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Springtime calls for a revamping of everything. Away with the old, in with the new, and that always applies to makeup. Newness is everywhere and we’re here to see what brands are coming up with next.

I initially disregarded getting the Natasha Denona Tropic Palette because there were not that many shimmers and I live for her glitter and metallic formula, but as the sneak peeks and her tutorials started popping out I grew curious on the mattes here because you could tell the ease these blended into the lids of the models, leaving me heaving with content when Beautylish sent me the palette for review, as I was going to buy it anyway.

I can’t stress enough how amazing their customer service is and how quickly things show up at your door; not only packaged well but with a personalized note.

The palette has 15 shades, 1.5g per shade, comes in a blue casing with fuchsia lettering and if you turn it over there are small little holes to push your pans out and depot, which leads me to believe refills are in the works, or at least, large pro palettes in which to depot your entire Denona universe to. One can dream.

Her previous palettes contained a hefty 2.5g weight per pan, the difference prompted outcry (with obvious reasons) as to why the content had decreased and not the price ($129 – as the previous Lila and Sunset). Natasha did several stories on this matter (I was away and missed them) but the recap is that in trying new formulas and packaging, not only did she achieve a lighter weight packaging but formula itself. So there is the same amount of product, it just weights less.

Scratching your head? One pound of cotton balls would be a big pillow of cotton, whereas one pound of tiny rocks for (say, for brush cup filling) would be significantly smaller, they both weigh the same but volume wise one is larger. Think of the new formula as the cotton on this analogy, lighter weight with the same volume.

The Tropic Palette is a melange of sultry peaches, berries, Taupes and siennas with some interesting pops of cool tones and some Metallics and glitter toppers in duochrome modality; being the duochrome addict that I am, I gravitated to them right away only to quickly realize that’s not where the soul of this palette was.

I’d like to think Natasha picked these shades thinking of spring and summer, of sultry hot nights where we want colors to look like they blended into the skin at birth, and that’s precisely what these mattes do.

She named the finish creamy matte for good reason, they are a joy to swatch and to blend on your lids.  Let’s go into them shall we?

Peach Puff: a light creamy coral

Sangria: the prettiest berry

Fake tan: the ultimate transition shade

Coco: nice and even chocolate shade, no patchyness at all, which usually characterizes these type of shades

Sahara: light beige sand

Nudist: musk pink

Vintage taupe: taupe pink

Pastel melon: peachy creamsicle

Gusti: Our glitter topper! Its peach with a blue sparkle, pretty buildable too if you’re using your fingers; not so much with a brush but she recommends the use of your tips anyway. The shade itself is pretty but not as bright as I expected. She had me used to her other shimmers that achieved full opacity with one swipe of your fingertip.

Limoncello: the duochrome of the bunch, an icy yellow with silver sparkle. Not so much duochrome as it is blindingly bright. Hello inner corner highlight.

Mint frost: icy blue, a glitter topper and very pigmented.

Exotic: metallic emerald green, wasn’t as bright as I thought it would be, it didn’t pick up as much product with fingers or brush, I went afterwards with a wet brush and finally got good color payoff on my lid. Note the swatches are not foiled at all here – all shades were swatched dry, no primer.

LAGUNA: holy balls of Fire! Holy mother of matte bright blues! And so unbelievably even on application. The star of the show.  No wonder the packaging itself was inspired on this shade.

Tiger Lily: the metallic royal blue on the set, easily foiled and pigmented.

Zena: a lavender lilac in matte, another hit.

Overall: I liked it, it applied great and could be blended out for a wash of color or easily built up for more editorial looks. It’s got a rounded amount of cool and warm tones. You prob have a lot of these neutrals (MUG, ColourPop..) but I felt every single matte had a personality of its own and great quality.  Gusti (glitter topper) was not as pigmented on one swipe as I had grown accustomed with her metallic formula, neither was Exotic; but both were easily buildable and foiled beautifully with a wet brush or finger.

The shades don’t muddle with each other when blended with one another, which is a big deal, some mattes tend to get patchy and bunch up when mixed and matched, and these did not do that. Yes, it is an investment at $129, no, you don’t exactly NEED it, but it does have some great shades.

Le rant.

I try not reading any reviews before I have my own thoughts together as to not bias myself, and just prior posting this,  I read a lot of people complaining on the texture of the palette; I did not experience any problem with the mattes and only Gusti and Exotic left me underwhelmed. Try things for yourselves guys, not everyone will have your same opinion, not everyone will have your same skill either. No shade, but I have seen people complain that a matte shadow performed like crap with a wet brush… ok total shade there. Do not base reviews on how something swatches IN STORE (an abused tester will swatch very differently), use those in store trips to check out shades and have a general idea, but do you know how many filthy paws got to that tester palette before you? I saw someone eating an empanada once and swatching with the same hand when she was over, oily fingers carelessly wiped with a napkin just before she went in on the poor tester palette victim.. true story…

Try things!  both Sephora and Beautylish have a very forgiving return policy, don’t be afraid of returning and don’t be afraid of liking something even if people are saying they don’t. Common consensus my ass. Additionally: something can swatch like shit on your arm, but like the gods, over a primed lid, just as something looks amazing when finger swatched on a forearm and then fallout and muddle over your lid.

I realize that I render our blog invalid with this statement, but Angela and I cannot stress enough the importance of trying things for yourselves and not letting influencers steer you without shame. Grab a brush and blend that shit on your lids, then tell me your opinion, I want to hear that. Please don’t tell me: Im getting it or not getting it because so and so told me. Buy something because the shades were amazing, not because someone that swatched on their arm once told you to or not to. (not talking about me, I’ve been putting this on my eyes like a crazy clown all week… ) its late guys, Im ranty.

End rant.

Natasha Denona Tropic Palette can be bought HERE at Beautylish. 

 

Swatch Porn reel:

 

Thanks for reading!