Breaking down the striking (and uber colorful) Urban Decay Born to Run palette.

Dreamers, truth be told…eyeshadow palettes are a dime a dozen these days.

No longer do we live in the world of standard Maybelline, Cover Girl, Revlon and L’Oreal hanging out at the drugstore with classics Estee Lauder, Lancome, Clinique and Chanel calling your name at the department store.

The beauty industry has changed and new makeup brands are springing up at a RAPID rate. From Kylie Cosmetics, to Fenty Beauty, to ColourPop, to Huda Beauty, to Lime Crime, to MILK Makeup…on and on and on the list goes. And to keep up with the mass competition, all these popular brands are dropping new products every time you blink your eye.

There are literally SO many palettes hitting the market these days I dare say you’d need about six sets of eyes to try them all.

*phew*

Obviously, an abundance of choices is a great thing for us makeup lovers. But, it also can make it a bit tricky to nail down exactly what eyeshadow palette you should drop your money on. They’re all beautiful. They come with flashy packaging and convincing adverts. But in the end, who TRULY measures up?

Well, our friends at Urban Decay are definitely making a run for it with their new Born to Run palette.

Urban Decay Born to Run Palette Breakdown

Ah, Urban Decay. They really suckered me in with this palette.

After picking up (and LOVING) the Urban Decay Summer Beached palette (review here), you’d think I was about SET on UD eyeshadows for the season. Then they had to go and drop this 21-shade beauty!

Urban Decay Born to Run Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches I DreaminLace.com #UrbanDecay #SummerMakeup #CrueltyFree #Makeup — Urban Decay – Born to Run Eyeshadow Palette

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Did You Fall in Love At First Sight? I Did.

With 21 shades, the Urban Decay Born to Run palette certainly has a lot to deliver.

Add to that such a colorful variety in shadows and I’m convinced this is WAY better than any boring ole’ neutral palette out there at the moment. Look how MUCH you can create here!

Included you’re going to find several shades that are decidedly more neutral, but to balance them out there are striking vivid colors like magenta, purple, greens, copper and even a turquoise.

That’s right, Urban Decay went all OVER the color wheel in putting this one together.

Pigmentation?

True to form, the pigment quality in the Urban Decay Born to Run palette is…fabulous. When you pack these shadows on your lid with a flat shader brush or even your finger tool, the color builds so intensely it might throw you off for a second. I mean, wow.

Fresh off trying the Dior Backstage eyeshadow palette, which takes a much more subtle approach, the Urban Decay’s Born to Run was quite the eye opener in the morning. Sat at my vanity I had a good “woah there” moment before settling into play and have fun with the shadows.

Now, I know you’re probably eager to get a closer look at the shadows so let’s review some swatches!

Urban Decay Born to Run Palette Swatches

Shadows From Top to Bottom:

Good as Gone: Deep brown with an iridescent micro-shimmer

Riff: Matt brown with orange undertones

Still Shot: Matte, bright peach shade

Weekender: A matte, light and neutral beige

Blaze: Light, metallic peach shade

Stranded: A pale rose-gold with slight shimmer

Breakaway: Warm, ivory with shimmer

Shades from Top to Bottom:

Wanderlust: A shimmery forest-green

Smog: Deep bronze shimmer

Ignite: The perfect shimmery rose gold

Guilt Trip: Purple shimmer

Accelerate: Metallic copper red

Baja: Matte burnt orange

Hell Ride: Deep fuchsia matte

Shadows from Top to Bottom:

Big Sky: Turquoise with frosty shimmer

Radio: A satin emerald

Drift: Charcoal satin with sparkle

Jet: Jet black threaded with purple

Double Life: Rusty metallic

Punk: Warm toned deep matte brown

Wild Heart: Bright, shimmery fuchsia

With so many colors and textures to play with, there really is no limit to how much you can create with and confession:

Weird as it sounds, working with the Urban Decay Born to Run palette makes me feel a bit like Bob Ross.

Short the afro and meditative tone of voice, I get to work doing my eye makeup and fill a blank canvas with happiness. This way around though, “happy trees” become happy cut creases and babbling brooks are perfectly blended color gradients of shadow.

Seriously, I’m by no means a makeup artist but I feel like the Born to Run palette is guaranteed to help you step up your game! For one thing, the quality of the shadows is so fantastic UD makes it easier on you. Secondly, the vivid colors are so striking they will actually seduce you into stepping outside your comfort zone of neutrals and embracing more pops of color in your everyday makeup.

Urban Decay, thank you for making us all more adventurous in our makeup decisions.

Capturing Life on the Run

I’m all-in on the spirit of the Urban Decay On the Run palette and the beautiful spectrum of colors tucked inside. Inspired by living on-the-go and exploring sights around the world, it’s also so fun to look at the thought they put into each shade name and how the names truly capture the spirit of the shadow.

It’s all the little touches like that that truly perfect this palette. Every detail from the quality of the shadows, to the colors, to the names and to the packaging was well thought out and well executed by the UD team.

It’s definitely the only palette I think you need to buy this summer – and perhaps this year? We’ll see.

Nonetheless, kudos to Urban Decay for winning the game!