Honest Review of the Cool Nude Eyeshadow Palette by Ilia

I’ve spoken about Ilia quite a bit lately! While the natural-focused, cruelty-free makeup brand has always had a dedicated place on my vanity, I’ve recently started splurging on more products from Ilia. Just a few months ago, I did an in-depth review of their True Skin Serum Foundation, Concealer, and Colorblock lipstick—which I love!

Today I’m dedicating an entire post to The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette, because *spoiler* I really think it’s that great. Ilia’s latest eyeshadow palette comes in two colourways, Warm or Cool. Both collections feature super versatile shades and a generously sized mirror. Not to mention a safe and gentle formula. Keep scrolling to read the pros and cons on this palette, high-res swatches, and two YouTube videos demoing the application.

The Pros and Cons of this Ilia Eyeshadow palette:

Let’s start off with the pros. Here are the eight things I enjoy about the Cool Nude eyeshadow palette by Ilia:

The eyeshadows feature a vegan, “clean” formula that’s free from Talc and other common irritants.
The addition of Jojoba oil and vitamin E creates a satiny-creamy-powder application with minimal product kick-up. (ie: the formula isn’t messy to work with.)
Colour payoff is amazing! These eyeshadows can be laid down in one saturated sweep. Though, using a gentle touch can also create a more transparent application.
The shades are highly blendable. Even the dark shades. Creating a smoky eye look is a breeze with this palette.
I didn’t need an eyeshadow primer. These shadows stuck to my lids like nothing else I’ve tried in the clean, vegan beauty market. (My lids, like the rest of my face, can get quite oily by mid-day.) After 6 hours of wear, I had only the most minimal traces of creasing. The matte colours held up the best, while the shimmers did have more prominent, yet mild, creasing.
There’s a balance of matte and shimmery shades. Nothing turns me off an eyeshadow palette more than an offering of only glittery or high-shimmer shades. Give me some mattes and I’m a happy camper. Plus, the mattes in the Cool Nude palette are a no-brainer to apply. Swipes these on in 3 seconds to create a polished eye look that stays put all day.
Even though there are only 6 shades, there are a lot of colour-pairing options. Sure, the brown shades blend beautifully with the beige, and the maroon looks lovely with the lilac. But feel free to get creative! Pair the beige with the maroon and go for a deep-purple sparkle in your lash line. Pair the deep chocolate shade with any of the shimmer shades for an instant, easy, sultry lid. These eyeshadow colours are cohesive and seem to all work together no matter what you do.
The palette includes a generously-sized mirror. I can see my whole face in this, which is a nice change from other shadow compacts.

Potential Improvements…

So… I’ll be honest. I’m hard-pressed to think of anything that I dislike about the Necessary Cool Nudes eyeshadow palette. At CND$48 (on DetoxMarket.ca)/USD$38 (on DetoxMarket.com), even the price is fair! I’m not a big fan of eyeshadows and yet this palette has ticked all the boxes for me. Instead, let me list a few things I think could be improved:

It would be nice to see packaging that could be easily recycled.
Palettes that let you mix, match, and replace shades would be brilliant. Back when I used to buy MAC cosmetics, I had several of their magnetic eyeshadow palette trays. Years later, I still appreciate that concept. There are some shades that I dip into every day, and others I only use once-in-a-while. Being able to re-purchase and replace only those frequently used shades, instead of an entirely new palette, would be a game-changer.