Max Factor Golden Nudes Masterpiece Nude Palette Review and Swatches

It used to be quite the task to find an eyeshadow palette within the drugstore. Yes you had brands like Makeup Revolution, MUA and Essence which all have palettes but you rarely saw a proper eyeshadow palette from the likes of Rimmel, Maybelline, Revlon and Max Factor however over the last twelve months or so, they’ve all released their own eyeshadow palettes.

Eyeshadow Palettes are my biggest vice and I find it very difficult to resist them and when I saw Max Factor had launched three different eyeshadow palettes, I knew I had to try one but I was shocked to discover that they were £14.99 each which I think is pretty extortionate for the drugstore for just eight shades and a measly 6.5grams of product. Curiosity soon got the better of me and I purchased the Max Factor Golden Nudes Masterpiece Nude Palette when I spotted in on offer in Superdrug, but I would never pay £14.99 for a palette from a drugstore brand as you could purchase a palette from an higher end brand for around £5-£8 more.

I chose the Max Factor Golden Nudes Masterpiece Nude Palette over the other two palettes in the collection as I thought the shades were a little more unique as Cappuccino Nudes looked very similar to the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and Rose Nudes looked very similar to the Naked 3 Palette. I felt that the Golden Nudes Palette didn’t look like it was trying to copy any other palettes and I loved the look of the green shades as I own all of the Naked Palettes so I don’t need drugstore ‘dupes’ when I already own the originals. 

The Max Factor Golden Nudes Masterpiece Nude Palette contains eight powder eyeshadows in vertical, narrow pans within a gold plastic palette with a clear lid. The compact contains a double ended sponge-tip applicator and there isn’t a mirror which doesn’t personally bother me as I always use my own mirror. Max Factor claim that the shadows have a baked formula to give the pigments a richer and more intense colour, and the palettes each contain a combination of matte, shimmer and sparkle shades.

Shade 1: a very pale matte cream which doesn’t show up on my skintone as it’s practically the same shade but works well as a base lid shade.

Shade 2: a pale yellowy beige with golden shimmer particles.

Shade 3: a matte warm light brown.

Shade 4: an intensely shimmery gold.

Shade 5: a satin light brown.

Shade 6: a satin warm bronze.

Shade 7: a shimmery golden olive.

Shade 8: an intense matte black.

I didn’t expect the palette to be very pigmented but the last seven shades in the palette are all impressively pigmented whereas the first shade seems a little pointless as it’s so pale. The shades all blend well with nice textures, although the eighth shade is a little powdery and prone to fallout which isn’t rare for matte black shadows.

I do think this is a really nice palette but I still don’t think it’s worth £15 especially when you consider you only get just over 6 grams of product which is less than you’d get in a blusher so the eight pans must be very shallow indeed. If I saw the other two palettes within the series on offer at Boots or Superdrug, I think I would give them a try after being nicely impressed with this Golden Nudes Palette but I wouldn’t recommend paying full price.

Do you think £14.99 is too much for a drugstore eyeshadow palette?

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