Too Light

I've heard so many good things about Too Faced eyeshadow palettes and how they rivalled (or surpassed) the Urban Decay Naked Palettes, so naturally I had to have one. I managed to swatch the range of Too Faced palettes at a local department store (where these retail for $59.95, but I bought mine from Beauty Bay for about $35) and narrowed it down to a choice between the Naked Eye or Romantic Eye palette. I settled on Naked Eye because I thought it had more wearable, everyday neutrals with some of the cool, taupeish shades that I loved so much about Naked2.

To be perfectly honest, these eyeshadows don't thrill me. They're actually kind of disappointing. Even though they swatch beautifully, except for Unmentionables and Lap Dance (and I suppose Stiletto, but that is such a chalky, patchy matte black that I don't bother with it) they apply very lightly. I really have to pack on the shadows for them to show up, and even then, the colour is quite light on my eyelids or too similar to the natural colour of my skin that they don't produce much of an effect. I had high hopes for Birthday Suit and Pillow Talk to be flattering, easy-to-wear washes of colour over the lid, but they're just not dark enough to give me the depth and definition I need. Lap Dance is a gorgeous colour by itself, but it applies more like a cool silver than the complex taupe with purple and tan tones that I was after.

Not that I'll hit pan with any of these shadows, but three of the shades are more than twice the amount of the rest (2g compared with 0.9g). Considering that ivory and pale pink mattes aren't really up my alley and Birthday Suit barely shows up, it seems pointless and somewhat wasteful to have dedicated larger pans to those three shades specifically. I'd rather have a few more 0.9g shades and a wider shade selection.

My issues with Naked Eye could have more to do with my eye shape and skin tone than the quality and features of the eyeshadows themselves. However, I have to say that I don't find these shadows as pigmented as or better textured than the Urban Decay Naked palettes, or even my Sleek palettes. They're fairly close (e.g. Tease from Naked2 is similar to Like a Virgin in terms of texture and pigmentation, Satin Sheets is just as shimmery and vibrant as say, Chopper from Naked2), but I wouldn't say superior. I still prefer my Naked palettes because the colours work better on me and the eyeshadows are easier to apply. I really wanted to love Naked Eye, but it's just not for me. Maybe I would've rated Romantic Eye more highly, but after this underwhelming experience, I'm not exactly rushing out to confirm my suspicions.