I haven’t been this in love with a palette for… well, forever. And the weird thing is, you wouldn’t look at this overly colourful palette and think that this is a classic Taylor colour palette. Usually for my eyes, I stick to much more neutral shades or if I’m feeling particularly adventurous that day, you might find me in a dusty rose look or a burnt orange smokey eye. But a palette with blues and greens and purples? That’s just simply something I don’t reach for.
So then how did this palette end up holding such a large place in my heart? First of all, the Urban Decay Born To Run palette ($49USD/$59CAD) is incredibly versatile. Although it does have quite a few more colourful shades, they’re not obnoxiously bright or bold. Each colour is gorgeous. The greens are muted, the blues are subtle, the purples are jewel-toned. Second, they’re extremely pigmented. Just look at those swatches. A picture is worth a thousand words y’all. Shadows that swatch that beautifully also blend together that beautifully. So buttery, so smooth, so gorgeous.
But it’s not like this palette is just a giant rainbow. There is also a decent amount of neutrals splattered throughout which I really appreciate. There’s nice champagnes and nudes for all over your lid as well as transition crease shades and then there’s your staple mid-tone brown, chocolate brown and black for darkening up any eye look. And the different textures are nice as well! Not too many shimmers and not too many mattes! And both formulas are perfect. The shimmers are so metallic and pretty while the mattes are smooth and silky without being patchy in the slightest. Whoever chose the shades for this palette did a damn good job I must say.
So at Shoppers Drug Mart (where I work), I often explain to customers who are a lil’ intimidated by this palette to view it as “three’s”. Each column of three shadows can be used to create a gorgeous, unique eye look in which all the shades compliment each other! Easy peasy right? That’s already seven different eyeshadow combos that you don’t even have to think about! In the eye look above, I’m wearing the very left column of the palette: Breakaway all over the lid, Hell Ride in the crease and Wildheart in the outer V. Viewing this palette as columns really helps make the palette a little easier for people like me to experiment with wearing more colourful shades!
I have been trying really hard to break out of my shell with eyeshadow. I’ve worked in cosmetics for six years. I’ve ran a beauty blog for seven. It’s about time I start getting a little more creative with my eyeshadow and this palette is definitely helping me do that! It’s such a nice change from my boring neutral palettes (AKA big apology to my Naked palettes that might remain untouched for a little while).