Annabelle Smokey Nudes Palette | Review, swatches and comparison

I was intrigued by this teeny tiny palette while picking up my trusty Annabelle Biggy Bronzer. It was calling my name, but I was also anticipating the disappointment of the Maybelline The Nudes Palette. It definitely looks like it belongs closer to that end of the drugstore palettes spectrum than let's say the pleasantly surprising L'Oreal La Palette Nude 1 & 2.

The Annabelle Smokey Nudes Palette offers 10 shades in an itty bitty compact.

It's more on the nude side than it is smokey (smoky? who knows!) at first glance. I mean you can definitely create nice smokey looks with this but much like the Naked Smokey Palette, there's some day time options. In theory, all good palettes should give you such variety, to the point where I get confused with palette concepts, it's all marketing right??...ANYWAYS! 

The shade selection in here is pretty decent, not a lot of mid-tones, but good workable shades. The pigmentation is alright (they all show up lighter when swatched on my arm, but are darker once applied to the eye), the texture is smooth but it does take some work blend. You definitely don't need to pick up a lot on your brush to get good color payoff, but you also need to be careful cause it's a very fine powder and can go all over the place, making it harder to blend smoothly...Like I said, it takes some work, but once you get used to these shadows you can create beautiful looks!

Here's a classic smokey eye so you have an idea of the color pay off on the eye (with primer) ;

Overall, for the price I mean it's definitely a "you get what you pay for". I 100% recommend this one over the Maybelline The Nudes....So if you're a beginner or on a budget this is a fine palette, however if you could shell out a few extra bucks, I would save up and get one of the L'Oreal La Palette Nude palettes.

Hope this was helpful! Have you found a great drugstore palette? Please share below if you did!

Talk to you soon!

-Xoxo, Val