Makeup Revolution London Iconic 3 Palette

5 December 2014

As a beauty product tester with Product Testing UK, I'm lucky enough to trial products of interest to me and was extremely excited to receive one of the Makeup Revolution London Iconic 3 Palettes*, which I've heard credited in the beauty blogging community as exact dupes for the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. With a price tag of £4 each compared to UD's rather hefty £37 each, how do they stack up against their more expensive twin?


With four eyeshadow palettes in the collection - Iconic Dreams, Iconic 1, Iconic 2 and Iconic 3 - if you're familiar with the Urban Decay offerings, you'll without a doubt be able to spot the practically identical similarities between those and the numbered Iconic palettes. I own the original Urban Decay Naked Palette and the corresponding Makeup Revolution London palette (Iconic 1) is pretty much exactly the same in terms of shades - see The Scottish Doll's comparison post here for side-by-side swatches - and from what I've seen online, the second and third MURL palettes are just as close in colour to the second and third UD originals. I had little interest in the third Naked palette as I'm not a fan of pink or purple toned eyeshadows on me, and much prefer neutral shades that can be found in the first and second predecessors. That said however, it was a nice change to try this dupe and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the mix of colours.

It definitely wasn't love at first swatch with this product at all - when I ran my ring finger along the shimmery pink shade (second from left) I picked up a lot of what looked like a highly pigmented eyeshadow, but when I swatched it on the back of my hand no colour transferred at all and there was almost nothing there apart from a tiny hint of glitter. Never one to give up at the first hurdle however, I then applied the product using a combination of a flat synthetic eyeshadow brush for the base and a tapered synthetic blending brush for the crease, and the result was a hundred times better; smooth application, no fall-out whatsoever and a satisfactory finish akin to the overall look of the Naked palettes.


(From L/H side of palette: 02 shimmery pink shade on lid, 07 matte lilac-toned shade in crease, 08 pearl taupe shade on lower lash line)



I created eyeshadow looks with these both in the day with and without primer and in the 
evening with and without primer, and found that they lasted a decent amount of time. Although there was a little creasing after a few hours, that's more down to the fact that I have oily lids and no shadows that I've tried last particularly well on me. I love that there's a nice mix of three matte shades along with nine shimmer and pearl shades, although I think that the palette is missing a nice highlight - the first matte shade is light enough and works well on the brow bone, but I prefer my inner corner highlight to have a pretty sheen to it. 

The dual ended sponge applicators that come with affordable palettes are normally rubbish so there's nothing new there, but this one is particularly pants - I used it to apply shadow on my lower lashline for the sake of this review and some black pigment actually came out of the sponge and transferred onto my skin, giving me an unintentional smudgy smokey eye! When I used my own makeup brushes however, I had no problems whatsoever.

Overall, I think these are a fantastic little purchase if you've been lusting after the Urban Decay Naked palettes but don't want to shell out almost £40, as let's be honest - these have clearly been created as copies or 'dupes' and I'll definitely be picking up the Iconic 2 whilst I make my mind up whether I really need the high-end original. As I already own the first UD palette I don't need the Iconic 1 palette, and although the quality is impressive for the price of £4 I do think that you get much better quality with Urban Decay, as their shadows are so beautifully buttery soft and genuinely some of the best I've ever tried.

Have you tried anything or have any recommendations from Makeup Revolution London? Would you choose to save on these palettes or splurge on Urban Decay?

Meg

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Any items marked with an (*) were gifted to me. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own and honest - please see my full disclaimer here for more information.

13 comments:

  1. I got this palette a while ago as can't commit to buying the naked palettes and I do like it, it's great for the price. Although I kinda wish the pans were a bit wider!
    You should try the foil eyeshadow from them if you haven't already, I really love them, they're meant to be like the stila ones, another thing I like the look of but don't have the money for! X

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  2. I agree, for the price it's amazing - twelve eyeshadows for £4 is pretty crazy and the quality is impressive, too! Ah yeah, they're longer than the Urban Decay shadows but not as wide, it's not as easy to pick up colour with bigger brushes. I definitely will, thank you for the recommendation! I've heard great things about their lipsticks too and they're really affordable x

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  3. YOU ARE SO PRETTY MEG! Gorgeous girlie. I would rather splurge I think on UD as the quality is amazing, however I really love Sleek's palettes at the moment

    Lauren x

    Britton Loves | Lifestyle Food Fashion Beauty - www.brittonloves.blogspot.co.uk

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  4. Aww, stop! Thank you :) I think I would too, if I wasn't such a product junkie I think I'd be satisfied with the cheaper dupe but I just love the originals so much, the first Naked palette is my most used palette and I don't think their shadows can be beaten in my eyes! Ah yeah the Sleek palettes are beautiful, I love Storm :) it's got some great mattes that can be used for your brows, so you've got everything in one place! x

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  5. Such a gorgeous choice of colours. And for this price its worth trying these before Urban Decay!

    Annabel ♥
    Mascara & Maltesers

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  6. Oh Meg you are positively lovely! These colors are perfect on you :) Unfortunately I can't use most make ups due to my chemical sensitivities, but I have found some nice natural palettes at shops like Pacifica :) I don't believe Pacifica is available in the UK, but if you're ever interested in giving some entirely natural products a go, you should check out 100% Pure! http://www.100percentpure.co.uk They color their make ups with fruit pigments. Pretty neat, huh?


    xo

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  7. This is amazing! I love the colors in this palette and they seem to be of good quality ;3; Thanks for sharing this.
    ~Kiyomi <3
    kokorosasa.blogspot.com

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  8. Definitely save with these palettes! I'd be using them too much to spend 32£ on something I'll finish in no time!
    x The Caramel Cat

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  9. Isn't the shade range gorgeous! They're not the usual colours I go for but it's been great to try something that I wouldn't necessarily buy in a drugstore. I agree, it's cool to have both options there - personally I wouldn't buy the Naked 3 palette but I would buy this, for example! x

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  10. Thank you so much :) aww that's a shame, it's great that you've found Pacifica however! Ooh I've heard of Pure before, I'll definitely check out their range. Thanks for the recommendation x

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  11. They are indeed! Thank you for reading and commenting :) x

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  12. Amazing aren't they, they've definitely cottoned onto the fact that not everyone is willing to spend that much on each palette! I'd still like the second Naked palette but I'll be using this instead of getting the third, for sure :) x

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  13. Me too! Thanks for reading and commenting, I appreciate it :) x

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