Hello ladies,
After reviewing the Natasha Denona Sunset Palette for you some time back, today, I have the review of the LILA Palette. When this palette was initially announced, I got super excited – purples do that to me. But the more I saw this, the more hesitant I got because it didn’t seem like a cohesive palette to me and a bit too cool toned for my liking. And then I saw a video by Jamie Paige (a Canadian YouTuber) who did 3 looks with this palette and I literally ordered it instantly. It took a while to reach me and I finally got this last week. So, the whole week has been busy with trying this, the Tarte Tartelette Toasted Palette and the Marc Jacobs Eyeconic Palette in Provocouture – which I reviewed for you earlier this week. And I am finally ready to review the other two. Back-to-back eyeshadow palette reviews can be quite daunting and exhausting – but here it goes…
Price: USD 129
Product Description:
What it is:
A palette featuring 15 brand new gorgeous eye shadow shades in a combination of warm and cool violets, plums, and fuchsias—perfect for every skin tone.
What it does:
Inspired by her love for the purple color scale, Natasha created the Lila Eyeshadow Palette just in time for Fall. This must-have palette includes all four classic eye shadow textures in her signature chroma crystal, creamy matte, metallic, and innovative duo chrome finishes. Use the velvety shades alone or layer together for head-turning, versatile eye looks for day or night.
This palette contains:
15 x Eye shadow in Per Se (matte medium smoky purple-grey), Viola (metallic medium fuchsia-violet), Amara (matte medium brown-berry), Cyclone (duo chrome bronze/copper with pink highlight), Nude Vino (matte medium nude-grape), Layla (metallic dark grey mauve), Amethyst (metallic medium bright violet), Magnetic (metallic medium bright fuchsia), Magnolia (chroma crytals light warm champagne), Nude (matte mauve medium), Juneau (sheer metallic light lavender), Livid (duo chrome medium lilac with silver-blue highlight), Puprure (metallic medium burgundy), Dragon Bite (duo chrome medium red with green highlight), Helio (metallic light pastel nude rose)
What it is formulated WITHOUT:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Phthalates
How To Use:
Suggested Usage:
-Use with an eye shadow brush or fingertips.
My Experience with Natasha Denona LILA Palette:
Packaging: The palette comes packaged in a white cardboard exterior – just like her 5-pan palettes. The box has all the information pertaining to the names of the shadows and the ingredients. The print on it is in purple – unlike the Sunset palette which was golden. The box itself is lacklustre. Coming to the palette, it is a mix of plastic and rubberized foam with a purple faux leather exterior which has the brand name and palette name embossed on it. While the outer packaging seems sturdy enough, I would not recommend travelling with it because the shadows themselves are extremely soft. The palette has a magnetic closure which is much appreciated. It has a decent-sized good quality mirror. The shadows and the mirror are separated by a plastic sheath which has all the shade names and codes mentioned on it. The sheath is attached to the palette but can easily be torn away if you are so inclined because the attached portion is perforated for easy detachment.
The palette was released quite some time back and I feel that I have wasted a lot of time coming to a decision. But considering the cost of it, you really have to weigh it out. This is a permanent palette in the line and purple themed – driven home by the detailing on the cardboard exterior box, the purple cover of the palette and the shades itself. Why LILA? Derived from the word Lilac, Lila means purple in Dutch, German and even Spanish.
What was holding me back? Like I mentioned, I felt that the palette was too cool toned. And yes, I know, when you first look at it, you see some really warm gold and coppery shades. And you may wonder what I am talking about!! But, the cool vibe of the palette actually comes from the matte transition shades. I am okay with working with cool tones but still prefer warmer (or neutral) shades as transition ones. If you look closely, you can see 2 shades in the palette, which could probably work as transition shades and both of them are quite cool toned. Another point which was holding me back was that even though there is quite a range of colours in the palette – cool, warm and jewel toned, the shade range is quite medium – with only one light shade (which is shimmery) and not a single really dark matte shade to hold the palette together.
So, why did I buy it?
1. Firstly, I thought it was time to experiment out of my comfort zone and give the cool toned transitions a chance. The ‘Rule Book’ says that warm toned females should stick to warm toned reds. And yet, MAC Ruby Woo is probably the most popular MAC Red around.
2. If I am spending this huge an amount on a palette, why am I wanting the same shades as I already have in other palettes or as singles? If I get 15 different shades – different from what I already have, then it makes more sense to splurge on the product than to get the same shades again.
3. Thirdly, in conjunction with the second point, be open to the idea of using some basic shades from another palette or singles that I have, in conjunction to this. Every palette does not have to be cohesive, especially if it is at that price point. Why would I want to waste 4 of the 15 shades in this palette by being the same peach, light brown, terracotta shades again? Use a basic 4 shade neutral quad with it.
4. Fourthly, what if the fact that it doesn’t have too many light shades or too many deep dark matte shades is by design? What if this palette is meant to work in conjunction with the Sunset Palette which has plenty of variation anyway. This very thought truly spurred me on. And I was super excited to try a combination of these. It would be like having a 30-pan extended version of Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts palette!
5. Also, the palette seemed to have some really unique shades and I was really keen to try them.
6. Lastly, the video by Jamie Paige really showcased the variety of looks that could be created by just this palette. And I was sold!
Natasha Denona shadows come in a variety of finishes, 5 to be precise and the shade name is suffixed by the abbreviation of the finish. So, these are the following finishes:
1. CM stands for Creamy Matte
2. M stands for Metallic
3. DC stands for Duochrome
4. K stands for Chroma Crystal
5. S stands for Satin finish
So, let us get on with it and discuss the shades and their quality, individually:
Top Row:
1. Per Se 135CM: This is a medium purple toned taupe-grey shade with a creamy matte finish. The texture really is smooth and creamy. The shade wears more purple than it looks in the pan. This is one of the shades I was referring to when I mentioned the cool toned shades which could be used for transition. It has excellent pigmentation and is easy to work with.
2. Viola 136M: This is a medium cool toned berry purple shade with a pearly sheen. It has good pigmentation and is creamy smooth in texture. The shade is slightly dense but can be picked up by the brush and transferred onto the skin.
3. Amara 137CM: This a medium to deep rosy red brown with warm undertones and a creamy matte finish. The shade is phenomenally smooth in texture and extremely finely milled. It had good pigmentation and is easy to work with.
4. Cyclone 138DC: This is a medium bronze shade with a pink duochrome shift. Quite pretty to look at but has a denser texture. This results in it applying better with fingers or a damp brush, rather than a dry flat brush. Once on, it is really pretty. I have used it in the Look 2 in the middle 1/3rd of my lid.
5. Nude Vino 139CM: This is a deep brown shade with neutral undertone. It has good pigmentation and is easy to work with. The texture is consistent with the other shades – finely milled and extremely smooth and blendable.
Middle Row:
6. Layla 140M: A deep cool-toned brown shade with a hint of dirty purple in it and a pearly sheen. Quite a unique shade. It was creamy smooth but not too dense. I was able to apply this with a flat dry brush. It had good pigmentation and was easy to work with.
7. Amethyst 141M: A medium, bright vibrant violet with pink purple sparkles and a pearly finish. The sparkles are very minute and bind well to the base product uniformly. So, it almost appears as a duo-chrome shift rather than sparkle interspersed within the shadow. The pigmentation is decent but not as opaque in one go as I would have liked – considering this is the piece-de-resistance in the palette. The texture is smooth and not very dense. And despite the sparkles in the shade, it didn’t have much fallout.
8. Magnetic 142M: It is a medium, bright fuchsia shade with a pearly sheen. It has good pigmentation and applies opaque in a single swipe. It too has a smooth texture which is easy to blend.
9. Magnolia 143K: This is a highly metallic shade – a medium, warm coppery gold shade. It has excellent pigmentation and is smooth on application. But when I touch this with fingers, I feel the shade to be more loosely packed in the palette. The shadow is very very soft. In fact, the first palette I ordered, this shadow came broken in transit.
10. Nude Mauve 144CM: This is medium, muted dirty mauve shade. The shade looks like a cool toned brown in the pan. But on the application, you can see the mauve coming through and the shade looks a bit warm. Like the other mattes in the palette, this too is extremely finely milled and velvety smooth. Natasha Denona has really elevated the texture of her matte shades to a whole new level.
Bottom Row:
11. Juneau 145S: This is a light, slightly pink toned silver with a frosted metallic sheen. This applied better with fingertips than with a dry brush. Alternatively, you could apply it wet. The texture is smooth and easily blendable.
12. Livid 146DC: It is a medium duo-chrome shade. It has a dirty plum base shade with a violet duochrome shift and ever so fine turquoise blue micro glitter particles. I find it so unique. This is not the shade which stands out at first glance in the palette but is definitely one of the shades I was most excited to try out. It has a creamy texture and good pigmentation.
13. Purpure 147M: This is a reddish purple shade with a coppery gold metallic sheen. The shade is not dense but still, it applies better with fingertips and/or with a wet brush rather than with a flat dry brush.
14. Dragon Bite 148DC: This is again a unique shade. It looks like a dirty olive green gold in the pan. When you shift the angle of the palette, the shade looks more reddish purple than old gold olive green. It is a duochrome shade. It is a medium reddish plum shade with an old gold to dirty olive green metallic shift. It is again, very very pretty shade. However, it isn’t as opaque as it seems in the pan or as opaque as one would want it to be. The base shade goes on much lighter than it looks in the pan. I did try to use it with my fingertips and with a wet brush too but it did not seem to accentuate the pigmentation. It does not feel very smooth to the touch but applies evenly. Seen in the direct light, if the angle isn’t right, the shade will look quite mundane – like a light glossy bruised plum look. When the angle changes and you see the gold and olive green, it does look very pretty. I have used it in the Look 2 in the inner 1/3rd of my lid.
15. Helio 149M: Last shade in the palette – this is a light warm pink shade with a soft golden metallic sheen. This one had good pigmentation, applied evenly and had a smooth buttery texture.
Texture: I have discussed the texture briefly while talking about the individual shades. The mattes in this palette are outstanding! A huge change from the mattes in her previous 5-pan palettes – which I had found to be quite dusty. These mattes here were amazingly smooth, creamy (without being dense) and so easy to apply and effortless to blend out. Absolutely fantastic! Most of the shimmer shades were easy to work with – whether with a dry or wet brush or with fingertips. I feel the variation in application method used to be a deal-breaker for people at one time. But now people are so open to experimenting that they don’t mind the variation in application style. However, if you are not okay with applying any shadow with fingertips or wet, I suggest you pass this as you will not enjoy it to its full capacity. The shimmer shades – be it metallic or duo chrome – are not dense and do not accentuate the texture on the lids – which is another issue I used to face with Natasha Denona’s shadows in her 5-pan palettes.
Pigmentation: Pigmentation for most shades of the shades is good and the build-up as well as blend out easily. The shades blend well and mesh well with the other eyeshadows without getting muddy. I was using the Tarte Tartelette Toasted shadows which blend with a little effort. But when I was experimenting with this palette, it literally drove home how well these blended out as compared to the Tarte palette. It is such a breeze to create a look. You don’t need to spend much time on your application to look effortless and seamlessly blended.
Staying Power: Disclaimer – I apply eyeshadows with a primer because my lids are way too oily. These shadows lasted a good 8-9 hours with primer. Without primer, my eyelids turn everything to mush.
A quick look at the EOTDs created:
Look 1: This is all about the Violet! I couldn’t help but dig into that shade, the moment I got started with the palette.
Look 2: This is a warmer look created with the same palette.
Please, do note that I have used no other palette or outside shade while creating either of these looks.
Pros of Natasha Denona LILA Palette:
- A beautiful array of mostly cool toned shades – a wide variation of purples.
- A variety of textures to create a plethora of looks.
- Most shades had decent to good pigmentation and were easy to build up.
- Smooth, creamy texture – mattes are par excellence.
- Good wear time (with primer).
- Not creasing (over a primer).
- Does not transfer.
- The colors blend easily and mesh very well together – without getting muddy.
- Did not irritate my eyes.
- Gorgeous luxe packaging.
Cons of Natasha Denona LILA Palette:
- It is not really a cohesive standalone palette – if that’s what you are looking for.
- Not travel-friendly. I would not advice you to travel with this palette. There is a high probability of the shadows to break since they are so soft, especially the chroma crystal shades.
IMBB Rating:
4.75/5
Would I Recommend Natasha Denona LILA Palette?
Yes, whole-heartedly!! I can’t wait to pair it with the Sunset palette and create some more looks.
Despite my initial apprehensions, I am so glad I picked this palette. I love my purples. And even though the palette looks only half purple in the pictures, I do not think pictures do it justice. The palette has so many amazing unique shades and such beautiful, unique variations of purple – it is absolutely stunning. A phenomenal amount of work has gone into creating these shades and getting the textures right. And you see that only if you start playing with the shades in this palette.
Is it a must-have? Do you absolutely NEED this? Again, as I mentioned in my review of the Natasha Denona Sunset Palette, I will never say that you NEED a $129 palette. But if you have the budget and you love purples, you will definitely enjoy the palette.
One last thing, I would not recommend this palette to beginners or someone new to the eyeshadow game. Why? One, because like I said – it isn’t a cohesive palette. It may need another matte palette in a supporting role. Also, the whole array of shades may seem overwhelming to someone new to eyeshadows.
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