Thursday, July 16, 2015

Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette Review, Photos and Swatches


When I was in Scotland recently, I stopped at Superdrug on Edinburgh's Princes Street and picked up a bunch of makeup. There are brands in the UK that do great dupe products and I wanted to see what I could find. Here's one of the eyeshadow palettes I bought, the Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette. It's a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette and cost £4. The Urban Decay Naked palettes retail for $64 CDN. 

I do not own the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, so I can't do a swatch-by-swatch analysis. Here is a video comparing all three Iconic palettes and all three Naked palettes. The comparison of the Iconic 2 and the Naked 2 palettes is at the 4:30 mark

But here are my swatches of the Iconic 2 palette, on NW15 skintone. 

The Makeup Revolution eyeshadows do not have names but I'll number them for you (1-12). 


There are mostly shimmery shades in this palette, but there are a few shades that are more matte. It's a good blend of cooler-toned neutral shades, ranging from a light champagne tones to a deep, dark black. 

Here are close-up of the eyeshadow swatches starting from the far left and going two at a time.


Shade #1 is barely noticeable on my skin. It's a matte yellow-beige with a touch of peach to it and similar to MAC's Brule. It has good pigmentation, soft and blendable but is drier than the shimmery shades.

Shade #2 is the Makeup Revolution dupe for Urban Decay's popular shade Half-Baked. The Makeup Revolution shade is a golden copper shade, with lots of shimmer. It's soft and creamy but slightly sheer.


Shade #3 is subtly shimmery shade, a golden-champagne with a touch of peach that would work well as a highlighter shade. This eyeshadow has a beautiful texture, creamy and smooth. 

Shade #4 is shimmery copper-gold shade, with a soft texture and good pigmentation but like Shade #2 it's slightly sheer. 


Shade #5 is a taupe matte shade with a bit of mauve to it that suffers from a dry texture. It's usable, certainly, but may require a bit of effort to build up. 

Shade #6 is a shimmery bronze-gold and it is probably one of the most pigmented shades in the palette. A really beautiful eyeshadow. 


Shade #7 is champagne-bronze shade, with good pigment and a soft texture. Another beautiful shade. 

Shade #8 is a beautiful muted gunmetal silver with a bit of brown to it. Beautifully shimmery and creamy. I think this might be my favourite shade in the palette.


Shade #9 is a lighter shade that would make a good highlighter. It's a shimmery champagne colour but with pink and silver to it. Gorgeous texture.

Shade #10 is a stunning shade that's a cool, muted rose-gold. Creamy and pigmented.


Shade #11 is a softly metallic mauve-brown with only OK pigmentation but a creamy finish and texture. 

Shade #12 is a basic black that is almost matte but it does have a creamy texture and there's a slight sheen to it as a result. 

From the research I've done, the eyeshadows in the Iconic 2 palette do resemble those in the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette quite closely for the most part, so if you're not inclined to spend $64 CDN for a Naked 2 palette, are in the UK or visiting the UK, and would like a decent cool-toned eyeshadow palette, you should definitely check out the Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 palette. 

Here's a look I did using five of the Iconic 2 shades. 


First, I applied shade #1 lightly all over my lid, then shade #5 through my crease for definition. Next I quite heavily applied a combination of shade #9 and shade #3 onto my lid. 

I used the darkest shade, #12 through my crease, and along my top lashline and blended it out using the same brush I'd used on my lid, so it was sheered out and shimmery. I used an angle brush to smudge #12 along my upper lashline and then applied shade #4 along my lower lashline. 



I like this palette and think it's well worth the £4 I paid for it. I find I wear flatter shades much more than shimmery shades, and this palette is mostly shimmery, but I'll get some use out of it, for sure. The combination of neutral shades makes it easy to wear for many skin tones, and will create a variety of looks from subtle to dramatic. 

You can find Makeup Revolution products online on their website here.

Grade: B 

1 comment:

  1. This is such a beauty. I think its worth the try. Great colors and finish. I agree its worth paid for.

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