Beauty

Gwen Stefani Urban Decay Palette

Urban-Decay-Gwen-Stefani-Palette

Urban-Decay-Gwen-Stefani-Palette

I had my eyes on the Gwen Stefani Urban Decay Palette ever since it was announced a few months a go. Not only do I love Gwen (much like her voice, her style is just amazing) but I’m also a huge fan of Urban Decay’s eyeshadows. I mean, hellllooo??? The original NAKED palette will forever be a favorite. 

As much as I wanted to get my hands on the Gwen Stefani Urban Decay palette though, being that it consists of mostly warm neutrals, that little annoying voice in my head kept saying “dude… do you really need another one of these??”. So, unable to make up my mind, I waited and then I waited some more. Finally, my sister ended up buying it for me as a Christmas gift. She actually had no idea that I wanted it (and told me she kept stalking the blog to see if I already have it) so I was very surprised. So surprised, that I actually cried when I opened it. It was right then when my brother and my husband had one of their “silent” dialogues, where my brother looked at my husband thinking “wait.. is she serious? is she really crying over some makeup?” then my husband looked at him with that look that said “don’t. just don’t, bro. let it go.” My poor little brother was then even more confused when I cried even louder (I might have actually screamed….. Nope….. Not might have, I screamed so loud that our dog started barking, trying to figure out what’s wrong) as I opened his gift, which was a huge Gryffindor blanket. What can I say, guys. My family just gets me.

….okay, back to this beauty!

In a true creative partnership, Gwen Stefani and Urban Decay created the UD | Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette. Wende Zomnir—co-founder of Urban Decay—and her product development team spent countless hours at Gwen’s house, talking makeup and working closely with her on every detail of this palette—from the case to the amazing shades. These eye shadows were carefully created with Gwen Stefani, filling a void by creating the exact shades she always wished she had in her collection. This palette features her 15 must-have shades of eye shadow, including 12 never-seen-before colors and three that are from the Urban Decay shadow collection. With the ultimate range of neutrals and a few jewel tones to mix things up, this is Gwen Stefani’s go-to kit to create her most iconic looks. With these shades in your beauty wardrobe, you’ll have everything you need to recreate these signature looks for yourself. Each eye shadow in this palette is formulated with Urban Decay’s Pigment Infusion System™, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power, and blend-ability.”

Gwen-Stefani-Urban-Decay-Palette-review

UD x Gwen Stefani comes with – 15 x 0.04 oz eye shadows:  Blonde (pale beige/pink iridescent shift), Bathwater (pale beige with gold pearl), Skimp (pale nude satin), Steady (medium rose/metallic gold shift), Punk (reddish brown matte), Baby (cool metallic rose), Anaheim (light taupe-brown matte), Stark (nude-pink matte), Zone (medium brown matte), Serious (smoky gray with iridescent floating pearl), Pop (pale coral with iridescent sparkle), Harajuku (metallic blue-pink/iridescent micro-shimmer), Danger (deep metallic royal blue/blue micro-sparkle), 1987 (bright metallic yellow-gold), Blackout (blackest black matte).

And since when doing reviews I love listing things I love and things I don’t love, here are my thoughts.

What I love

-first thing’s first: the packaging. It’s absolutely beautiful. I love the design, it’s sturdy, edgy with a huge mirror and I don’t see any problems with using this palette while traveling.
-this palette has an amazing value. For $58.00 you get $228.00 worth of product.
-the eye shadows have a great formula, they blend easily, and are nicely pigmented.
-I love unique colors like 1987 and Danger- they both have an AMAZING pigmentation and are great for adding a little pop of color.
-the formula is also long-lasting.
-I love that there is a mix of matte, metallic and shimmer finishes.

What I don’t love

-here’s the thing, I think this palette is gorgeous and I love how these colors work with my skin tone. BUT, I also have a very light skin tone- similar to Gwen’s. I feel like some of these neutrals will have trouble showing on deeper skin tones. It seems to me that instead of creating a palette inspired by Gwen, one that everyone could use, this palette was created to suit those of us who similarly to Gwen, have a light, porcelain skin tone. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get use out of this palette if you have a deeper skin tone, but I would definitely recommend using a good eyeshadow primer.
-I love neutrals in this palette, but when I think of Gwen Stefani, I think color, color, color. And here we only have about three shades that really “pop” (Harajuku, 1987 and Danger).
-the pigmentation is not uniform throughout the palette some of the colors like Pop and Harajuku, weren’t as pigmented as the rest.
-I kinda also wish that this palette came with a brush because I love UD’s makeup brushes, but that might be pushing it a little ;)

Gwen-Stefani-Urban-Decay-swatchesLeft to right: Blonde, Bathwater, Skimp, Steady, Punk, Baby, Anahein, Stark, zone, Serious, Pop, Harajuku, Danger, 1987, Blackout.

I have to say that I am in love with this palette. Some of my favorite colors here are Punk, Blackout (which has crazy pigment, just look at the swatch!) 1987, Danger and Skimp. Once again, if you have a skin tone similar to mine (NC15-ish) you will love this palette. If your skin is a little deeper, I’d definitely try to swatch it at Sephora first.

Gwen-Stefani-UD-palette-review-and-swatches

Gwen Stefani Urban Decay Palette

Do you have this palette? Planning on getting it?

31 Comments

  • Reply
    Mollie McNeice
    January 3, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    This is one of those palettes I’ve been wanting to get my hands on but I have some many already with similar colours that I refuse to part with so much money on it. Saying that, the punk colour is so nice and I really want to try it out ahh x

    Mollie Victoria Beauty | Blog

  • Reply
    Linda Libra Loca
    January 3, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    Such a cute gift from your sister!

    Linda,
    Libra, Loca: Beauty, Baby and Backpacking

  • Reply
    jodie.keith
    January 3, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    The way you’ve swatched them all on your arm is mesmerising! I can’t stop looking at it! How did you do such neat swatches ?! Mine are always a mess!

    Jodie @ Jodetopia x

  • Reply
    Jodie
    January 3, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    This palette is so beautiful, and I adore a good warm neutral palette. It sounds like your sister knows you pretty well, I think I’d have reacted the same if I opened this up!

    Jodie | Jodie Loue

  • Reply
    Charlee Greenhalgh
    January 3, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    This is such a stunning palette, I have to agree the packaging is so stunning and I love the range of shades! Punk is one of those I didn’t think I’d like but absolutely love when applying :)

    Charlee XO | CharmedCharlee

  • Reply
    Josie
    January 3, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    Punk looks like an awesome shade! I’m a huge fan of Gwen Stefani but to me I always associate her with a bold lip so I’m waiting for her lipstick range to come out! x

    Josie | Sick Chick Chic

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      January 7, 2016 at 11:55 am

      Same here! I always think of her wearing a bright red lip :) I sampled a few of the lipsticks and they’re gorgeous!

  • Reply
    Paula Loreti
    January 3, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    This is a super real review! Love it. And the neutral shades are my favourite

    http://www.blossomikebana.com

  • Reply
    Danielle Beautyblog
    January 3, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    I talked myself out of getting this palette at least 5 times before giving in and being enabled by my cousin! That’s what’s family is for :D

    Danielle’s Beauty Blog

  • Reply
    Kelly
    January 3, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    This is such a pretty palette, there are a few shades here that I probably wouldn’t use but I really like most of the shades. Urban decay has a great formula, I might have to buy this.

    Perfect Shade of Mauve

  • Reply
    Nereyda Gonzalez
    January 4, 2016 at 2:47 am

    My sister just bought this and I’m so jealous. At first I thought I didn’t want it, because like you I thought some of the colors were a little boring for Gwen. But after seeing hers I’ve decided I NEED this pallete! Love Punk the most.

    Happy 2016 Paula, I missed your blog :)

    Nereyda│ This Girl Is Obsessed

  • Reply
    Sophie
    January 4, 2016 at 3:32 am

    It looks like such a beautiful palette!

    Sophie x | SophiesMakeupBlog

  • Reply
    Beautylymin
    January 4, 2016 at 5:19 am

    I got this for Christmas too & LOVE it! xx

    Beautylymin

  • Reply
    Charlotte Lane
    January 5, 2016 at 8:00 am

    I really want this palette! But I’m the same as you, I looked at it in real life and thought ‘do I really need this?’ but now I’ve found out that it’s limited edition and really want it again haha! Great photo’s by the way xo

    Char | http://www.charslittleblog.blogspot.co.uk

  • Reply
    Mari
    January 5, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    Your swatches are always perfect! That’s a gorgeous palette.

    http://www.randomstein.com

  • Reply
    Chaste and Beautiful
    January 8, 2016 at 10:13 pm

    Urban Decay never fails to impress and a combination of Gwen Stefani makes the entire palette an absolute chase. Loved your honest review. Keep up the good work. :)

    Chaste &
    Beautiful

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