The latest makeup palette on the scene that everyone seems to be talking about is the Charlotte Tilbury Icons Eyeshadow Palette*. It is Inspired by vibrant care-free disco vibes and hazy Ibiza parties ; the colours are bold, brave yet versatile. I’m going to take you through what I think of it, swatches, looks and the quality.
The Icons palette contains 12 eyeshadows (2g each) and the textures are very buttery, soft and super pigmented. The finishes are mainly metallic. There are a few shades that have a touch more glitz/shimmer in them on my inspection (Diva 1 /Date 1 / Disco 1 / Date 3) and 3 shades that appear slightly more muted and satin in finish (Day 3 / Diva 3 / Disco 3). So no matte shades at all : this is all about sheen, glitz and shimmering finishes. All shades can be used wet or dry. Used wet, it will give a much more intense and vibrant finish. It doesn’t come with an applicator / brush (hooray!) = I always think this is a waste of palette space. The compact is plastic, sturdy with a metallic look and feel, bowie-esque vibes on the image and has a mirror within : a decent size to do your full makeup in.
I have had the palette only a week, but I wanted to do some looks, give it a good wear, try out all the shades on my eyes and get a good feel for it. In typical Charlotte Tilbury style, the palette has been separated into ‘4 looks’ (from L-R = Day / Date / Diva / Disco) which make it easy to garner x4 colour combinations and eye looks. I find this a great selling point, especially if you aren’t overly confident in makeup application or selecting workable colour combinations. I created 4 different eye looks but I just used colours across the palette as I fancied. You can’t stop this party train.
WET VS DRY
As I explained before, using these eyeshadows wet will give you a fuller pigment and punchier finish. To use wet, I have on hand my water spray (a mini bottle like this I have in my kit) and just spritz the eyeshadow brush before I grab shadow from the palette. A tip for this, if you are going to use them wet and dry, is to select one area of the shadow to use ‘wet’ and stick to that area, otherwise you will have a very messy palette!
When used dry they are very soft and easy to blend and apply. You don’t need to dip heavily into the pan to get colour, if you are too heavy-handed you will waste a lot of eyeshadow and get fallout in the pan, which is typical of a decent eyeshadow. In the slightly more shimmery shades, I use my finger and press them onto the centre of the lid to get a slightly better ‘spotlight’ effect.
I think a lot of us are in the frame of mind at the moment that we *NEED* every single makeup item that ever launches from popular brands so we have it in the makeup stash. I’m not about that life : buy makeup that you are going to love, use a lot and really appreciate.
..So do you need the Icons palette?
If you have a lot of nudes and ‘safe’ palettes : the Icons palette is a great one to have for your bolder and brighter looks. If you have all the warm toned palettes and are a little scared of the greens and blues (ME!) then this is also a great palette because you have the options (and they are very wearable) but it isn’t filled with bright colours : you do still have your nudes and warm tones.
If you have 47 NARS palettes and everything Urban Decay have ever launched (we know you gurrrrlll) then you will have similar shades amongst those. I genuinely only have the Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita palette (I’m a terrible person) so I can’t say I know her eyeshadows that well, but by looking online and on her website, I can see that there is nothing similar to this palette that she already does. Charlotte Tilbury fans will want this palette!
In a nutshell, this palette has great quality pigments, a good range of shades that you can get a lot of looks from, it’s easy to work with and it’s something a little different from Charlotte Tilbury.
The Charlotte Tilbury Icons palette has just launched, so it’s available now online/ on counters and is priced at £55. *claxon sound* It IS limited edition. What do you think of this eyeshadow palette? Is it something you have already or think you may purchase? Let me know in the comments.
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Have you seen my recent review of the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter?
*This post contains press samples
