Eyeshadow Collection: The Natasha Denona Metropolis Palette Review And Swatches

The Natasha Denona Metropolis is a midi sized palette with 28 shades. This palette launched in 2019 and is a limited edition palette, you can still find it on the market. I remember when this launched I fell in love with the color story. Since this was on the expensive side I could not buy it right away. But finally I purchased it at the Sephora VIB sale event. The color story really drew me in, especially with those deep, inky blue and green shades. 

First, the emerald packaging of this palette looks very rich and is sturdy. It has a range of colors from bronze, oranges, browns to mossy greens and deep blues. I love these shades together in this palette. Some shades in this palette can seem redundant and translate the same on the eyes.

Another thing to note is that this palette is loaded with the cream to powder shades. If you are not aware, Natasha Denona has this cream to powder (CP) formula in her eyeshadows which feel very creamy but apply as powders. The CP shades are buttery smooth when you swatch them. They give an incredible finish when applied. Many people may not be big fans of this formula as sometimes they can be hard to blend. I love this formula and the finish it gives when applied. 

Let's take a look at some swatches.

From left to right Rust, Troop (CP), Orium, Shield, Ripe, Stain (CP) and Mace.

The first row is very stunning. I think I love all the shades in the first row. Those olive greens Troop and Shield are beautiful colors. Orium is duo chrome and can be applied on top of any shades for some extra shine. I found that using this shade can get messy and you will experience some fallout. Hence better to do the eye make first if you are using this shade. I also noticed a hard pan after I used this shade a few times.

From left to right Rope, Fuse, Lethal (CP), Penny, Chrism (CP), Aqueous, Queen.

The second row has a couple of bronze shades and pops of green and electric blue. The Queen shade is my least favourite as it feels a bit powdery. 

From left to right Blaze, Noble, Imperia, Royal (CP), Crest, Enigma (CP), Pure.

The third row is my favourite row and I love all the shades in here. It has those deep inky shades that add depth to this palette. The metallics are smooth and pigmented. That CP shade Pure is a beautiful transition shade. One thing to note is that the shades Royal and Enigma end up looking similar on the eyes, even though they look different in the swatches. But they are so pigmented and beautiful. You can create a smokey eye and use those shades for depth or use them to line your eyes.

From left to right Azoic (CP), Jubilee, Symbol (CP), Rhizome, Claret, Helena, Antique (CP).

The last row has some beautiful greens, browns and a metallic red. I love the brown shade Antique, I like to use it on the outer corner or all over the lids. Since it's a CP formula, the finish looks incredible. The metallic red Claret is very smooth and pigmented. The shade Symbol also ends up looking like the shade Enigma in the previous row.

As you can see that the palette has many cream to powders. If you don't like this formula then you may not like this palette. I do like the color story, however, some shades do look redundant. I like this palette and if I had to nitpick then there are two things I wish were different. First, this palette should have had another shade as an inner corner highlight. Second, the shades that add depth to the outer corner are blue toned, so any eye look you try to create will lean more blue or green. I really wish there was another darker tone to add more depth. 

Overall I do enjoy this color story and the formula is also great. I’m glad I have this palette in my collection. This is a limited edition palette, and I see it is still available on Sephora Canada. If you like this palette then get your hands on it if it's available at Sephora near you.