I have too many eye shadow palettes - said no-one EVER! Today I've been looking at the MUA Romantic Efflorescence (yes, apparently that's a real word) Palette - a 12 shadow palette available at Superdrug and online for just £4. An absolute steal, and here's why...

I'll start off by saying that the shade range makes this palette very versatile; you can get a soft matte natural eye, some disco sparkle, a dramatic smoky eye and everything in between. You get six matte shades, four satin and two I would call straight up shimmer shades.

Top Row - Mesmeric, Tempt, Corrupt, Obsessed, Lavish, Fiery

Amongst the matte shades you have a beautiful light peachy pink which is perfect for a matte brow bone highlight or an all over lid colour. You also have two cool toned matte brown/taupe shades, ideal soft crease colours although they are almost identical so perhaps we only needed one? There's also two darker matte greys and a matte black - the matte black isn't a super strong pigment but it is very blendable for smoking out your lashline.

Bottom Row - Bewitch, Magnet, Exposed, Siren, Reveal, Captivate

There are some clear stand outs in the shimmer line up. Fiery is the most buttery rich gold which swatches like a dream - it can be used as part of a soft look for a little warmth or layered up on the lid for some serious impact. Reveal, a white-silver satin shade is gorgeous on the inner corner by itself and Exposed is a deep dark silver, reminiscent of Urban Decay's Gunmetal.

Left: Lid - Exposed topped with Reveal in the centre, Siren in the crease, Corrupt to smoke out the upper and lower lash line Right: Mesmeric as an all over base and highlight, Fiery on the lid, Captivate blended in the crease and Tempt in the outer v

Generally, the pigmentation is good although the taupe shades do need building up if you want some crease definition. I have also found that if you spray your brush with a setting spray or a little water, the colour can definitely be intensified. For such an inexpensive palette, I was expecting a lot more fall out but there's really only two shades (Exposed and Tempt) that kick up anything worth mentioning. Compared to my other palettes from this price range, the Romance Efflorescence palette's quality really does set itself ahead of the pack.

I'd love for you to let me know other high street palettes to try - you can never have too many in my opinion - and I hope you have an awesome weekend.

NSB x