Remember the yet-to-release Dior Backstage eyeshadow palette that was allegedly used in the fabulous Wedding Make-Up of The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle? Well.. the Dior Backstage collection launched last weekend in the Netherlands and of course I had to get my hands on something from the collection asap. Whether Meghan Markle actually wore Dior eyeshadow or not, the collection itself looks fab enough to be wanted!

I decided to get my hands on the Dior Backstage Eye Palette in 002 Cool Neutrals because I have way more warm toned palettes in my collection than cool toned ones. Meghan Markle allegedly wore the 001 Warm Neutrals on her wedding day and that palette is gorgeous too, so I might pick up it someday in the future.

So the cool thing of this whole collection launch was that, since I was one of the first 100 to place an order with the new Dior Backstage collection on the Douglas website (a European store that tries really hard to become the Dutch Sephora) I received a Dior goodiebag. I honestly didn’t know that was going to happen so I was so stoked!

I love how simple and elegant the packaging is. Even though it’s see through plastic, it does not look cheap at all (let’s just say it’s a make it or break it kind of packaging).

The palette has 8 eyeshadow shades (3 shimmers, 3 mattes, a highlighter and a sculpting powder according to the instructions of the palette, but basically it’s 4 mattes and 4 shimmers). The palette also includes an eyeshadow primer which I think is such a good idea! This way you also have yourself a primer in a travel proof palette.

It is an original palette? Nope. Is the color selection new? Nope. Is it a beautiful palette? YES!

This palette does belong in the category ‘I already have thousands of these shades’ but I’m loving it anyway because it’s a refreshing brand by Dior. Also, Dior Backstage is supposed to be a more affordable sister of Dior Makeup that’s inspired by the runway. I like the sound of that!

I am honestly surprised by the quality of these swatches! The mattes are very creamy and pigmented. I wish the shimmery shades had a bit more pigmentation though, because they look a bit ‘shy’ next to the mattes. I’m curious to see how they work on my eyes.

The shades are pressed pretty lightly, giving the shadows quite some kickback when you dig in with a brush and your really have to tap of your brush before applying the shadow (you can see on the bottom row how fast the Dior logo fades because of the softness of the shadow).

However, when the brush is tapped of, you matte shades are so so good! They give a lot of pigment and blend so easy. The blendability of the shades is my favorite part of this palette for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The palette has enough shades to make a glam look, a soft look, a pastel look and a smokey eye. For this look I wanted to try it all out so I went it with almost all the shades.

The mattes really are great! The shimmery shades are actually a bit tougher to apply. Wetting the brush works for the purple shimmer really well but for the other shimmers not so much. What did work well actually was applying a thin layer of the shimmery shade at first with a brush and applying a layer with my finger after that.

I also find that it’s hard to build up several shades on each other (applies to all the shades in the palette), but I can work with that by just keeping the shades in a concentrated spot when applying it.

The primer that comes in the eyeshadow palette is nice and works well, but it’s nothing special. I love it because this way you don’t need a separate primer, but I personally just use some concealer to prime my eye.

The primer is pretty sticky when I’m applying shades on top of it, so I do have to set it with either one of the shades or just with some face powder. This way the shades can actually glide perfectly on my eye when applying.

The three deluxe sized products that came in the goodie bag: Dior Addict Lip Maximizer (love that, I own the full size as well), Dior Pump ‘n’ Volume mascara (can’t wait to try it out!) and the Dior Diorshow Lash Primer (have been hearing good things about this one).

To round this blog up: the Dior Backstage Eye Palette is a good and beautiful palette that’s nice to have in your collection in you are into brands like Dior. But, if you want to splurge on a cool toned quality palette, I do believe that there are indeed better palettes on the market. If you are thinking about purchasing this Dior gem then I’ll say: go for it! But if your looking for ‘a cool toned palette’ then I don’t think this is THE best of the best.

Do you have your eye on anything from the Dior Backstage collection?

The Dior Backstage Eye Palettes retail for €51,77 on Douglas.nl.