Huda Beaty is releasing another warm-toned eyeshadow palette.
And I won't be buying.
I think I may have had a perspective shift. As some of you know, I have been in recovery for the majority of the summer from two back-to-back major surgeries. And during that time, I haven't physically been able to apply makeup. I've seen the collection of makeup that I have sit, unused, and also seen the flood of new releases and teasers for holiday collections.
And I've realized something. I have, basically, every single color I can possible think of in eyeshadow form. I have every shade of neutrals, berries, plums, greens, brights, glitters, duochromes, etc. And the thing I keep saying about all these new releases is that I don't see any innovation. I just see the same things being recycled over and over again.
But I don't know if a brand could come out with anything at this point that I don't already have. Or that the majority of us have. The only difference is how a brand chooses to arrange the colors, the formula, and the packaging. But for the most part, you basically have your pick of the type of product you're looking for from most brands.
And that is exactly how I feel about the Desert Dusk palette:
Now, I will admit that this is a gorgeous selection of colors. You've got gold, bronze, purple, orange, berry, red, brown, etc. But when I first saw this palette, I didn't even feel a little excited. And that's because it just looks like so many palettes.
Like Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts:
And Lorac Unzipped Desert Sunset:
And Kylie Cosmetics Burgundy:
And Makeup Geek X MannyMUA:
And Urban Decay After Dark:
And Too Faced Glitter Bomb:
And Jaclyn Hill X Morphe:
I think the most interesting shade in this palette is Twilight, which appears to be a purple/blue duochrome. And I'm sure a lot of people will buy this palette because they are drawn to that color (and maybe the berry/purple shades next to it) and will justify the purchase because they know they will get use out of all the other shades. And the reason they know they will get use out of these shades is because they already have those kinds of shades.
But really, Twilight looks just like Urban Decay Tonic:
And for a significantly cheaper option, it looks just like Makeup Geek Blacklight:
I have Blacklight, and recently made a quad with it and some other shadows. And the shadow I've paired next to Blacklight in this quad (Colourpop 143) looks just like Amethyst from Desert Dusk:
I know I probably sound like a broken record, but it really just makes so much more sense to buy the one or two interesting colors you're most drawn to rather than an entire palette. And if Twilight and Amethyst were the shades you were most into, you can buy two singles for about $10 and add them to the other colors in your collection.
I should also add that I am skeptical of the quality of this palette. When the first Huda palette released last year, it was met with some pretty mixed reviews. Huda palettes tout having several different "textures," which is just another word for finish. The finishes in the Desert Dusk palette look to be matte, shimmer, and glitter. Glitter shadows are incredibly difficult to do well. They tend to be gritty, chunky, difficult to apply, and prone to fallout. But glitter eyeshadows look incredible in the pan and in promotional photos, and so people are drawn to them. And if you take out the glitter shadows from this palette, all you are left with are neutral warm matte colors that every person likely has in spades in their collection.
This palette costs a whopping $65, and that is not including shipping or taxes. That is quite high for a palette, especially if it doesn't perform well, and even moreso if you have all those colors already.
I feel as though we are at a peak of oversaturation at the moment. We are oversaturated with brands, products, and even "influencers." We are so trained to look beyond what we currently have and focus—constantly—on what's coming next. And at times I think we don't even realize when "what's coming next" is what we already have, just slightly repackaged. These products cost a lot of money, and I feel the overwhelming attitude is that they should be disposable, used for a couple of weeks, and then forgotten when the next thing comes out. The fact that there were two palettes released within weeks of each other with the same theme, colors, and basically the same name (Lorac Desert Sunset; Huda Desert Dusk) perfectly captures the oversaturation.
And to just speak about this a bit more, I remember when the Urban Decay Naked palette came out. I was in Sephora, and it had just launched. It wasn't hyped (there hadn't been time to hype it), and I remember being so enthralled by it. I had maybe eight eyeshadows at the time (all MAC singles), and I remembered thinking I would never need to buy another eyeshadow if I just got this one palette. But that also my entire collection of eyeshadows would more than double with this one purchase. It was such a great value, I thought. So, I bought it.
And after that, I feel like palettes just completely exploded. And I was always caught in that same mentality of "this is a great value."
But the issue was that I hardly ever used the Naked palette. I used those MAC singles so much more. And it was because I had picked them out myself. And it has taken me years to get back to the point I started from to see that palettes are actually the opposite of a great value. They make you buy colors you already have or colors that you would never buy or use. If people had collections of singles and just bought the one or two interesting colors that attract them to palettes, they would spend less money overall than buying the palette itself. But people get so caught up in the idea of what that same palette would cost if you bought the colors individually—even though you would never buy those colors individually.
And so when I look at Desert Dusk, I just see Queen of Hearts and Shade and Light Eye and Modern Renaissance and all the palettes I listed above. (Out of all of them, my personal recommendation would be Queen of Hearts, especially since this is now a permanent item.) I see a really beautiful selection of colors, and that's not all that surprising considering the theme: a desert sunset. I'm originally from the desert and miss those vibrant sunsets terribly. The color scheme really is gorgeous, but that doesn't mean that I need to buy all these colors that I already own.
Huda Beauty is a relatively new company, and Desert Dusk is their second eyeshadow palette. So, they aren't like a brand like Too Faced that releases a new half-assed palette every couple months and is happy to oversaturate the market with crappy products. But still. It's hard to be a brand in a market this saturated and come out with something that truly feels special. Despite missing my desert sunsets, I just don't need this palette as it would add nothing to my collection other than bulk and clutter. So I won't be buying.
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