Urban Decay Backtalk Eye & Face Palette Review, Photos and Swatches!

Urban Decay Backtalk Eye & Face Palette ($46) is a new, limited edition palette that is exclusive to Sephora. The colors are inspired by ‘Backtalk’, Urban Decay’s best selling Vice Lipstick shade. Backtalk is a warm, mauve-pink, and this whole palette features hues of pink, purple and warm browns. It’s a great combination of shades to create a variety of looks, from lighter, more natural looks to darker, bolder looks.

(8) Eyeshadow shades:
3 Sheets (pale pink-nude matte)
Bare (light pinky-peach satin)
Curve (metallic rose shimmer with silver micro-glitter)
Attitude (metallic red-copper)
Backtalk (soft rosy mauve matte)
WTF (reddish brown matte)
Shade (deep fuchsia satin)
180 (metallic brown-red)

*Urban Decay recommends wetting your eyeshadow brush with setting spray before dipping your brush in the eyeshadow for more intensity. I always do this with the metallic shades!

(4) Blush/Highlighter shades:
Double Take (rich mauve with slight shimmer)
Low Key (pink-peach)
Cheap Shot (medium pink-nude)
Party Foul (light pink-nude shimmer)

Aesthetically, it’s a beautiful palette. The colors might not cater to everyones taste, unless of course you like pink and berry hues – which are actually pretty popular right now. I personally love the way pink eyeshadow looks on my eyes – as it really brings out the green in my hazel eyes. I also think it’s a great Spring/Summer color palette.

The palette features a double-sided, removable mirror that acts as a divider between each side of the palette. I think that’s pretty cool, since I sometimes like to hold my mirror close range to my eyes while I’m using my other hand to apply the eyeshadow. It’s not as clumsy and awkward as holding a big palette up to your eyes.

Onto the good stuff – the swatches. The reviews have been really mixed with a lot of reviewers saying the eyeshadows lack pigment, proper staying power and the overall expected quality from Urban Decay.

When swatching the eyeshadows my arm, some shades required layering. I had to apply 3 sheets several times to show up, but when I applied it to my eyes, it showed up just fine. All of the shades weren’t consistent – some packing more pigment than others as well as textural differences, but nothing enough to scorn this palette. My favorite shades are Backtalk (a great transition shade), Attitude and WTF. I like the lighter shades, but they are really similar. I wish one of the metallics was lighter for a shimmery inner corner/brow highlight, but I could always use one of the highlighters from the face side.

There is a bit of fallout with some of the metallics, so I’ll most likely be applying them with a dampened brush for full intensity and less fallout.

While swatching the shades I was really curious to see how the formula would show up on my lids, so I applied a few of the shades (no primer) and they applied nice and blended with no issues. I was actually a bit surprised with how negative reviews have been about the shades not showing up on their eyes. This is my first impression though – after more use I can establish a better opinion. I will make sure to keep you posted!

I really like the cheek colors. My favorites are Double Take and Low Key. Double Take is a shade that I can see myself wearing every day. It’s soft and neutral, yet gives just enough color to the face. It pairs really nice with Low Key, which is a really pretty apricot pink.

I really like this palette and the fact that it compacts several products in one slim package. I can definitely see myself keeping this palette in my travel bag.

Have you tried this palette? What are your thoughts? Share in the comment section below!

Disclaimer: I partnered with Urban Decay for this post! Product was sent complimentary. All opinions are my own.