It's #PinkWednesday and although I promised to write about something pink every Wednesday this month, I didn't last week, BUT it's not like I forgot. It's because I was a bit anal and had already written down in very permanent ink in my bullet journal that I was going to talk about a sheet mask, but couldn't find one that was pink and ready to review. Today is a different story though and I DO have something beautiful, stunning AND pink to share! Since December of last year, I had made a point about being more discerning when it came to my beauty purchases. I receive a healthy amount of press samples and still continue to make my way to VIB Rouge (which my husband often says is ridiculous). When I see things go bad or expire before I have even used or opened the package, it makes me so sad that no one got to enjoy it. Keeping that in mind, I "kept it in my pants" until February when a friend alerted me to the Natasha Denona Diamond & Blush Palette in Citrus that was on sale on the Sephora website. While I had a relatively solid collection of ND mini eyeshadow palettes, I did not have any face products yet so this became my first Sephora purchase of 2020 and it is a beauty!
I watched a few YouTube reviews as I was curious how this palette would wear on Asian skin tones and it looked promising. The first thing that kind of hit me when the palette arrived was how BIG it was! It is a hefty size with big pans of product (7g/pan) so I highly doubt I will ever run out of anything!
The second thing I loved immediately was the clear plastic separator/cover that protected the cream from the powder products and I am sure many people can appreciate this! This is a palette that lets you play with different finishes and type of glow and is inspired by ND's Glow System. I have no idea what that it is as I am so new to this brand that most of the products she comes out with scare me because I don't know how to use them and I often look at ND's YouTube channel for tips. This palette can take you from very natural to VERY extreme as you can see in the photos below.
Texture and pigmentation of both the creams and powders is gorgeous. Smooth, blendable and easily to manipulate with brush, fingers and sponges.
After swatching, I realized that I didn't know where to begin with this palette so I watched her instructional video and did my best to copy it in the photos below to showcase each of the finishes. The video is intense as by the end of it, they have all 6 finishes on the model which is also me by the time you get to the bottom of this!
Step 1: Cream Blush
So far, loving the cream blush. It looked really pigmented in the swatch, but can be sheered out nicely with fingers and a damp makeup sponge.
Step 2: Powder Blush
The powder blush already has a slight highlight to it so this is amping up to be almost editorial highlight, but still super nice and a duo that I would wear daily.
Step 3: Glow Cream Base
This is where I start wishing I used video or had a multidirectional light as the ringlight is just one direction, but glow cream base has been applied on the top of my cheekbones and up to temples (which is what you can see the most of here).
Step 4: Glow Extreme
You are supposed to see some Glow Extreme up to my temples as well or maybe I deleted the wrong photos, as it started getting really hard to figure out what was what.
Step 5: Duo Glow
Aaaand here is where it gets interesting! All of the powders in the video were applied quite heavily so went for it, but it didn't take much! This is such an interesting highlighter as it goes from green to yellow. I would like to add that even though this is sort of a wilder highlight colour, I was able to wear this much more subtly for a more casual look. One need not be a constant beam of alien light to wear this duochrome glow! Like most highlighters, this is not forgiving on any texture on the face so even though I have relatively good skin, it's not perfect and I can really start to see it at this point.
Step 6: Diamond Powder
There is no real point to this photo as after Duo Glow, you will not be able to see a subtle sparkling of Diamond Powder, but you can see from my arm swatch that it's almost twinkly and lovely to apply just with dabbing of the fingers. I put a tiny amount on my cupid's bow as a test, but I think a denser highlighter looks better. It looks like it might feel like a crunchier sparkle, but it is soft and creamy to work with.
Final verdict: Zero regrets about buying this palette! Once I watched the 2 min Natasha Denona YouTube tutorial, I understood the palette. I fully appreciate the brevity of the video and the quick step by step instructions on how to use each finish and shade. I think you need to like and want highlight to fully appreciate this palette because while you can get away with just going for a natural look using just the blushes, it would be a waste to not make use of the Duo Glow or Glow Extreme so if you are eyeing this, make sure you are into the highlighters!
You can STILL find the Natasha Denona Diamond & Blush Palette in either Citrus or Darya on www.sephora.com
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