Charlotte Tilbury ~ Instant Eye Palette, Limited Edition | Review

As a makeup enthusiast who is addicted to nudes and does not balk when people ask how many lookalike nude products I own, the new Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eye Palette, reminiscent of so many neutral eye shadow palettes that I own already, has made its way into my collection.

I'm going to start off by saying that Charlotte Tilbury knows how to make her customers feel like luxury clients.Whenever I daydream about starting a makeup company, I always imagine sending the products to customers in a way that makes them feel elegant and special. Charlotte Tilbury's products are sent, nested in bubble wrap and crepe paper, with the receipt tucked nicely into an envelope of luxury paper. I know you came here to read a review of the product and you're now wondering why I'm going off about the quality of the paper used for the receipt, but come on guys, these are the little details that make high end, designer products and companies stand out from the rest. And if you're paying for high end, it should be a full on high end experience from the beginning of your journey with the brand all the way through.

The first observation I made when I saw this palette is how similar it looks to palettes like the Urban Decay Naked palettes. That's a pretty obvious thing to notice and most likely it's the first thing you thought of as well. Upon closer inspection and after using it for awhile, it's a pretty strategic palette. When I hear people talking about the Naked palettes, there is rarely a person who really adores all four. There's usually one or maybe two that stand out to a person, they have fond memories of obtaining the palette and using it, but they find themselves reaching only for certain shades. "Buck" in Naked, "Tease" in Naked 2, "Nooner" and "Limit" in Naked 3, and I'm really unsure if anyone feels really attached to any of the shades in Naked Smoky.

The point is that if you take all those needed, "staple" products in the Naked palettes and combine them with good quality shades that might have been lackluster performance-wise in the Naked palettes, you could make one good, well-rounded palette that has all of the essentials instead of buying four separate palettes of varying quality.

CT's Instant Eye Palette is this one palette. You get your four different looks that each of the Naked's could essentially provide. The only Naked palettes that might not be represented as well in the CT palette are Naked 3 which has that rose gold theme that isn't really represented in the Instant Eye Palette, and Naked Heat, which is all warm tones of varying brown shades. Aside from those, this is your one palette. The one palette to rule them all . . .  (Sorry, I've been watching LOTR and I just couldn't resist).

The Instant Eye Palette also reminds me of Tarte's Tartlette in Bloom, which is another great workhorse palette that I use regularly. While "In Bloom" has more neutral shades with undertones that skew pink and mauve to add variety, they both have similar shades, both cool and warm tones, and a mix of mattes and shimmers. The Instant Eye Palette doesn't lean in any other direction other than straight up nude, but if you like "In Bloom", you would probably also like this CT one.

While the Instant Eye Palette provides four looks, an approach I really appreciate because it makes it an easy to approach palette whereas the Naked palettes can be somewhat daunting to have all those shades in front of you which zero structure, you can mix and match a lot of these shades. They all work together, they all blend seamlessly, and they can all be built up. One thing I noticed about this palette that I appreciate is the consistency in quality between the shades; they all apply similarly. There's no "dud" shades or "you can find a better shade as a single" shades. It's a reliable palette that applies consistently every time.

They do apply more on the sheer side as compared to a palette like ABH MR or Subculture, so if you're one of those "pigmentation determines quality" this might not be for you. This palette gives the user options. A product that applies well, blends smoothly, has staying power, and has shades in nice colors that look good on me, makes for a good product for me. I can use some shades for a sheer wash of color and others I can build up in intensity. I like palettes like this. It's important for me to have both highly pigmented palettes and palettes that give me ultimate control in my collection.

Bathroom Lighting

The shimmers, like most shimmers that I've used, do apply better with a finger or wet brush. I normally apply shimmer shades with my fingers so this isn't an issue for me, but applying with a small, flat brush will give about 50% payoff than applying with your finger or a brush dampened with water or spritzed with something like MAC Fix+ or the Nyx Setting Spray (which is what I use for wetting my brush). I found that the two shimmers in Day and Desk looks are a little more stiff than the four shimmers in the Date and Disco looks. I absolutely love the shimmers in the Disco look--they are very soft and look lovely on the eyes. I've been wearing the middle shade (brown with gold shimmer) on my lid during the daytime and it looks stunning.

Indoor Lighting

The mattes are all buttery and smooth, though I found the black to almost feel like it's a different formula. It applies well, but to the touch it feels different than the others. In terms of shade payoff, I would just note that the Day matte shades are very subtle. If you're a darker skin tone, you may want to use the lightest shade in the inner corner/below the brow and the darker taupe shade as the all-over shade. Whereas those who are more fair might use the lightest shade as an all-over shade and the darker taupe shade in the crease.

Natural Lighting

The packaging, of course, as is custom of CT products, is gorgeous. It's heavy and made of a heavy material with the drapery design that mimics the curtains of a stage at a theater on the front.

Given that this is a product that mirrors so many staple, workhorse palettes, and consists of neutral, everyday shades, especially when it's so similar to the Naked palettes which are iconic in the history of makeup, I'm unsure why CT made this product Limited Edition.

Needless to say, I've scooted over some of my everyday products to make room for one more in my makeup drawer <3

Looks Using This Product

Are you a neutral eye shadow collector like me? What are your thoughts on this palette?

Thanks for reading! <3

*Charlotte Tilbury is a Cruelty Free brand <3