Catrice Absolute Nude Palette | Review, Swatches + Urban Decay Dupe

Catrice launched the Absolute Nude palette in March, 2013. I picked it up right after that, I believe it was in May, 2013. However, I got a DSLR camera in December last year, so I re-photographed it this Spring. I'm still kinda late with the review, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

Nude eyeshadow palettes are very popular, especially since the UD Naked palette came out. I love them too, and the swatches of this palette were so beautiful at the store that I had to buy it. My most used eyeshadows are neutrals, and Catrice is my favourite brand, so there we go.

Catrice Absolute Nude palette - 010 All Nude

review / teszt

The main reason of me buying this palette is that the second pinky shade on the left is a dupe for Urban Decay's Sin eyeshadow, minus the metallic sheen of it. Sin is my all-time favourite eyeshadow, and I've been on a hunt for a dupe since 2011. This is the closest thing to Sin I've seen, it is closer than MAC Naked Lunch or Alverde's Nude Rose eyeshadow. As I said, the only difference is the metallic sheen, the Catrice shade has a soft satin finish.

I took the photos above and below right when I got the palette, all new and crisp. I have to mention that the lid was so hard to open that I accidentally scratched the most important shade. Fortune is a bitch, right? I had to file down the claw that makes the palette close, so now it opens without a problem.

The packaging is nice, it is a considerably sturdy plastic case. Don't toss it around though, it is not invincible. It does not come with a mirror, but they included a tiny little double ended applicator with a brush and a sponge tip. You can use both of them just fine, don't be a snob about them. Once again, I've stated this many times: sponge tip applicators are your friends.

Regarding the palette itself, it is pretty similar to the Essence Hello Autumn palettes, both in actual eyeshadow texture and look. If you've read my review about those, today's review will sound familiar to you.

You can read all the necessary info on the back of the packaging. It contains 6g of product (= 1g / shadow).

The shades when they were brand new, minus the Sin dupe that I accidentally scratched.

There might be other UD dupes in this palette (mostly from Naked 2), I just haven't compared them yet. (Yes, all I care about is Sin.)

Catrice Absolute Nude palette - review

The texture of the eyeshadows is average, they kick up a little bit of powder. It's nothing too serious, just tap yout brush before using the dark shades. The pigmentation is quite good, nothing to complain about. The palette will be your friend if you are a beginner (and if you pair it with a few matte shades). 

On that note, the palette contains satin / shimmery shades only. Catrice just came out with the Absolute Matt palette, which - as you guessed - is an all matt palette. It is the best friend of the Absolute Nude shadows, they work beautifully together.

Let's move on to the shade description. 

From left to right:

1st shade: pale gold with subtle metallic sheen, chunkier than the other shades

(dupe for a Max Factor shadow pot)

2nd shade: neutral light pink with satin finish, dupe for Urban Decay Sin

3rd shade: rosy copper colour with visible gold flecks

4th shade: neutral camel shade, satin finish (similar to Urban Decay Suspect, minus the sheen)

5th shade: medium toned cool brown with gold, blue and silver shimmer (the shimmer is only visible in the pan)

6th shade: rich neutral chocolate brown with gold sparkles (sparkle is only visible in the pan)

By eyeballing it, you would think that it has warm shades only, but when you actually apply them, a lot of the colours have a neutral (or even cool toned) appearance. The go on like butter.

Catrice Absolute Nude palette swatches: 1st, 2nd and 3rd shades

Catrice Absolute Nude palette swatches 

(without primer, I never use primer in my reviews)

I definitely think that it is worth picking up if you're into nudes. Now that Catrice has an all matt palette, you can't even complain about these being all shimmery. I will have to pick up a backup in the future because of that lovely pale pink, aka Miss Sin Dupe.

Have you tried the Catrice 6-shade palettes? There is 3 of them now (nude, bright, matt).

You might be interested in:
Catrice Absolute Matt eyeshadow palette review
Catrice Illuminating blush review
Catrice Photo Finish foundation review
Catrice Ultimate Stay lipstick review

Catrice BB Allround foundation review

~ Evinde

FTC: I bought it with my own money.