Hello everyone! Man, are things getting busy! Today I travelled across the ocean so that I could spend the next few days, including Christmas, with my brother’s family. That sounds dramatic; I just live on an island, so I have to take a ferry to go anywhere lol. Luckily, I have all my Christmas preparations done, so now I can finally just relax. Wow, what does that feel like?
Something that I have been putting to good use in the last little while is the Urban Decay Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette. For the longest time after this product released, I had just written it off. For the last three months or so, I have really been into all matte looks, and have really just not been using shimmer or metallic eyeshadows. This is surprising for me, since I used to be all about the glitz and glam. Therefore, when I saw this all metallic palette release, I thought that it in no way was for me. Especially since it was $72 CAD. BUT, just over a week ago it went on CRAZY SALE through Sephora, reduced to $36 CAD. For some reason, this was just the trigger to make me want it.
Packaging and First Impressions
The packaging of this eyeshadow palette is very unique. It is formatted so that the palette slides out of a plastic sheath. The outer sheath is a bright metallic, mirrored purple, that has ruching detail on the left half. The palette only slides out of the right side of the sheath, and when returned to the sheath, it clicks in, so you don’t have to worry about the palette coming out of the sheath by accident. Even though the palette seems to be made out of plastic, it still feels very sturdy, good quality and looks expensive.
Once you slide out the palette, you will see that it contains 20 metallic shadows, with 10 shadows grouped on either side of a centered mirror. The palette itself has a highly mirrored silver finish. Obviously, the overall design of this palette is very creative, but still simple. I certainly have never seen anything like this before. The shadows seem to be grouped into a left more colourful group of 10, and a right more natural/nude/bronzy group of 10.
Price and Quantity
This palette is regularly priced at $72 CAD ($55 USD), but I purchased it on sale for $36 CAD (it’s currently still on sale and available for purchase on Sephora!). In this palette you get 20 shadows with a total of 0.6 oz of product.
For price comparison I chose eyeshadow palettes that are newly released for the holidays. The Natasha Denona Eyeshadow Palette 5 – Holiday Edition ($61 CAD/0.4 oz/5 shades), the Anastasia Beverly Hills Prism Palette ($55/0.28 oz/14 shades), the Kat Von D Saint & Sinner Eyeshadow Palette ($83 CAD/0.96 oz/24 shades), the Fenty Beauty Galaxy Eyeshadow Palette ($69 CAD/0.69 oz/14 shades) and the Too Faced Chocolate Gold Palette ($59 CAD/0.54 oz/16 shades).
| Rank | Company’s Product Mentioned Above | Cost ($ CAD) | Quantity (oz) | Number of Shades | Cost-Quantity Ratio for 1 oz of product |
| 1 | UD Heavy Metals Sale | $36 | 0.6 | 20 | $60/oz |
| 2 | Kat Von D Saint & Sinner | $83 | 0.96 | 24 | $86/oz |
| 3 | Fenty Beauty Galaxy | $69 | 0.69 | 14 | $100/oz |
| 4 | Too Faced Chocolate Gold | $59 | 0.54 | 16 | $109/oz |
| 5 | UD Heavy Metals Full Price | $72 | 0.6 | 20 | $120/oz |
| 6 | ND Palette 5 | $61 | 0.4 | 5 | $153/oz |
| 7 | ABH Prism | $55 | 0.28 | 14 | $196/oz |
When regularly priced, this palette is nothing special, in terms of value. However, you can see that for the sale price, it is an incredible deal! With all of my comparisons over the months of different eyeshadow palettes, this one right now is the best deal out there for high-end brands. If you are looking for a holiday palette that is full of beautiful metallic shades, I would definitely go with this one while it is still on sale through Sephora!
Claims
Here are the claims from the Urban Decay website. They are long but have a lot of good information.
“Our Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette is shadow mayhem in a crushed metal case. We packed this limited-edition palette with 20 of our most amped-up metallic shadows yet—and every single one is NEW and exclusive.
Inject your look with a hit of glamrock for daytime or go full-on metal for a night out. From standout jewel tones like Amp (a killer metallic teal) and Twisted (glimmering gold) to ultra-flattering neutrals like Demo (bronze-rose) and Afterparty (an amazing metallic red), this palette has everything you need to create endless metallic looks. And it’s all organized by color: brights on the left, neutrals on the right.
What sets Heavy Metals apart? We developed a whole new Eyeshadow formula for this palette. We bumped up the foiled effect to create our most metallic shadows ever. In doing so, we carefully crafted the formula on every shade to make sure each one would apply with a soft and creamy texture and create intense, shiny metallic effects. Every shade has a velvety feel for the perfect application, provides insane color payout and blends like a dream.
The killer lavender case has a crushed metal effect on one end…kind of like we smashed it while rocking out. It’s so gorgeous…like a modern art sculpture you’ll want to show off. Just imagine the gasps of, “WHAT’S THAT?!” when your friends see this baby. The palette slides open to dramatically reveal the shadow tray. When you’re ready to work your makeup magic, just pull the palette out and use Heavy Metals like a painter’s palette. Of course, we included a big mirror, so not only is this palette glamrock hot, it’s totally practical too.
Shades included:
GROUND (metallic black w/iridescent shimmer)
SPANDEX (metallic deep blue w/purple shift and blue micro-sparkle)
METALHEAD (metallic deep purple)MULLET (metallic deep green)
TWISTED (metallic gold)
ALUMINUM (metallic warm gray-taupe w/iridescent micro-sparkle)
DIVE (metallic medium blue)
PUNK ROCK (metallic fuchsia)
AMP (metallic bright teal)
GLAMROCK (metallic silver)
BASS (metallic bronze)
DEMO (metallic bronze-rose)
AFTERPARTY (metallic red)
ROADIE (metallic burgundy)
SCREAM (metallic mauve)
GLORY (metallic golden bronze)
STARFIRE (metallic bright copper)
ANGELFIRE (metallic pale pink)
MAIDEN (metallic beige)
ACOUSTIC (metallic nude)”
Pigmentation and Performance
This palette is killer! Basically every shade swatches like liquid metal. They are all so creamy and rich, making them very pigmented and easy to work with. You can see from the swatches below that these are very pigmented shadows.
In terms of performance, I have not had to use these shadows wet once. I really love to use a finger to pack them on, but they also apply well with a stiff flat shader brush. I have been using the ones that come in the Urban Decay Naked Palettes and they work perfectly. I definitely prefer to use a brush for the inner corners and outer periphery of my cut crease.
I have also been super impressed with their lasting power. Throughout the day I have never experienced any fallout. Additionally, I haven’t experienced any transfer from the lower parts of my top lid to the parts above my crease. I often experience this, as I guess I open my eyes pretty wide a lot of the time. I do make sure that I set my eyeshadow well with setting spray, but I always do this and still get transfer with other metallic eyeshadows. I think because these shadows lay down so creamy, they really set down when they dry. These shadows also look just as vibrant and reflective as they did immediately after application, 12 hours later. I am in love!
So far, I haven’t used a ton of the shades, but I have created three different looks. All of them have turned out so bangin’! These metallic shadows are so reflective and so true to colour. I am obsessed and can’t wait to do more looks. Below are the three looks that I have created so far.
Makeup Used
BROWS @anastasiabeverlyhills Dipbrow Pomade “Medium Brown”
@nyc_cosmetics_ Clear Brow Gel
*
EYES @makeupforeverofficial Full Cover Concealer
@tartecosmetics Clay Play Face Shaping Palette
@urbandecaycosmetics Heavy Metals Eyeshadow Palette ➡️ “Scream” all over lid
@katvondbeauty Ink Liner “Trooper”
@rimmellondoncan Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal “Black”
@covergirl Clump Crusher “Very Black”
@ardellbeauty Faux Mink Lashes “811”
Makeup Used
BROWS @anastasiabeverlyhills Dipbrow Pomade “Medium Brown”
@nyc_cosmetics_ Clear Brow Gel
*
EYES @makeupforeverofficial Full Cover Concealer
@anastasiabeverlyhills Modern Renaissance Eyeshadow Palette
@urbandecaycosmetics Heavy Metals Eyeshadow Palette ➡️ “Maiden” on inner corner and “Mullet” on lid
@katvondbeauty Ink Liner “Trooper”
@rimmellondoncan Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal “Black”
@covergirl Clump Crusher “Very Black”
@ardellbeauty Faux Mink Lashes “811”
Makeup Used
BROWS @anastasiabeverlyhills Dipbrow Pomade “Medium Brown”
@nyc_cosmetics_ Clear Brow Gel
*
EYES @makeupforeverofficial Full Cover Concealer
@anastasiabeverlyhills Modern Renaissance Eyeshadow Palette
@urbandecaycosmetics Heavy Metals Eyeshadow Palette ➡️ “Glamrock”on inner corner and inner lid, “Afterparty” on outer lid and “Mullet” on lower lash line.
@katvondbeauty Ink Liner “Trooper”
@rimmellondoncan Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal “Black”
@covergirl Clump Crusher “Very Black”
@ardellbeauty Faux Mink Lashes “811”
So pretty
Thank you! Thanks for stopping by ☺️
Very pretty shades!!
They are definitely to die for!
I can’t justify buying this palette because I wouldn’t use half the shades, but for anyone who thinks they’ll get some use out of it, this palette is such a steal! Glad you were able to get your hands on it. You created some gorgeous looks with the shadows in this palette, as always 🙂
Yes I struggled for a while trying to justify this purchase. I have been so into all matte looks for the last couple of months, so why would I want an all metallic palette? Well I’m glad I took the leap of faith, because I freaking love this palette 🙂 And thank you so much for the compliment!