Urban Decay Electric Palette

I received my first make-up palette when I was about 10 years old. It was in the shape of a red and white hedgehog and once opened, it revealed, from my naive childlike perception, millions of colour powders and creams. Of course, I didn't know what to do with them but it instilled an interest in multi-tonal make-up that I carried through to my adulthood. Fast forward to my teenage years when pink and purple eyeshadows were my favourite shades to decorate my eyes with and so I later bought the Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box, a violet velvet palette with nine gloriously sparkling rainbow shades. Life complete. 

As I have become older, I feel I have become safe and neutral (aka boring) in my make-up choices. I became consumed with the Urban Decay Naked trend and only ever delved into colours during the summer months. Urban Decay's recent release of their Electric palette is not only a nod to their initial technicolour mission, but also, as the name suggests, is a blunt and vivid rousing to those stuck in a neutral chroma coma.

Urban Decay Electric Palette.

The packaging of this palette is a sturdy plastic case with a magnetic lid opening. The image on the case reminds me of Mark Mawson's Aqueous Rainbow Skies where the photographer mixed a variety of vibrantly coloured dense liquids in water in order to create a hypnotising prism of amoeba effects. It is also reminiscent of a multi-chrome lava lamp where colourful gel-like liquids manoeuvre through water. Science meets make-up. 

Urban Decay Electric Palette. 

There are ten shades in the palette, eight of which are brand new to the Urban Decay eyeshadow family. Revolt previously made an appearance in The Anarchy Face Case last year whereas Chaos featured in The Vice Palette in 2012. The remaining colours are Gonzo, Slowburn, Savage, Fringe, Jilted, Urban, Freak, and Thrash. With the exception of Revolt, all of these shadows are either matte or satin, with a velvety smooth consistency and extremely high voltage pigmentation. 

Top row. from left to right: Revolt, Gonzo, Slowburn, Savage, Fringe.
Bottom row, from left to right: Chaos, Jilted, Urban, Freak, Thrash.

Top Row:

• Revolt - bright silver with silver glitter, frost finish. 
• Gonzo - bright turquoise, matte finish. 
• Slowburn - vibrant orange-red, matte finish. 
• Savage - vivid hot pink, matte finish.
• Fringe - bright metallic teal, shimmer finish. 

Bottom Row:

• Chaos - bright cobalt blue, matte finish. 
• Jilted - bright fuchsia with metallic blue duochrome, shimmer finish. 
• Urban - vibrant metallic purple, shimmer finish. 
• Freak - vibrant green with pale golden duochrome, shimmer finish. 
• Thrash - bright chartreuse yellow-green, shimmer finish. 

Top row. from left to right: Revolt, Gonzo, Slowburn, Savage, Fringe.
Bottom row, from left to right: Chaos, Jilted, Urban, Freak, Thrash.

These colours are so vibrant that I did not need to use a primer for the swatches. Of course, with a corresponding cream base, these colours will show up even more vividly. Even with vigorous removal, there was some staining on my skin. 

Staining from the swatches.

Note: I live in Ireland, a European Union member state, and so our products are approved by the EMA. Each continent has it's own regulatory body which sets ratification standards  for food, medicine and other produce. In the US, this is the FDA which has yet to approve neon pigments in cosmetics. In terms of the Electric palette, this discouraging users from applying Slowburn, Savage, Jilted and Urban to the immediate eye area. Please check your jurisdiction in order to find out the suitability of this palette for you. I could continue with criticisms of FDA approvals (aspartame, fluoride, particular vaccinations) but it's a digression for another time. 

Anyway... Electric palette...

After years of wearing more boring browns than loud limes, I welcome this palette entirely and cannot wait to embrace my younger clownola make-up style in the upcoming spring and summer months. For me, colour has always more appealing than neutrals which even reflects in all my choices throughout my home. Thanks Urban Decay for reminding me of my preference to resemble a LasVegas vixen rather than a tumbleweed townie. 

This palette contains a net weight of 11g making each shadow just over 1g. It also comes with a dual ended brush, a standard edition to Urban Decay palettes over recent years.

RRP £38/$49. 

UK: Available from Debenhams and House of Fraser.

US: Available from Urban Decay and Sephora.