Hey everyone and welcome to my review of the *Natasha Denona My Mini Dream eyeshadow palette! This is not sponsored, but the links marked with a * are affiliate links. These enable me to keep my reviews unbiased while still earning a commission to help cover this blog’s operation costs. Using my links costs you nothing extra. If you find this post helpful, please consider shopping through my links. Your support is incredibly appreciated!
Since my all time favorite eyeshadow palette (Lorac Pro 1) was discontinued (can’t even get it on Amazon anymore!), I’ve been searching for anything neutral taupe.
Then Natasha Denona came out with the My Mini Dream palette and it looked like it could be the perfect mini replacement for the Lorac palette! Read on to find out how it compared.
Color Scheme
- Devotion: Metallic Medium Cool Nude
- Balance: Matte Light Taupe Nude
- Passionate: Metallic Light Rose Taupe
- Loyalty: Matte Deep Burgundy Brown
- Nurture: Matte Medium Cool Nude
Price and Availability
At the time of writing this post, this is priced at $27.
This palette is very widely available on all the popular sites like Sephora and Ulta.
Packaging
The packaging is compact and pretty nice looking, though a bit plasticky feeling. That doesn’t really bother me too much, as it isn’t a super high end item. What is worrisome though is that I actually had the Natasha Denona Mini Glam palette before this, and the hinge ended up breaking when I closed it. The issue is that the cover doesn’t open and close very smoothly. At a certain point, you have to push the cover past a point of resistance, and then it can close. That being said, this one hasn’t broken yet so fingers crossed I just got a fluke last time!
There is no built-in mirror or extra accessories included. This is not a dealbreaker for me personally but might be for people who want those extra conveniences.
The shadows are not easily removable, as far as I can tell.
Pigmentation and Texture
These shadows have great pigmentation but are still very easy to blend. You can either apply them with a light hand to create a natural smokey eye, or you can really build them up to create something more dramatic.
The shadows feel buttery and luxurious, especially the shimmers. Though the shimmers do show up when applied with a dry brush, they really pop when applied with a finger or wet brush. Now matter how they’re applied, they look metallic rather than glittery.
Swatches
Below are swatches of each shadow in overcast daylight, applied with a *sponge.
Devotion
Devotion ended up being lighter and more warm-toned than I expected. I was hoping for a dark cool-toned bronze, as that’s what it looked like in the pan.
Balance
Balance also ended up being a little warm and even pink-undertoned, despite looking rather desaturated and neutral in the pan. It also looks a little darker than what I was expecting, although I had no problem blending it with a fluffy brush to create a subtle transition shade.
Passionate
Passionate makes a great inner corner highlight. It has a soft pinky beige undertone, but once the light hits it, it diffuses some of the color away.
Loyalty
Loyalty is a very deep, cool-toned brown. This one did not look warm at all on me (hooray!), and it also didn’t look unflatteringly ashy. It’s an ideal shade for me when it comes to deepening things up. Despite how dark it is, it can easily be blended out for more subtle uses.
Nurture
We are back to leaning warm again, but I feel this shade is workable on my skin tone, especially when used alongside the shade Loyalty.
Fallout/Kickup
There is surprisingly very little fallout with these, even with the dark brown shade! It’s almost as if the shadow disperses into the air instead of falling straight down. That brings me to my next point…
Something weird sometimes happens with Natasha Denona eyeshadows. When blending the shadow on my lower eyelid, a little powder floats up and into my eyes. It hasn’t necessarily caused a health concern so far, but I’d rather not be getting unnecessary powder in my eyes. Luckily, this doesn’t seem to happen with the shimmer shades.
There is a lot of kickup in the pan when dipping my brush in. This tends to get messy while using the palette and folding it back up for storage. It also wastes product if you’re like me and can’t resist blowing the loose particles off.
Wear Time
Considering how creamy and pigmented these eyeshadows are, I was a little disappointed by their wear time, even when applying a *primer. The mattes didn’t fade completely, but they still faded noticeably. That being said, pretty much all eyeshadows do this on my skin, so this palette might last longer on you.
The shimmers lost some, but not all, of their shine. Maybe using a mixing medium would have kept the shimmers looking freshly applied for longer.
Eye Looks
- Crease: Balance applied with a fluffy brush
- Outer corner: Loyalty applied with a *fluffy flat brush
- Lower lash line: Nurture applied with a dense shader brush
- Inner corner: Passionate applied with a wet firm brush
- Browbone: Passionate applied with a dry flat brush
- Crease: Balance applied with a fluffy brush
- Eyelid: Devotion applied with a flat brush (no longer sold)
- Outer corner lower lash line: Nurture applied with a dense shader brush
- Lower lash line: Balance applied with a dense shader brush
- Inner corner: Passionate applied with a wet firm brush
Would I Repurchase?
Unfortunately, the Natasha Denona My Mini Dream eyeshadow palette did not end up becoming a solid replacement for the Lorac Pro 1 palette. It ended up being more pink undertoned than I was expecting. Despite that, I do think this palette looks decently flattering on my skintone, especially when I use the shade Loyalty.
Personally, I prefer the undertones of the *Natasha Denona Glam Palette and certain shades of the Viseart Mattes Neutral palette (reviews coming soon!). As long as these options exist, I will probably not repurchase this. However, this is still a nice palette overall and I would recommend it to other people who are looking for a subtly pink-leaning palette.
Where to Buy
This can be purchased at the official Natasha Denona website, *Sephora, *Ulta, and Beautylish.
Thanks for reading and I hope this was helpful!
Leaning Cool 
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