Huda’s back with a gorgeous looking palette to add to her makeup collection! Having started with lashes, Huda has since branched out into liquid lipsticks, lip contour pencils (soft lip pencils really), hilighters, eye shadow palettes and foundation (just launched!)

Following the success of her limited edition Rose Gold palette, Huda has released the Desert Dusk which launched in Australia as couple of months ago.

I thought it would be interesting to compare shades, packaging etc with the Rose Gold palette as it was her first palette – I’m interested to know if she had any learnings.
Because I’ve been busy/lazy, I hadn’t put up a review of the Rose Gold palette – so this will serve as a review of both!

Packaging
The outer cardboard the palette comes in differs between the two. The Rose Gold (RG) is a sleeve whilst the Desert Dusk (DD) is a box. I personally prefer the sleeve as I actually keep my palette in it as it’s easy to just slide off. However, boxes are dead to me and go straight into the bin!

The design on the RG sleeve makes up for the lack of design on the lid of the palette. The RG has a clear lid so you can see the shadows inside (makes sense – kind of like a Z Palette), whist the DD has gorgeous image of eyes. The DD packaging definitely looks richer and more luxe, however, the RG design is more practical.
The DD palette itself looks a lot smoother and put together as the RG palette has ridges which are easily damaged.

Shadows
The RG palette was organised with the first row dedicated to metallic shades, whilst the DD has shimmers scattered throughout the palette. This is more commonly seen in palettes nowadays.

The difference in formula between the RG shimmers and DD shimmers is immense. The RG shimmers have a creamy feel to them, and apply best with a warm finger (that sounds equally unnerving as the word moist. I apologise). They can be a little difficult to work with and may take a couple of dips of a synthetic brush. The DD palette has more shimmer/glitters that require different forms of application. For example, Cosmo neeeeeeds glitter glue! It is basically loose glitter, tightly packed in the pan. Twilight is a purple-blue shadow topper with a pink shift which is nice when applied with a dense brush or finger.

The mattes are dry – and that’s not a bad thing! The formula between the mattes in both palettes is pretty consistent. You can swivel your brush in the pan and it will remain looking untouched. The pigmentation of the mattes is pretty good. The lighter, brighter colours apply well. In the RG palette however, the darker shades aren’t as opaque and take some building up.

Shades
The shade ranges – though look alike – are quite different between the two palettes. If I could seasonise them, I’d say Desert Dusk is perfect for Autumn (with its burnt tones), Summer (warm tones) and Spring (purples!) whilst the RG looks like it could be more of a Winter palette with some cooler tones – but the shimmers take it over across the rest of the year!

Rose Gold:

Desert Dusk:

I’ve done something a lil different this time and have swatches on two different skin tones. Whilst I don’t think that a palette should be limited to a particular skin tone, I can’t help but love the look of RG on paler skin and the warmth of DD on my darker skin…

If you’re looking to just splurge on one, consider why you’re buying it. Are you expecting every day use? Or will it be a complimentary palette, used with another with some basic beiges, browns and perhaps a black to smoke? Is it for parties? Are you freelancing?
If you’re after an every day palette, I’d go for the Rose Gold palette. It has some more neutral mattes for an every day palette, a couple of pink-reds to take you over into Autumn and shimmers for party looks.
Desert Dusk has some mattes for an every day eye as well as some shimmer shadows to sweep across the lid. However, I reach for this palette when I’m off to an event. The inclusion of purple (Amethyst) completely transforms the palette into something you can experiment with. Desert Dusk definitely makes a great complimentary palette but doesn’t include all the shades I’d want in an everyday palette.

A couple of looks using the Dessert Dusk palette 🙂

Do you have either of these palettes? Let me know in the comments below!