MAN, people are FIRED UP ? about the $46 Urban Decay Backtalk Palette, and it’s not just because of the warm tones. If you read some of the reviews on Sephora… My goodness! They make it sound like you’re smearing melted cat poop all over you eyelids when you use it. I mean, people have FEELINGS about it, and the main complaint seems to be the level of pigment, which I don’t really understand because I’m not having problems with it.
Granted, I don’t think the palette is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’m not raving about it, but…
It was inspired by a lipstick.
Anyway, let me rewind a second. First things first — the packaging. There’s a mirror in the middle that separates eight powder eyeshadows and four blushes, and the mirror slides out, which I like.
The shades are predominantly varieties of warm mauve and pink, which again, is because the palette was inspired by Urban Decay’s Backtalk Vice Lipstick in the permanent line.
It’s actually pretty good!
I’ve been wearing it, and I haven’t had a problem with the pigment, which is generally on the more intense side of medium, so the shades aren’t quite “full on,” but they aren’t as sheer as some of the reviews have said.
I don’t feel like I’m building a bridge up to the sky or anything when I build up the shadows. They’re easy to build up and easy to sheer out. And I’ve used A LOT of sheer palettes in my day, where you have to sit there and put in work to build up their intensity, like the MAC Jeremy Scott palette. Now THAT’s sheer, and you gotta use elbow grease, but Backtalk isn’t like that.
I’m wearing a bold-ish eye look in this review, so there’s a decent amount of color on my lids, and to get the intensity I did, I applied four or five layers at the most, so, yeah, it was more than one or two, but four or five layers isn’t unusual for this kind of eye look. Blending them also wasn’t a big deal.
For the most part, yeah, I like this palette. The blushes blend out beautifully, and I can still see plenty of color on my lids and cheeks at the end of the day. I do notice a decent amount of fallout when I use the shimmery dark brown shade, probably because it’s the most powdery of the bunch, but with the other shadows, I just get a few flecks here and there.
Overall, pretty good.
It’s hella warm, though, even for me.
Now for a caveat. If anything will keep this from becoming an everyday palette for me, it’s how warm toned the colors are. UD says this one’s for everybody, but I have to disagree. I’m warm toned, and I find these shades borderline too warm pink for me. Sometimes they look a little off, I think. But that’s on me. If you like warm pinks and UD, give it a chance, because I really don’t think it’s as bad as some people are saying.
If you want to check it out, it’s available now at Sephora and coming soon to the UD website.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Yes, too many warm shades for me. My computer screen makes a lot of warm tones look cool, but several of these appear too warm even on my computer. I think a lot of the anger about this one is from those with cool-toned skin. They were looking forward to a nearly 100% cool palette from UD, and they didn’t get it. They feel that the product images are false about the colors. I think the quality is a side-issue to the cool vs. warm palette situation. Those who want a 100% cool-toned palette are still waiting.
I know a lot of people were disappointed because the promo pictures made it look like a cooler mauve palette. I was actually hoping for that, too. Warm neutrals have been done to death, but at least these are more pink and less red and orange (as most warm palettes seem to be these days).
Even so, I quite like it. I think the cheek products are great. The eyeshadows are pretty and work well for me, but they’re not UD’s best. I find some are really easy to overblend. For me, Bare is kind of a dusty shimmer bomb. Plus it’s really close to my skin tone. I can make it work as a barely there, one and done eyeshadow look, though.
The only thing I hate is the packaging. That mirror arrangement sucks. It falls out constantly. I find it annoying to have to take it out and put it back every time I use the palette. I’m seriously considering depotting it.
I’m glad you mentioned how much you hate the packaging. Before actually handling the product, it looked like a great idea. Who wouldn’t want a mirror with them at all times? But if it’s sliding out, then that would be super annoying.
I love warm shades, definitely gonna give this a try!
Way too warm for my taste. I mean, I like warm, but more the bronzey warm for my eyes. Beautiful to look at, but not something I would get much use out of.
I definitely have cool toned skin but I love the blushes in this palette and I think the eye shadows are bold on me without being too crazy looking.
I kind of love it, it makes me think of spring. Not an everyday go with everything but a “let’s do something fun today” palette for me.
I like the concept of it. I love the color story and if I couldn’t dupe all of the shadows in my current stash I would probably seriously think about getting it. The major drawback for me was that I find UD blushes just sit on top of my cheeks the color never really sinks in and ends up just looking powdery on me. This is an easy pass for me but I don’t think the palette is a bad palette.
Your eye look is fab karen!
Thanks, Nyxx. It’s out of my comfort zone but I figure it never hurts to try.
I hope you’re having a good day today. It’s a sunny one here in Northern California, and it feels like it’s going to be a great day. 🙂
Yeah….I will wait to see it in person. I live 3 hours from a mall. It sounds like it is not worth dealing with a post office return. I can wait.
I don’t think this is urban decay’s best palette but it’s definitely not the worst. I love the warm colors which is out of left field for me. I’m Whitey McPalegirl so warm reds/pinks/browns don’t usually appeal to me but I’ve been using this palette and gotten a lot of compliments and I feel like I’m able to make both subtle and bold looks which is a big plus for me.
I also grabbed the backtalk lipstick and lipgloss yesterday.
I love this color scheme and rushed out to buy the palette the first day it released. Was so disappointed at the low pigmentation and poor longevity I returned it! I tried different eye shadow primers to no avail, first time I’ve had so much trouble with a Urban Decay palette. Even the blushes were mediocre imo. Glad it works for some but was quite the let down for me.
It looks amazing on you though! Those colors just pop on you and match you well.
I don’t understand getting heated. Just take it back. Exchange it for something else. Say it wasn’t for you and move on. Sheesh. The anger over silly things like this … #firstworldprobs !
I like it and thnk the shades are more COOL than warm!
Haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but I might soon.
this palette is on sale at sephora and I am so tempted!!
any NC 42 babes out there? how’d ya like it?
Karen, do you have any updates on this? did u grow to loveit or hate it?
did u forget it was even there lol.
Hi Yelena,
Ya know, I took it out for a spin a few more times, and I still feel like this is way to warm for me personally. I’m more of a cooler browns/golden browns kinda girl though. Let me ask you a question. Do you find you wear warm shades like this often? Because if you do, it might be worth the investment (especially since it’s on sale) to have all the colors you like to wear and reach for often in one place.