Monroe Misfit Makeup | Beauty Blog: Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

December 03, 2016

Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches


If NAKED Ultimate Basics was too tame for you Urban Decay has gone full on technicolor with the new Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette. When color is your drug of choice, you know where to get the good stuff. Satisfy your color addiction with Full Spectrum, a limited-edition set featuring 21 shades of bold brights to matte white. Leave it to UD to put out an unexpectedly awesome colorful palette for the Holidays!


Urban Decay organized the shadows by color family, creating a rainbow of ombré trios: pinks, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, and even a wildcard row that goes from white to black. The end result? A palette that not only looks stunning, but also delivers tons of options.

Create dimensional ombré looks by working within the color-coordinated trios or experiment with multiple shade groups at once. With 18 NEW shades, three exclusives from past palettes, and a wide range of finishes, you’ll never run out of options.

The glamorous sleek black palette has a glamorous design and the squared compact makes it lot easier to store. The black packaging against the rainbow of eyeshadow on the inside creates a stunning offset.


 It features tonal, spectrum-like lines that alternate from matte to shiny and a rainbowed-out, faceted “UD” jewel. There's also a huge mirror that you can actually do your full face makeup in and one of UD's awesome double ended eyeshadow brushes.



Now I'm past my days of colorful eyeshadow, but I still loved this palette. It's stunning to look at and the way the shadows are arranged makes putting looks together easy. Many of the colors have metallic, satin, or pearl finishes. This makes wearing color a little less of a commitment than straight on flat color.

You can expect nothing but the best in terms of quality when it comes to UD. I don't even ever question if the eyeshadows will be pigmented or blend well or wear all day. There was a few inconsistencies in here though. A few shadows like Goldmine, Midnight Blaze, and Iced Out felt drier than others and needed to be packed on. I've never been a fan of the glitter eyeshadow from UD, but they seem to have made some improvements with the fall out. Faded was especially gorgeous with the gold overlay over a dusky lavender.

The satin and metallic shades are the stars in here. Warming and Hundred look amazing! They glide on beautifully and beam on the eyes. Bump, a bright matte white, is the only matte eyeshadow. This was a smart choice, I have always preferred the combination of bright colors with a matte white highlight to accent.


Don't be fooled that this is only a colorful eyeshadow palette for people who like colorful eyeshadow. I was very surprised with just how wearable many of these shades are once swatched. Unique about the shadow selection in Full Spectrum is the many different formulas and finishes. They have a lot of depth to them that you don't often see in brights. Because UD wouldn't just throw us a colorful palette this stylish that was basic bish.

Alchemy (deep fuchsia satin)
Gossip (bright metallic pink w/subtle floating pearl)
Paranoia (soft metallic blue-pink)
Warning (deep metallic copper)
Seize (bright metallic coral w/subtle floating pearl)
Jones (metallic orange w/subtle floating pearl)
Midnight Blaze (black matte w/yellow-gold pearl)

Calavera (bright yellow matte w/subtle floating pearl)
Goldmine (metallic yellow-gold)
Hundred (deep metallic forest green)
Hatter (vibrant green w/tonal micro-sparkle)
Mean (bright metallic lime green)
Minx (deep navy matte w/floating tonal pearl)
Blindsided (bright teal blue matte w/floating pearl)
Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue w/micro-sparkle)
Delirious (deep plum matte w/subtle floating pearl)
Sketch (metallic medium purple)
Faded (lavender w/gold shimmer)
Platonic (black matte w/iridescent glitter)
Iced (oyster silver w/shimmer)
Bump (white matte)


If you are a fan of vibrantly colorful eyeshadow or unexpected finishes nothing in this palette disappoints. Eighteen of the 21 shades are brand new with 3 exclusives from previous palettes. Full Spectrum is an array of beautiful eye shadows that even this NAKED lover can appreciate.


*sample provided for review consideration