into quads or trios so that you can do complete eye looks and it will coordinate with each other. The trios or quad combo's are shown in diagrams on the back of the palette which really takes the work out of deciding which colour will go with which. The pigmentation of this palette is not the most amazing, particularly for some of the matte shades, but it is pigmented enough that you can easily build up an eyeshadow look from more natural to more of a dramatic look which I like. I found the shadows to be really easily to apply and to blend. The only negatives I really found with this palette is that some of the shades are a bit similar to each other, and there is only a couple of shades I could use in the crease as this tended towards the more shimmery shades. Still, this is a great and totally affordable option particularly if you are just starting to build up your makeup collection. Would absolutely recommend this to others.