Whilst spring usually means, light, bright and softer shades, and sheerer and sheenier (positive that I’ve just made that word up) finishes, I’m still not quite ready to put away my matte eyeshadows. In fact, I’ve only just gone and purchased two different matte palettes; the Too Faced Natural Matte palette which I reviewed here and this one, the It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Celebration palette.
It Cosmetics isn’t a brand I’m familiar with. I’ve literally heard it mentioned once (or maybe twice) on Youtube but because it’s not a brand that’s available in the UK, I’ve just turned a blind eye (if that is the right saying). Now I’m not sure how I found it (well actually I do and it was most likely browsing the pages of ebay) but I happen to stumble across the Naturally Pretty Celebration palette and thought it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever set my eyes on. Intrigued, I googled a few reviews and watched a single video on Youtube and I was sold.
The It Naturally Pretty Celebration palette contains 15 eyeshadows but whilst 14 of them are matte, one of them presents itself as the ‘transforming ombre radiance ribbon’ . This shade is the only non-matte shade, twice as big as one individual matte shade, and is created to ‘transform’ the matte shades into a ‘softly, shimmering shade’ simply by dipping your brush into it after your chosen matte shade. It can also be worn as an all over the lid shade or as a base for your shadows to go on top of. ‘The possibilities are limitless’.
Now let’s go through the shades one by one, top to bottom, left to right:
Snow Angel A soft cream shade that works well as a brow highlight.
Champagne A muted, soft peach? or a faint, light brown? Can’t decide. Makes a great transition shade on fair skin tones or an all over base on medium skin tones.
Cozy A sandy brown shade that’s a step darker than Champagne. Great transition shade.
Warm Wishes A baby pink. Pairs well with Miracle as a transition shade.
Miracle A dusky mauve-y pink. My favourite from the palette.
Peace A muted purple but looks more brown in the pan. A great shade for brown eyes and a good alternative to dark browns.
Wonderland Also a muted purple but this has a tinge of grey to it and therefore slightly cooler, but in the pan it looks almost identical to Peace.
Hot Cocoa A deep cool tone brown and the second to darkest shade in the palette.
Gingerbread A mid tone, khaki brown.
Toasty A medium brown with a hint of plum.
Spice A medium to dark neutral brown.
Sugar Plum A true purple.
Starry Night A cool tone navy.
Coal Black.
Transforming Ombre Radiance Ribbon On one end it’s a cream shimmer and on the other end it’s a warm, mid tone gold. Very pretty.
So my thoughts on the shadows? They are beautiful. Not only is the selection of shades on point, an emphasis towards rosey-mauve-plummy tones which I personally love as they compliment my brown eyes, but the quality of them are nothing short of outstanding. The eyeshadows are soft to the touch yet there’s no powdery-ness nor chalkiness to be seen. The colour payoff is very nice indeed and as they are soft, they are seriously very easy to work with. Mattes have a reputation for sacrificing colour over texture and formulation but with the It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Celebration palette, nothing has been compromised. I have to say though, I’m not sure about the ‘transforming ombre radiance ribbon’. On it’s own, yes it works a beautiful colour, with the lighter end being great as that slight sheen under the brow bone and the inner corners, whilst the gold would get a standing ovation solo on the lids. But using them together? Well if you want that bit of sheen to the lids then yes perhaps, but for me, I’ve bought the palette solely for the matte shades and the radiance is a nice little extra for the aforementioned functions.
I’m not sure if this palette is still available, but if you really want to check it out then I’m sure you could probably find someone selling it on Ebay for hopefully a not- too-ridiculous price point.
Have you tried this palette or any other product from the It Cosmetics line? I would love to know your thoughts below.