Colourful eye make up is one of my favourite vices in life, and it has been almost from the moment I began wearing make up aged eleven. While most people favour neutral shades like taupe, tan, and chocolate, I prefer and feel most comfortable wearing colourful make up, and love to wear the whole rainbow. Greens, yellows, purples... the more colourful the better!
So, naturally, when I first saw photos of the Urban Decay Full Spectrum palette ahead of its release late last Autumn, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets with excitement. I knew I had to have it, so I stalked the Internet until it became available, and snapped one up the morning it went on sale. There was no way I was risking missing out on it by biding my time, especially as I'd missed out on the Spectrum palette the year before, no siree. I couldn't check out fast enough. I'm glad to say, when it arrived a few days later, the love was instantaneous, and we both lived happily ever after. I've been meaning to blog a review of the palette ever since, but for some reason it's taken until now to put finger to key. Better late than never, though, right?
So, the Urban Decay Full Spectrum palette is Urban Decay's biggest, and most colourful eyeshadow palette yet, and it's the palette my rainbow-coloured dreams are made of. It features twenty-one eyeshadow shades covering the whole spectrum of the rainbow, from bold brights to matte white, bringing you all the colour options you could possibly need in one handy monochrome palette. It's quite simply a colour addict's dream.
The palette includes eighteen new shades, and three exclusives that have appeared in previous palettes, Alchemy from Vice 3, and Hatter and Metamorphosis from the Alice Through The Looking Glass palette, giving Urban Decay fans plenty of new shades to play with, and another chance to own some exclusives you may have missed out on first time around. I was so excited to see Hatter was included in Full Spectrum because I never managed to get my hands on the Looking Glass palette, but had been admiring that gorgeous vibrant green shadow from afar for ages; it's so beautiful and definitely one of my favourites of the twenty-one. Alchemy has become another firm favourite, so I'm happy to have a few recycled shades amongst the eighteen brand new colours. The eyeshadows also come in a variety of finishes, including mattes, shimmers, pearls, and metallics, and with so much variety, you're never going to run out of options with Full Spectrum.
The eyeshadows are conveniently arranged in a rainbow of ombré trios which are designed to be worn together for flawless results, so if you usually have difficulty pairing shadows together, you'll find colour-matching shades a breeze with this palette.
Of course, you aren't limited to wearing the same seven trios; you could wear a single shadow for a bold pop of colour, choose colours from one of the three colour groups, or mix and match to your heart's delight. You could even layer the white shadow under the other shades to make the colours even more vibrant! The possibilities are endless. Really, you're only limited by your imagination and willingness to experiment.
Now, you may be looking at this palette feeling a little intimidated by all of that colour, but this palette really isn't as loud and as scary as it may look. Yes, it is a very colourful collection of eyeshadows, but only a handful of them are bold brights- the ones in the middle row- and they can be toned down with a blending brush, or used sparingly if you prefer. The shadows along the top are darker, smokey shades that could be a fun alternative to a black or navy smokey eye, and the eyeshadows in the bottom row are a little softer, and a little more subtle than those in the row above. You can create all kinds of look with this palette, and not just 'scary' rainbow bright ones; it's a surprisingly versatile palette. You can always start by experimenting with the softer and darker shades and work up to those striking brights once you're built up your confidence. For those of you who are already confident with colour, just you try to resist those brights! I promise you, it can't be done! This is the make up equivalent of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!
I have to say, I'm so impressed with the results I get from these eyeshadows. They're vibrant, they blend so beautifully, and they even last a good eight or nine hours on my skin without sliding off and needing retouching- which is pretty darn impressive because I'm constantly overheated thanks to fibromyalgia, and most make up slides off my face when I overheat.
They also come off easily with both cleansing wipes and micellar water, although a couple of the brights, including Blindsided and Sketch, leave some staining on the skin that can take a day or so to fade. I'd advise wearing a good primer underneath, and perhaps avoiding these shades a couple of days before an important event or if you want to brave the world fresh-faced the next day.
The palette includes eighteen new shades, and three exclusives that have appeared in previous palettes, Alchemy from Vice 3, and Hatter and Metamorphosis from the Alice Through The Looking Glass palette, giving Urban Decay fans plenty of new shades to play with, and another chance to own some exclusives you may have missed out on first time around. I was so excited to see Hatter was included in Full Spectrum because I never managed to get my hands on the Looking Glass palette, but had been admiring that gorgeous vibrant green shadow from afar for ages; it's so beautiful and definitely one of my favourites of the twenty-one. Alchemy has become another firm favourite, so I'm happy to have a few recycled shades amongst the eighteen brand new colours. The eyeshadows also come in a variety of finishes, including mattes, shimmers, pearls, and metallics, and with so much variety, you're never going to run out of options with Full Spectrum.
The eyeshadows are conveniently arranged in a rainbow of ombré trios which are designed to be worn together for flawless results, so if you usually have difficulty pairing shadows together, you'll find colour-matching shades a breeze with this palette.
Of course, you aren't limited to wearing the same seven trios; you could wear a single shadow for a bold pop of colour, choose colours from one of the three colour groups, or mix and match to your heart's delight. You could even layer the white shadow under the other shades to make the colours even more vibrant! The possibilities are endless. Really, you're only limited by your imagination and willingness to experiment.
The shades included in the set are:
♥ Alchemy- a deep fuchsia satin.
♥ Gossip- a bright metallic pink with subtle floating pearl.
♥ Paranoia- a soft metallic blue-pink.
♥ Warning- a deep metallic copper.
♥ Seize- a bright metallic coral with subtle floating pearl.
♥ Jones- a metallic orange with subtle floating pearl.
♥ Midnight Blaze- a black matte with yellow-gold pearl.
♥ Calavera- a bright yellow matte with subtle floating pearl.
♥ Goldmine- a metallic yellow-gold.
♥ Hundred- a deep metallic forest-green.
♥ Hatter- a vibrant green with tonal micro-sparkle.
♥ Mean- a bright metallic lime green.
♥ Minx- a deep navy matte with floating tonal pearl.
♥ Blindsided- a bright teal blue matte with floating pearl.
♥ Metamorphosis- a vibrant periwinkle blue with micro-sparkle.
♥ Delirious- a deep plum matte with subtle floating pearl.
♥ Sketch- a metallic medium purple.
♥ Faded- a lavender with gold shimmer.
♥ Platonic- a black matte with iridescent glitter.
♥ Iced- an oyster silver with shimmer.
♥ Bump- a white matte.
Middle Row
I've swatched all twenty-one shades on the underside of my arm in palette order to show you how gorgeous, vibrant, and well pigmented they look on the skin.
Top Row
Middle Row
Bottom Row
It's difficult to choose favourites because they're all so beautiful, but right now I think I'm leaning towards Mean, Hatter, Goldmine, Gossip, and Seize. The shades are all to die for! Evidently, I love a good metallic. There isn't a shade I don't love in the palette, although Bump, the matte white, and Iced, the oyster silver, get a little lost on my super pale skin, and are best layered over other colours, or for highlighting the inner sockets.
Now, you may be looking at this palette feeling a little intimidated by all of that colour, but this palette really isn't as loud and as scary as it may look. Yes, it is a very colourful collection of eyeshadows, but only a handful of them are bold brights- the ones in the middle row- and they can be toned down with a blending brush, or used sparingly if you prefer. The shadows along the top are darker, smokey shades that could be a fun alternative to a black or navy smokey eye, and the eyeshadows in the bottom row are a little softer, and a little more subtle than those in the row above. You can create all kinds of look with this palette, and not just 'scary' rainbow bright ones; it's a surprisingly versatile palette. You can always start by experimenting with the softer and darker shades and work up to those striking brights once you're built up your confidence. For those of you who are already confident with colour, just you try to resist those brights! I promise you, it can't be done! This is the make up equivalent of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!
Each eyeshadow in the palette is infused with Urban Decay's Pigment Infusion System, which is the propriety blend of ingredients which gives each Urban Decay eyeshadow its amazing velvety texture, rich colour, serious staying power, and blendability. It certainly delivers what it promises; the eyeshadows are highly pigmented with fantastic colour pay-off, so you only need to use a little product to get gorgeous, vibrant results that stand out on the skin and make your eyes pop. Most of the shades aren't quite as bold as those in the Electric palette, but they're still more vivid than most. The shadows have a wonderfully thick formula that really do feel like velvet on the skin, and as usual, the quality is amazing. There's none of that chalkiness you often get with colourful eyeshadows, with the exception of the white shadow 'Bump', which I find a little crumblier.
I have to say, I'm so impressed with the results I get from these eyeshadows. They're vibrant, they blend so beautifully, and they even last a good eight or nine hours on my skin without sliding off and needing retouching- which is pretty darn impressive because I'm constantly overheated thanks to fibromyalgia, and most make up slides off my face when I overheat.
They also come off easily with both cleansing wipes and micellar water, although a couple of the brights, including Blindsided and Sketch, leave some staining on the skin that can take a day or so to fade. I'd advise wearing a good primer underneath, and perhaps avoiding these shades a couple of days before an important event or if you want to brave the world fresh-faced the next day.
Moving on to the packaging, the eyeshadows are packaged in a large, hard black plastic case with tonal spectrum-like lines running from left to right on the top and sides of the palette, with a statement rainbow faceted UD jewel embellishing the top. While the case is heavy and sturdy, I personally think it looks and feels rather cheap, and doesn't follow the same quality and tastefullness as other Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes. I know some beauty bloggers have been raving about how much they love it, but the packaging for Full Spectrum just doesn't wow me. It also scratches really easily, as you can see by all the tiny white dust-like marks around the branding.
Once I open the lid, however, my feelings warm again. The black of the palette really makes the colours of the eyeshadows pop, and being the colour addict that I am, I always get the urge to dive right in and paint my eyelids with all of those beautiful colours.
The palette's huge square mirror makes creating any look super easy and convenient. It's actually large enough to see your whole face in, which is fantastic, and quite unusual for an eyeshadow palette. Other make up brands take note; most of us want to see our whole faces when we're doing our make up! Put big mirrors like this one in your palettes, please!
Full Spectrum also comes with a full-sized, double-ended, crease and eyeshadow brush, which I expected to be a fantastic tool as Urban Decay's make up brushes are usually incredible, but unfortunately, I'm left disappointed. Neither the crease brush or the eyeshadow brush picks up or packs on much product; so it's pretty much useless for everything but blending. I have to use other brushes in my collection to get the results I'm looking for, which is a shame, but not really an issue for me as I own a good collection of good quality make up brushes already. Please don't let the brush put you off this palette, though; it's still worth it's weight in gold! The brush is the only thing I can really fault with this amazing palette!
All in all, I'm well and truly impressed with the Full Spectrum eyeshadow palette. The shades are all gorgeous and highly pigmented, the formula is wonderful, they've got serious staying power, and they look amazing on my eyelids. What more could a girl ask for? The eyeshadows are honestly some of the best, and most beautiful colourful eyeshadows I've ever used.
It's the ultimate colourful eyeshadow palette for anybody who loves colourful eye make up and for anybody who wants to start experimenting with it. There is so much you can get out of this palette, and those of you with amazing make up skills will be able to create the most wonderful, elaborate, vibrant looks with it. It's a colour junkie's dream! Sure, it's not for everybody, but if you love colourful make up, trust me; you need this palette in your life! Step aside from the Naked palettes and give Full Spectrum a try; I promise you won't regret it- I sure haven't!
Full Spectrum is available now from Urban Decay and all good department stores, priced at £43. Snap one up before it goes!
Are you a fan of colourful make up, or do you prefer to play it safe with neutrals?
Full Spectrum is available now from Urban Decay and all good department stores, priced at £43. Snap one up before it goes!
Are you a fan of colourful make up, or do you prefer to play it safe with neutrals?
