Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Eye Shadow Palette

First things first - I've broken up for Christmas! Woohooo! The run-up to Christmas in a Primary School is pretty stressful, so these two weeks off are being welcomed with open arms! I'm heading home to Wales to spend the holidays with my family and I can't wait to spend some time with everyone.

At the start of December I was celebrating some good news at the same time as the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani palette was released, which I had been eyeing up on instagram, so I bought myself a little celebratory present (here).

I am a big Urban Decay palette fan - I adore the original Naked palette and the Naked Basics palette, and I also own a build-your-own palette with a few hand-picked shades in.  Their pigmentation and formulation have never let me down before, so I had pretty high hopes for this palette.
 
Even before I opened the packaging I was in love - look how beautiful the box is! I actually still have it and I'm still keeping the palette inside it; I can't bring myself to put the box in the bin!

The palette itself is completely different to any of the Naked palettes; the fifteen shadows are in round pans in a 5x3 layout which is shown on the lid of the palette with a monochrome pattern.  I love how it's different to the Naked style of a line of rectangular pans to show that it's clearly designed by someone else.  I adore the tarnished gold accents on the palette which make it feel luxurious and high end.  In a nutshell: it's beautiful.

Admittedly, when it comes to eye shadow I'm not particularly brave.  I go for the usual neutral shades and once in a blue moon I'll break out of my comfort zone and try something different before going straight back to my beloved browns and golds.  Because of this, the UDxGwen palette is perfect for me - most of the shades are neutral; they range from a matte cream to a shimmery gold to a matte black and pretty much everything in between.  There's a variety of sparkle, glitter and matte shades which are perfect for every occassion.  Then, to mix up the shades a bit, there is a super shimmery barbie pink and bright blue for days when you're feeling brave.

I have to admit, I love all of the shades, but these are four of my favourites.  The top swatch is Baby; a shimmery peachy champagne shade.  Punk is a matte deep chocolate brown with a hint of purple which is so different to any other dark shades I own - perfect for a smokey eye. The gorgeous gold shimmey shade is 1987; the ultimate festive colour.  I also adore Pop - it isn't very pigmented but it's a pale champagne shade with pink, gold and silver shimmer and glitter running through it.  The name of this shade is ideal, because adding a dab of glitter to the center of my lid really makes my eyes pop!

In a nutshell, I adore this.  I honestly think this might have shot to the top of my favourite palettes list, this is the only palette I've bought home with me this Christmas, and I'm usually attached to my Naked palette in the festive season!