Product Review -- Urban Decay Afterdark Palette

I usually enjoy Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes because they often contains shades that are at least a little bit outside my comfort zone.

That's always a good way to ensure that I don't wind up in a makeup rut.

So while I'm always interested in new Urban Decay releases, I was particularly excited by the Afterdark Palette.

It's an entire palette full of rich jewel tone shadows in metallic and shimmery finishes. 

What's not to love?

The palette comes in a hard plastic compact that has a cool purple-green duochrome finish. Inside, there is a good sized mirror that stays open by itself and a double-ended brush with a small flat shader side and a very small smudger side.

Urban Decay Afterdark Palette

brush from the Urban Decay Afterdark Palette

The palette contains 10 shadows: Alter, a metallic white gold with gold shift; Scene, a metallic pinky peach with gold shift; Supersonic, a metallic red copper; Sinful, a metallic golden amber; Off Duty, a metallic deep bronze; Druggie, a metallic purple with violet shift; Backfire, a satin burgundy with a purple shift; Lounge, a metallic reddish brown with a green shift; Fringe, a bright metallic teal; and Paralyzed, a metallic navy blue.

Urban Decay Afterdark Palette

All of the shadows in this palette are lovely -- they are richly pigmented, smooth, and creamy, so they apply and blend easily. There can be a small amount of fallout, so it's a good idea to tap off your brush before applying the shadow to your eye.

From l. to r.: Alter, Scene, Supersonic, Sinful, Off Duty

From l. to r.: Druggie, Backfire, Lounge, Fringe, Paralyzed

In terms of the color selection, they are all beautiful as well. The palette contains mostly jewel tones, and because all of the shadows have a metallic finish, they definitely make a big impact on the eyes. Urban Decay advertises it as a palette for the evening, which makes sense -- though I've worn several looks for it during the day myself.

But while the palette is absolutely gorgeous, I do find that it's not a complete palette for me -- I need to bring in a couple of matte shades to balance out all of the metallic. 

Scene is probably my favorite shade in the palette (it's peachy pink, so it's pretty much my favorite shadow color), but I also love Supersonic and Off Duty. Lounge is perfect for a single shadow smoky eye, and Druggie, Backfire, Fringe, and Paralyzed are perfect when I want to add a pop of color to my eye look.

(Paralyzed is also beautiful as a liner.)

The palette is $49, and I feel like that's a really good value for the amount and quality of the shadows that you're getting. 

I also feel like this is a fairly unique palette, so I don't really have anything else like it in my collection. It's always nice to come across something that feels fresh, you know?

You can purchase it on the Urban Decay website and at Sephora.

Have you tried the Urban Decay Afterdark Palette? Which shade combinations are your favorites?