Naturally Pretty Palette....Epic Fail or Must buy?

I bought a palette several months ago, and I really do love it, so I wanted to share the lowdown.... it's the Naturally Pretty palette by It Cosmetics.  Right off the bat, I'll warn you...if you're a type A  or OCD type, it might really bug you that the outer packaging is a mauve, sort of felt material that starts looking dirty and ragged nearly INSTANTLY.  Poor packaging....and yep, it does bug me!  It's fabric and can't easily be wiped off, but I've forced myself to look past that into the gorgeous, wearable colors inside.

I'm normally not a fan of matte shadows...generally, I think a bit of shimmer helps shadows blend out better...matte shadows can look chalky and dull.  In this case, nothing to worry about...these colors blend like a dream!  Just like their other palette competitors (Lorac, Urban Decay and others) these shadows are the micro-milled, high-end variety that apply like butter and have terrific color payoff.  Here are some more specifics from the It Cosmetics website about the shadows:

Hydrating Age Reverse and Prevent Complex and infused with Peptides, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Silk, Anti-Oxidants and Drops of Light™ Technology. Paraben-free, fragrance-free, sulfate-free, cruelty free. 

Ok...I'm down with all of that, but how does it LOOK?  Overall, this palette is a subdued one...the colors are soft, nothing bright or garish...you might even say a bit boring?  But let me tell you, this palette has become a total go to!  These colors help me craft the most lovely soft smoky eye looks, like the one below:

This palette is especially great for brown-eyed girls...it provides a neutral palette that isn't a boring brown and the colors all go together in a wide variety of combinations.  In the photo above, I used 5 or 6 shades for depth and dimension, with Iconic and Midnight (plum and navy) shadows as the base, blended down with Love, Soulful and All Heart.  Here is what the colors look like individually:

 

I use the lighter shades (Sheer Joy, Love) for base color and highlight, the deeper shades (Midnight, Noir, Iconic, Java) for liner and defining the crease and the mid range tones (Violet, Mocha, All Heart, Sunset, Sunrise, Warmth, Soft Light) to add warm tones and to create a smooth, buffed out look between darker and lighter shades.  The "Java" shade is a particular favorite...a warm coffee color, it just blends in so well and works with a lot of different color combinations, and makes the great base for a smoky eye that isn't too dark.  The hot bridesmaid dress color lately has been a gorgeous blush shade...this palette is perfect for that!  One of last week's weddings had blush dresses....I knew these shades would be perfect for creating sophisticated, yet soft looks that I needed.  Here's one of the bridesmaids:

Her eyes are blue, so I went a little warmer (Java, All Heart, Soulful, Noir)....and it looked great with the blush dresses, but also really made her eyes shine!  So pretty.  I almost forgot to mention...the Naturally Pretty palette comes with a "Transforming Pearl" shadow that you can swipe over the matte shades to give them shimmer.  Meh...not impressed with it and I skip it completely. I have other shimmers in my case that do the same thing much better.  If this was your only palette, that would be a nice feature to get more use out of the colors, so it shouldn't be discounted. I just have a lot of other competing products in my case.  So...all in all, here's the scoop:

 

Pro's - lovely shades, blend like a dream, great color payoff and wearability

Con's - case always looks dirty (it's fabric), shimmer is so-so

 

This has become a kit staple that I use all the time!  For non- pro's, it's a great starter palette for someone building their shadow collection as it works for any skin tone or eye color.  It's a great selection of neutrals with a lot more range (and a lot less glitter!) than Urban Decay Naked palettes too!  So...how much and where can you get it?  It's $42 on the IT Cosmetics website (click HERE), and you can purchase in store at Ulta. I stumbled across IT Cosmetics last year and have added several of their products to my kit (Bye Bye Redness has become a #cantlivewithout product!), so I spotted this palette and gave it a shot...so glad I did!  And if anyone from IT Cosmetics ever reads this, for the LOVE...please don't package eyeshadows with fabric packaging ever again.  Especially not mauve nubby felt.  More women would probably discover how great this palette really is if the packaging were better....#justsayin.

 

IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette....a MUST BUY!