Duped: Huda Beauty Desert Dusk

Arguably, the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk palette is "the" palette of the holiday season. And I both totally get it and also don't get it at all. It's a very pretty color scheme, but as I mentioned in my anti-haul post, I feel like these colors are just so incredibly common. 

I never felt a true craving for this palette until I saw Lauren Mae Beauty's Let's Dupe It! video on it. I've mentioned Lauren's channel on my blog a lot recently, and it's because I really like her content and have become incredibly inspired by her Let's Dupe It! series. I thought the palette Lauren put together was so pretty and a little more interesting than the Huda Beauty palette, and I felt inspired to go through my own collection and see what kind of similar shades I had. 

And what I came up with is a palette that I actually really love and feel incredibly inspired by. 

A few things to note:

• The Huda Beauty palette has 18 shades, and my duped palette has 26. That's obviously quite a bit more than in the original palette. The reason for this is that I had several shadadows that I thought would work well with this color scheme that I wanted to incorporate. I also wanted to make the palette slightly more functional for me by putting in a brow bone highlight and several inner corner options. 
• I did not try to duplicate every single shadow. This goes with the note above, but if there was a shadow in the Huda palette that I didn't like very much, I found a shadow that still complemented this color scheme that I liked more. 
• There are several depotted shadows in my palette from existing premade palettes. I know that is slightly "cheating" since those shadows can't be purchased individually, but this is what worked best for me and my collection. 
• In my anti-haul post on this palette, I mentioned that the color scheme was very similar to the Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts palette, which I own. I have since depotted the shadows in that palette, and eight of them indeed ended up in this duped palette.

Here is Huda Beauty Desert Dusk:

And here is my duped palette:

Here are the colors in my palette:

Row 1: Coloured Raine Heir, Coloured Raine Princess, Inglot 361 matte, Colourpop Come and Get It, Fyrinnae Octopus (pressed), Coloured Raine Short Cake, and Coloured Raine Moments

Row 2: Colourpop High Strung, Fyrinnae Rapunzel Had Extensions (pressed), Makeup Geek Blacklight, Inglot 392 matte, Coloured Raine Ladyship, Colored Raine Queen Mother, and Colourpop Glass Bull

Row 3: Anastasia Beverly Hills Pink Champagne, Makeup Geek Mai Tai, Makeup Geek Phantom, Coloured Raine Your Majesty, Coloured Raine Noblewoman, Inglot 355 matte, and Coloured Raine Empress

Row 4: Coloured Raine Crown, Too Faced Satin Sheets, BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe shadow 4, Kat Von D Liberatus, and BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe shadow 8 

Obviously, my palette does not look as pretty or uniform as the Huda Beauty one mainly because of the Inglot shadows. I have to say, this is the best example I have seen of the progress I've made in "makeup rehab." Just a few months ago, I would shudder to see a palette full of shadows of diverse shapes and sizes. And when I first put this palette together, I had to give it time before I fully accepted the Inglot shadows. And, sure, I think the palette would look better without the Inglot shadows or if those shadows were in round pans, but, whatever. My Inglot shadows haven't been getting a lot of use from me lately, so it was time that I mixed them in with some of my other shadows. And I now see the palette as a functional item filled with colors, rather than pretty shadow pans in pretty packaging. 

I also feel it's worth noting that Colourpop 143 is a closer "dupe" for Huda Amethyst, but I currently have that shade in my duped Just Peachy Matte palette, and I love it too much in there to consider moving it. That's why I've chosen two colors for this spot—Inglot 392 matte and Coloured Raine Ladyship. 

The BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe shadow 4 on the bottom row is also what I am using as the dupe for Huda Angelic, but I wanted to put Makeup Geek Mai Tai in this palette as well, and in order to do that, the Carli Bybel shadow could only fit on the bottom row. (I should also mention that in total there are four shadows that I put in this palette that were inspired by Angelic.) 

Other shadows that I added to this palette that weren't meant as dupe shadows are:

• Colourpop Come and Get It, which is actually the closest dupe for Huda Angelic 
• Fyrinnae Octopus (pressed), which is a rich, darkened cranberry
• Coloured Raine Short Cake, which is like an intense version of Huda Angelic  
• Makeup Geek Phantom, which is a white/violet duochrome
• Coloured Raine Your Majesty, which is an intense foiled gold 
• Inglot 355 matte, which is a warm matte brown 
• Coloured Raine Crown, which is a pink/gold duochrome
• Too Faced Satin Sheets, which is similar to Coloured Raine Crown, but less pink
• Kat Von D Liberates, which is a matte pink-white
• BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe shadow 8, which is a matte mauve 

Desert Dusk shadows that I did not try to dupe are:

• Amber, which is a matte terracotta 
• Blood Moon, which is a shimmery copper 
• Cosmo, which is red glitter 
• Saffron, which is a matte redbrick 

The reason I left out all of these shadows is because I feel like those colors (except for the red glitter) are so common and didn't interest me as much as some of the other pink/purple shades. I also just have no desire to have an underperforming red glitter shadow when I have Stila Magnificent Metals Next to Notte:

It's not surprising to me that people are really drawn to the color scheme of Huda Beauty Desert Dusk, but it is surprising to me that many people have given the palette positive reviews when I personally feel the texture of many shadows is quite dry and patchy. I tend to agree with Temptalia's assessment of the palette (she gave it a B– rating).

This was just another reminder to me to "shop my stash," which is a phrase that I have heard for years and never quite understood or took to heart. I might not have an exact dupe for the Desert Dusk palette, and my palette might not be as symmetrical, but I have a palette filled with the exact colors that I want inspired by this color scheme as well as what I believe is a palette of superior quality. And this is a way that I can still participate in the current trends without having to spend money on items I already have just so that I can say I have the popular product of the moment.

And when I think about it that way, it feels really good. I didn't spend any additional money on this palette. These were all items already in my collection. I could have instead shelled out a whopping $65 and added yet another palette to my collection, and I probably wouldn't have liked that palette nearly as much as I like this one.

What I'm Not Buying: Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Palette

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.