Urban Decay Backtalk Eyeshadow Palette | Quick Swatch and Review

Urban Decay’s latest eyeshadow palette release took the beauty world by a storm – and so it should! The ‘Backtalk’ Eyeshadow Palette was inspired by their iconic lipstick shade Backtalk – a dreamy nude-mauve shade that suits basically every skin tone ! Needless to say a palette inspired by that lipstick was destined to be beautiful.

Regular readers will remember this palette from my ‘Anti Haul’ post a couple of months back. It wasn’t included for negative reasons – I absolutely adored it but had so many similar shades in my collection. So you’ll imagine my delight when I received this at my front door from the beautiful Urban Decay and Mecca PR teams!

The palette is incredibly unique in its packaging – one one side it contains three blushes and one highlight shade and on the other it holds eight eyeshadow shades in a variety of mattes and shimmers.

The other cool thing about this palette is that the mirror is magnetised and slides out/is easily removed. The mirror itself is quite heavy and the palette cannot shut without it – it’d be cool if you could but I respect the concept ! It is a unique option for long-term travel with the variety in the blushes and the removable mirror perfect for awkward hotel room lighting.

The eyeshadows are a beautiful mix of warm mauve inspired shades – how beautiful are they?!

The three lighter shades were quite difficult to swatch- as I’m sure you can tell from the photo. I did have to build them a couple of times for them to show on my arm but it wasn’t an issue for any of the matte shades swatched.

My experience with the shadows is mixed – about the same as my experience searching them! The lighter shades just weren’t buildable enough for my liking – I used different brushes and setting sprays to not receive much of an outcome. It’s worth noting that I do prefer my shimmer shades to have a foiled effect but these shadows aren’t like that. They’re a softer and more natural look and to be quite honest it’s just not what I’m used to. It is beautiful and those lighter shades are what I lean towards on minimal makeup days – I’m learning to love them! The matte shades I absolutely loved – pigmented, easily buildable and easy to blend! Unless you’re wanting the bare minimum from your shadow this isn’t one to grab in a rush – you’ll need a couple of minutes to build and blend. That being said – it is well well worth the extra work involved!

I’m just not quite sure why the formula appears to be different to their Naked range. I have only used this palette a handful of times so my opinion could quite possibly change over time. I do think the shadows are absolutely beautiful and the shades are SO me it’s a little bit ridiculous, I just wish that the shimmers had as much pigment as their Naked palette range does.

There are three blush shades and one highlight shades – they do appear quite dark in the pan which had me apprehensive to start with, however…

As you can see, they swatch quite fine! The two lighter shades are a lot sheerer in consistency and the two matte shades are more pigmented – but I did press my finger in the pan a little harder than normal due to my minor issues with swatching the eyeshadow palette.

I absolutely absolutely adore every single one of the cheek shades. They are so light and easy to build and blend on the skin. The shimmer blush is very reminiscent of the Nars ‘Orgasm’ blush on my cheek – and that is one of my all time favourite blushes so I couldn’t be happier ! The two darker matte blushes I did use with a lighter hand just to be safe but they’re equally as beautiful on the cheeks.

The highlighter as well I did love – I didn’t when I first applied it because it was a little pinker in tone than I usually go for and it’s also a lot more natural of a highlight than I’d pick. I absolutely love it though – it is a more natural glow but it sinks beautifully into the skin and didn’t emphasise any of my skin’s texture. I first wore it out to dinner and found myself looking at it in every reflective surface and loved it at every angle. I feel like the tone of it almost changes a little over time – towards the end of the day I don’t notice it being quite as pink as it was, yet the glow of the highlight doesn’t change. I know that doesn’t make a tonne of sense and I wish I had a better explanation for you!

Overall, I do really like this palette. It is one for the pale skinned girls and the ‘faint hearted’ – being that it is so versatile and so easy to use. Whilst the shimmer eyeshadows aren’t as foiled as I’d like them to be they also aren’t meant to be – so that’s on me and not the palette. All of the eye and cheek products blend really easily into the skin and are so complimentary on my pale warm-toned skin it is an absolute blessing. Whilst I don’t think you necessarily ‘need’ this eyeshadow palette, this is still definitely one I’d recommend! If you don’t have any of these shades, are looking for a gorgeous gift or simply a palette that will be incredibly easy to travel with – this is the one for you!