I am a HUGE Urban Decay fan. I’m literally always excited with every new release but when the Electric Palette came out a few years ago I just….wasn’t interested. I didn’t even feel like I needed to go and swatch it or even see it in person because I couldn’t see myself using any of the shades. Thinking back, the real reason for that was purely because the colours were just way out of my comfort zone.
I rarely wear eyeshadow and if I do it’s a very subtle neutral look or a smudged out eyeliner smoky look. Neons and brights were just not something I would even consider.
Then very randomly, I met up with an old friend from school. It was just after my birthday and she very sweetly remembered and bought me the palette. Honestly, I was so touched at the gesture but the palette was put away in the back of my makeup drawer. Last year, I was determined to buy less makeup and use up more of (if not all of) what I have. Whilst having a clear out, I found Electric and examined it more closely. I was really surprised that the colours are actually really pretty.
There are 10 pressed pigments in the palette:
Top row, from left to right:
REVOLT – a muted metallic silver
GONZO – incredibly bright turquoise blue, satin
SLOWBURN – bright reddish orange matte
SAVAGE – matte neon pink
FRINGE – deep, shimmery teal
Bottom row, from left to right:
CHAOS – neon cobalt blue, nearly matte satin
JILTED – warm, purpler-pink with a satin finish.
URBAN – deeper, more blue-toned purple, nearly matte satin
FREAK – shimmery bright light green
THRASH – semi-matte, lime green
I have to be honest, I was a little bit worried because I had read that some shades were not suitable to use in the eye area (wtf? lol) so I did some research. It turns out that in the US this palette was released with this statement “Warning: Slowburn, Savage, Jilted, and Urban are not intended for the immediate eye area.” and the FDA have not tested and approved the suitability of use of neon pigments around the eye area. We don’t have any warnings or restrictions here in the UK but here’s what the official statement is from Urban Decay in the UK:
With peace of mind that my eyeball wasn’t going to fall out, I got straight back to it. The palette is a mix of mattes, shimmers and metallics. The mattes are an absolute dream. The go on sooo smoothly and the colour is so intense that they might as well be pure pigment! Honestly, I was kicking myself for not having tried out the shades sooner.
My absolute favourite shade is ‘Jilted’, it’s a warmer shade of ‘fishnet’ that was in one of their earlier palettes that I wore almost every weekend to my first retail job lol. It’s more of a satin finish which changes shade with the light, I absolutely love it.
Electric is beautifully pigmented and all of the shades blend really well. When I swatched all the shades on my arm, I literally needed to put my finger in the eyeshadow and swipe it across just once to get those bold colours. Honestly, I was taken aback at how great the pigmentation was, despite knowing what Urban Decay are capable of creating. I know that using your finger can be different to using a brush when it comes to colour transfer but it worked just as brilliantly with a brush.
I love that every Urban Decay palette comes with a brush and it’s always a really really good one. The dual ended compact precision brush can be used to line, blend and smudge to create stunning looks.
The palette is priced at £38 which is average for an Urban Decay palette. It’s premium quality so you really do get what you’re paying for.
All in all, the palette has drastically changed my opinion of it. I went from feeling intimidated to realising just how versatile this palette is. One thing I noticed about myself is that I always make the mistake of thinking that when I use a palette, I can only use the shades in that particular palette instead of taking colours from different ones to create something spectacular. Having had a play around with it, I’m going to go as far as saying that it’s a palette every needs to have in their collection. Even if you’re someone who doesn’t play around with colour much, you can use the shades to add a little something to your look, be it as a highlight in the corner or even a coloured liner.
What do you think of the Electric palette?
Hello You
I’m Rosie!
