What I'm Not Buying: Natasha Denona Star Palette

Natasha Denona, a brand that came to prominence last year after releasing eyeshadow palettes with a staggering $239 price tag, will be releasing the Star Palette on October 28. 

And I won't be buying. 

And by "I won't be buying," I mean I ABSOLUTELY will not be buying. 

So, here's my thing with Natasha Denona. I actually have two of the brand's five-pan eyeshadow palettes. 

I have palette 09:

And palette 10:

I was really curious to try these shadows after hearing phenomenal reviews. The hype absolutely got to me, but there was just no way in hell I was going to throw down $239 for eyeshadow from an internet brand. Were they serious?

These five-pan palettes were priced at $50 each, which was a price I was much more comfortable with, especially because I was so curious to try the formula. 

And as far as the shadows are concerned, I've mostly been happy with them. The metallic shimmers are outstanding, the glitters can be a pain to work with but are overall very nice, and the mattes are kind of bad. Granted, I only tried two mattes and they were both from the palette 10, and I didn't hate the bright lilac color. But the dark burgundy shadow was dry, stiff, and patchy. I can't imagine trying to blend out my crease with a shadow in the matte formula. 

Considering the overall quality of the eyeshadows, I wasn't terribly upset over the price I paid, though I thought it would have been more reasonable it was about $10 to $15 less. 

My main qualm was that the packaging was SO CHEAP. As in the cheapest packaging I have ever encountered, even including drugstore items. The packaging was, frankly, ugly, the plastic was incredibly light and cheap-feeling, and it in NO WAY looked like a luxury product. 

Tom Ford eye quads are $80 for four eyeshadows, which is incredibly expensive. But when you buy one of these quads, it feels and looks like a luxury makeup item. And the shadows are of impeccable quality, with the mattes blowing Natasha Denona mattes out of the water. 

Photo: Indigo Kir Royale

Marc Jacobs Style Eye Con palettes are $59 for seven eyeshadows, and are packaged in a sleek, beautiful compact:

Natasha Denona prices her palettes as though they are in this high-end luxury range, but then packages them in $0.10 packaging. Part of the expense of luxury items is the luxury packaging, and the Natasha Denona formula is not that innovative or exceptional as to put it in this range while ignoring the packaging. 

The packaging for the Star Palette, I have to admit, is no different. It looks so inexpensive.

Based on all of Natasha Denona's previous eyeshadow palette pricing, I can only imagine that this palette will also come with a hefty price tag. I also think it's telling when a brand announces their new product to be released in less than a week and choses to omit the price. 

Looking at the colors in this palette:

There is just nothing new or interesting going on here. There are some coppers, peaches, a gold, two berries, and a ton of browns. 

The Star Palette has 4 "chrome crystal" shadows, 3 pressed pigment metallics, 2 duo chromes, and 9 mattes. Half of this palette are matte shadows. And unless there has been a significant formula change, that means half the palette will be filled with "meh" quality. And for the price Natasha Denona will undoubtedly charge, that's not acceptable. 

This palette strongly resembles the Violet Voss Drenched Metals palette: 

As well as the Holy Grail:

I can imagine the quality of the shimmery and metallic shadows from Natasha Denona will be of superior quality to Violet Voss, but I doubt the mattes are as well. 

More than anything, I personally feel that Natasha Denona eyeshadows are overpriced. I enjoy a lot of the shimmers from the brand, but they are by no means my favorite eyeshadows in my collection. I have mentioned before that nice packaging will not influence me to buy a crappy product, but bad packaging will absolutely keep me from buying a nice product. After purchasing two items from Natasha Denona, I would not consider purchasing anything else unless the packaging was radically upgraded. I almost decluttered the Natasha Denona palettes out of my collection simply because the packaging was so bad and I found myself never using them as a result, but I decided instead to invest in a nicer palette and just depot the shadows. 

With the Star Palette, I am not confident whatsoever that the nine mattes will perform well. They certainly will not perform at a level that justifies the high price tag. And the shimmer and metallic shades are not special enough to make up for the fact that at least half the palette will be of lackluster quality. And I won't be buying.