I’ve been so curious about the Natasha Denona cosmetics line, but honestly it’s out of my budget. The eyeshadow palettes I’ve seen listed in the past on Sephora were between $150-250. Those palettes contained around 15-20+ pans, so they were large with a lot of color options, but definitely pricey.
When I saw this Mini Sunset Palette listed for $25 I immediately added it to my Sephora cart and figured this would be my best chance at trying the Natasha Denona formula since I don’t seem myself spending over $100+ on a palette at this point in my makeup career. Hopefully that changes because I would LOVE to review more luxury items if I could swing it finically. But I digress, I grabbed this palette and could not wait for it to be delivered. Unfortunately because of the weather my package was delayed so I got it a few days later than I should have but I did receive it none the less.
I pulled this out of the mailer and I couldn’t believe the size… I know its called “Mini” but this thing is so itty bitty. It’s really adorable how small it is, heres a comparison of it next to a primer (Dr. Brandt Pores No More Luminizer Primer).
The size of this is not an issue for me because the pan size is big enough to get a brush in and it’s a great size to travel with! I’ve used this a few times now and I haven’t even put a dent into the pans so theres a good amount of product in this mini palette.
Packaging
The Natasha Denona Mini Sunset Palette is a white plastic unit with a clear flip top. The cover is attached at the top and flips down securely to close. The brand name is displayed on the clear top- very simple and classic looking.
The shade names are not listed in the front, buy they are clearly listed on the big of the palette.
Color/ Texture
This palette included 5 shades- all warm tones colors. There are 2 mattes and 3 shimmers. These are all new shades from Natasha Denona, so these are not found in the original full size Sunset Palette, which is a little confusing. These colors are the same color family being warm, sunset-esque colors.
Colors in order from left to right:
- Guava- matte peach-y tan
- Apollo- shimmery cranberry red
- Dirty Mars- matte rich brown
- Sun Be a- shimmery bronze-y/ copper
- Halo- shimmery champagne
Formula
The formula on this is nice. These are buttery and smooth to the touch.
There isn’t much kick back when dipping the brush into the pan- this is pretty amazing being the the packaging is white, you would immediately notice if these shadows made mess but they don’t.
These blend out fairly easy on the eyes. They did need a little work to create a smooth transition which surprised me. A lot of reviews I’ve seen have say how Natasha Denona’s palettes are priced so high because they blend easy peasy. These did blend okay but not extraordinarily better than other palettes I have.
I applied using a fluffy brush for the mattes and they were surprisingly more pigmented on the eye than I thought they would be. I assumed I would go in with a bit of shadow, blend out and dip back in to layer (like I normally do with most shadows) but I didn’t even need to! One dip into this was enough to blend my crease out completely. It wasn’t the most effortless blend ever as it took a few minutes to blend properly, however the pigmentation was there.
The shimmers applied well too, some better than others. The maroon shimmer Apollo went on like a breeze. I barely even dipped my brush in and I got enough product to cover my lid and blend out. The lighter gold color and champagne shades Sun Beam and Halo are beautiful as well but not as pigmented when blending onto the lid, so I did use a setting stay on my brush to enhance the colors.
Wearability
These wore really beautifully throughout the day. The shimmers did not crease or move around on my eye lids! I should mention that I did not prime my eye lids at all before using this and it still lasted throughout the day.
Obviously, if you dont like warm colors this wouldn’t be for you. I do think you can create a lot of pretty looks using these 5 colors since the textures and mattes work so well with each other.
Dupes
Let’s start off this part as saying these are not 100% duplicates (especially the last one). The reason I am including this is because I find the texture of this Sunset Palette to be very similar to the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe Palette. The colors are similar and you could make very similar eye looks PLUS MORE using the Jaclyn Hill Palette which comes with 35 eyeshadows for $38. I have a full review with swatches of all 38 colors if you are instead in more info on the Jaclyn Hill Palette.
Overall
I love when high end/ luxury brands come out with minis so that the everyday beauty lover can try it out without breaking the bank! I would give this a 6.5/10. I like the colors a lot and they wear beautifully throughout the day. I would have rated in higher if it were easy to blend and if it were cheaper since I find my Jaclyn Hill palette so similar and way less cost per color.
Has anyone tried the Natasha Denona full sized palettes? I’m thinking maybe the formula was changed… Let me know in the comments what you all think!
Thanks for reading!
Bewitching Makeup 