Let's face it: Huda Beauty palettes are not cheap! I'm lucky enough to have got my hands on all three of the current full-sized palettes, so today I wanted to do a comparison of them and talk about the formulas and application techniques I use, as well as running through the colour schemes and swatches. Hopefully, if you've had your eye on these palettes but you weren't sure which one you'd get the most use out of, this post will help make up your mind!
Despite the fact they all come in at the same price-point, the amount of product in these palettes actually varies wildly! Rose Gold Remastered contains just 16.6g of product whereas the Desert Dusk comes in at a whopping 25.2g and the New Nude is in-between at 19.7g. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here because (as we'll get into) the formulas are definitely different across the palettes, so perhaps the different ingredients have different costings but they wanted to keep a consistent format and price across the range.
The palettes are made of cardboard but do feel really sturdy and I've never had any issues travelling with them. I like that they have the designs on the front and you also get them in these little inserts that come inside. I also like that the names are printed under each shade, as it really annoys me when they're just on a flimsy insert! There's also a nice, big mirror in each of these palettes, which is handy.
The real discussion has been around the metallics. What you might be able to see is that, as you use these, unfortunately the eyeshadow dips slightly in the centre; these shades actually use a different pan to the mattes and the standard shimmer in here, perhaps to secure this formula in there. What some people don't like about these shadows is that you do really have to use your fingers with them. They don't pick up very well with brushes, and I've tried everything from duo-fibre to fluffy to flat eyeshadow brushes! However, if you're willing to use your fingers, the pigmentation is just incredible and I love the metallic finish. Across this entire palette there's amazing longevity and I reach for this when I know I'm going out straight from the office because I can trust this formula to still look great by the end of the day.
Onto the Desert Dusk. I'd actually say this is my least-favourite palette in terms of the formula. In here we have a number of mattes; I definitely find these a little drier but they do still blend and you really can't fault the pigmentation. The darker and bolder shades are just not quite as smooth to work with as those in the other two palettes. This has a 'standard' shimmer formula in the majority of its shades which can easily be applied with a brush, so you don't have the same issue as with the other two palettes. There are also a number of really beautiful duochromes in here.
However there's one pressed glitter in here that doesn't really work for me. If you want to use this shade; you can apply a glitter primer base and it will stick a little better, however it's more of a topper so doesn't have that opacity. Personally, I'm not a fan of that formula and would've preferred a foiled shadow instead. This also needs to be applied with the fingers. Again, I do find the longevity with this palette to be very good, with minimal fading throughout the day.
Finally, there's the New Nude palette. There's just one shade in here that has a normal shimmer formula so you can use that with a brush and still get that pigmentation. There are two pressed glitters which are pretty similar to the one in the Desert Dusk, though they do seem to have a bit of adhesive in there. I still find this has the same issue with not sticking and not being opaque. These mattes are incredibly smooth and blend like a dream. They definitely kick up some fallout in the pan, but when they're this easy to work with; I really don't mind too much!
The duochromes in this palette are what have got people talking. The white flecks in these shades are just an effect; they actually come off just like smooth shimmer eyeshadows with a dewy, wet-look finish. These are best applied with your fingers; you can get these to pick up with brushes but you don't get that full pigmentation. The glitters also need to be applied with the fingers to really 'work'. Therefore if you're not willing to do that; I think this palette isn't for you. As with the other two palettes, I really did rate the longevity of these eyeshadows; they look fresh for far longer than average.
The Desert Dusk is absolutely beautiful to look at, though is definitely less cohesive in retrospect. There are a couple of cooler grey and pink tones in here that I'm not quite sure work with the rest of the colours (though you can obviously use more than one palette to do your eyeshadow). Overall, though, this is formed around warm, rich, spicy reds, oranges and purples. I definitely tend to gravitate towards the same shades when I reach for this palette and I do think it can be difficult to come up with looks outside of that which make sense to me. I think part of that is because the shimmers in here (overall) are quite dark and I tend to use something a bit lighter on my lid and then a deeper colour to smoke out the outer edge. However I totally get that a lot of this is personal preference, so look at my thoughts through the lense of how you prefer to do your makeup!
New Nude is less versatile than Rose Gold Remastered if you prefer to have shimmers in your eyeshadow looks, however way easier to create something from than the Desert Dusk. I personally don't tend to go for all-matte eyeshadow but if you do, you will definitely get more varied looks with this palette. This probably has the strongest colour story out of all three palettes; it's clearly a nude palette! The colours definitely lean towards pink but there are some browns and some plummier tones in there and I'd say it's pretty much a 50 / 50 split between slightly cooler tones and slightly warmer tones.
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Disclosure - products marked * were gifted to me as unpaid advertisement for the brands / websites mentioned. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure page for more information.
- BACKGROUND & PRODUCT DETAILS -
The Huda Beauty palettes retail for £56 each and you have: the Rose Gold Remastered* (a controversial reformulation of her original Rose Gold palette), the Desert Dusk and the New Nude. The shelf-life on all of these is labelled as 12 months, however (like many other makeup-lovers) I'm hygienic with my eyeshadows, so use my discretion on that one...Despite the fact they all come in at the same price-point, the amount of product in these palettes actually varies wildly! Rose Gold Remastered contains just 16.6g of product whereas the Desert Dusk comes in at a whopping 25.2g and the New Nude is in-between at 19.7g. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here because (as we'll get into) the formulas are definitely different across the palettes, so perhaps the different ingredients have different costings but they wanted to keep a consistent format and price across the range.
The palettes are made of cardboard but do feel really sturdy and I've never had any issues travelling with them. I like that they have the designs on the front and you also get them in these little inserts that come inside. I also like that the names are printed under each shade, as it really annoys me when they're just on a flimsy insert! There's also a nice, big mirror in each of these palettes, which is handy.
- FORMULAS -
We'll start with the Rose Gold Remastered palette. I actually never tried the original Rose Gold palette (Huda's first attempt at eyeshadow) because it had some quite mixed reviews, so I can't directly compare the two. I know a lot of people still don't like this palette, however I do and I'll tell you why! The mattes aren't really the divisive part of this palette; they're very creamy, I find they blend out easily and even the brighter colours go on opaquely and are effortless to work with. There's also one 'normal' shimmer in here which can easily be applied with a brush and has a pigmented, soft, sheeny finish.The real discussion has been around the metallics. What you might be able to see is that, as you use these, unfortunately the eyeshadow dips slightly in the centre; these shades actually use a different pan to the mattes and the standard shimmer in here, perhaps to secure this formula in there. What some people don't like about these shadows is that you do really have to use your fingers with them. They don't pick up very well with brushes, and I've tried everything from duo-fibre to fluffy to flat eyeshadow brushes! However, if you're willing to use your fingers, the pigmentation is just incredible and I love the metallic finish. Across this entire palette there's amazing longevity and I reach for this when I know I'm going out straight from the office because I can trust this formula to still look great by the end of the day.
Onto the Desert Dusk. I'd actually say this is my least-favourite palette in terms of the formula. In here we have a number of mattes; I definitely find these a little drier but they do still blend and you really can't fault the pigmentation. The darker and bolder shades are just not quite as smooth to work with as those in the other two palettes. This has a 'standard' shimmer formula in the majority of its shades which can easily be applied with a brush, so you don't have the same issue as with the other two palettes. There are also a number of really beautiful duochromes in here.
However there's one pressed glitter in here that doesn't really work for me. If you want to use this shade; you can apply a glitter primer base and it will stick a little better, however it's more of a topper so doesn't have that opacity. Personally, I'm not a fan of that formula and would've preferred a foiled shadow instead. This also needs to be applied with the fingers. Again, I do find the longevity with this palette to be very good, with minimal fading throughout the day.
Finally, there's the New Nude palette. There's just one shade in here that has a normal shimmer formula so you can use that with a brush and still get that pigmentation. There are two pressed glitters which are pretty similar to the one in the Desert Dusk, though they do seem to have a bit of adhesive in there. I still find this has the same issue with not sticking and not being opaque. These mattes are incredibly smooth and blend like a dream. They definitely kick up some fallout in the pan, but when they're this easy to work with; I really don't mind too much!
The duochromes in this palette are what have got people talking. The white flecks in these shades are just an effect; they actually come off just like smooth shimmer eyeshadows with a dewy, wet-look finish. These are best applied with your fingers; you can get these to pick up with brushes but you don't get that full pigmentation. The glitters also need to be applied with the fingers to really 'work'. Therefore if you're not willing to do that; I think this palette isn't for you. As with the other two palettes, I really did rate the longevity of these eyeshadows; they look fresh for far longer than average.
- COLOUR STORIES -
The Rose Gold Remastered is probably the colour story that's most within my natural comfort zone! This shade selection makes sense to me; you get the mix of the warm neutrals and the rich pink tones. You get light and deep matte shades in both colour families, meaning you can create an entire pink look or an entire gold / bronze / brown look with this palette, or mix and match. I think it's a well-balanced palette with lots of variation in the metallic lid colours that allows you to create an entire range of looks. You also get a couple of highlighting shades and enough mattes to give that structure to your looks. I really like that you can either go 'everyday neutral' with this palette or add a pop of colour. The shades are so rich and decadent; I just think they're stunning!The Desert Dusk is absolutely beautiful to look at, though is definitely less cohesive in retrospect. There are a couple of cooler grey and pink tones in here that I'm not quite sure work with the rest of the colours (though you can obviously use more than one palette to do your eyeshadow). Overall, though, this is formed around warm, rich, spicy reds, oranges and purples. I definitely tend to gravitate towards the same shades when I reach for this palette and I do think it can be difficult to come up with looks outside of that which make sense to me. I think part of that is because the shimmers in here (overall) are quite dark and I tend to use something a bit lighter on my lid and then a deeper colour to smoke out the outer edge. However I totally get that a lot of this is personal preference, so look at my thoughts through the lense of how you prefer to do your makeup!
New Nude is less versatile than Rose Gold Remastered if you prefer to have shimmers in your eyeshadow looks, however way easier to create something from than the Desert Dusk. I personally don't tend to go for all-matte eyeshadow but if you do, you will definitely get more varied looks with this palette. This probably has the strongest colour story out of all three palettes; it's clearly a nude palette! The colours definitely lean towards pink but there are some browns and some plummier tones in there and I'd say it's pretty much a 50 / 50 split between slightly cooler tones and slightly warmer tones.
- MY VERDICT -
If it wasn't already obvious; the Rose Gold Remastered comes in first place for me, as a lover of warm neutral eyeshadow! I also just think the gradient and the mix of finishes works best for my makeup preferences. If you love pinkier nudes and you prefer to have more mattes in your palette then New Nude will be perfect. If you like a darker, smokier vibe then the Desert Dusk might be more to your liking. I personally think that if you can't or don't want to apply eyeshadow using your fingers; only the Desert Dusk would be worth picking up for you!
Have you tried any of these eyeshadow palettes?
Don't forget to follow me on:
Disclosure - products marked * were gifted to me as unpaid advertisement for the brands / websites mentioned. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure page for more information.
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