CLINIQUE All About Shadow Nudes Palette - Review

I realize this isn't a drugstore product, but I recently received the CLINIQUE All About Shadow Nudes palette and It. Is. Awesome.

The palette was $36 (Sephora), and frankly, worth every penny. From the gorgeous, silvery packaging (which, unfortunately, is prone to fingerprints, scratches, etc.) to the beautifully silky texture of the shadows, I don't regret buying this baby for one second.

The shadows, as you would expect in a palette at this price point, are well pigmented, super finely milled, incredibly silky and utterly blendable. The range and selection of colors and hues allows quite a bit of versatility in terms of whatever look you might desire to achieve. If you want subtle, "no-makeup" makeup, you can achieve it with this palette. If you want to do a bolder smoky eye, there are deeper shades well-suited for this purpose. The lighter shades are lovely for highlighting, and the deeper shades show up quite nicely, without getting all muddy or chalky or generally looking like ass when blended. You can actually differentiate the shades (assuming you've been practicing your blending!).

If I may be so bold, I have to say that after doing a full eye with this palette, I was extraordinarily psyched at the result. I may have achieved one of my best eyes ever - and this is not hyperbole. The colors pop, they blend where they should and they stand out where you want them to. Oooooh, and little to no fallout!!!  Fallout sucks, hard, and causes the makeup gods great ire. It also totally screws up your painstakingly perfect foundation and concealer job and, why!! Just, WHY!??

I give major props to CLINIQUE for the brush they've included with the palette. I have a strange natural aversion to hideous, foam-tipped applicators and I loathe, with the fury of a thousand suns, tiny little shit brushes that typically come with shadows. This is a nice, long, dual-ended usable tool. You can actually utilize this brush in the same manner you would one of your staple brushes. I think that's pretty frickin' sweet, personally. Note to cosmetics companies: STOP PUTTING SHIT BRUSHES IN YOUR PALETTES!!!!!

I realize I'm probably going off the rails here a bit, but the importance of your tools, where makeup is concerned, can NOT be overstated. I am not insinuating that you have to go out and drop hundreds of dollars on some fancy shmancy honkin' brush set, but you do need the proper tools if you're going to create a look as fabulous as you are. I'll discuss brush types, brands, their uses and care in another post.  o get back to the subject at hand, I'm very pleased with the tool that CLINIQUE has seen fit to include with this palette.

In summary, this is a hands-down winner. Whether you are a makeup maven with a penchant for hoarding makeup or you're someone who wears makeup infrequently (why!!?? it's soooo fun!!!), this lovely and versatile palette is for you. After pondering whether this palette would be better suited to particular eye colors, it's my opinion that it would likely look smashing on just about anyone. For the brown eyed ladies, the coppery tones really compliment the deep brown of the iris. Similarly, the muted shades with their understated shimmer and range of hues would really accentuate blue eyes. Heck, this is going to look great on just about anyone!!

tl;dr - I adore makeup of all kinds, colors, textures, etc. This palette really wowed me though - I was all googly eyed and there were cartoon hearts and angels floating above my head. There may have been an audible SQUEEEEEEEE as well.

Until next time ;)