| Review | Dior Backstage Collection Eyeshadow Palette in Cool & Warm



| Review | Dior Backstage Collection Eyeshadow Palette in Cool & Warm 

With nude and natural makeup being so popular this year, these soft and natural eye palettes are highly coveted. I was once a big fan of the Backstage Collection Reviver Palettes released in years past and it appears that Dior has bright back these soft tones and textures but perhaps with a new formula. I am excited to try them out and compare them to the eyeshdaows from the years past. 

As soon as I saw these, it immediately brought me back to the Dior Reviver Palettes, which if you didn't know were from previous Backstage Collections. I fell in love with the concept and natural finish of these palettes but truth be told, now that I have used them for a while, they are not the best formula. Good but not amazing, I had collected quite a few and I am hoping this new Backstage Collection is presenting us with a new formulation as well.

The Dior Backstage Collection Eyeshadow Palette in Cool & Warm retail for $49.00 USD and is available at Sephora. As I stated in my previous two reviews of the Glow Palette here and the Contour Palette here; the entire Backstage Collection is housed in simple plastic cases, not Dior's usual luxury approach but these were meant for makeup artist backstage, so I can see the benefit of having clear cases for easy identification of products and colors. I have also heard it is because they wanted to pour all their quality into the product and keep the price reasonable for consumers. I love Dior products and their packaging, but I have personally had some problems with their Backstage Collection packaging in the past with these Reviver Palettes, you can see all the trouble I had in this review here. In preparation for this review I decided to pull out these palettes again and as I was using one of the ones without a broken compact, broke in my hands... 




These Eyeshadow Palettes each come with 8 Eyeshadows and 1 Eyeshadow Primer. I love the concept of this but in execution, I would prefer to just have an additional eyeshadow. The problem with putting a cream primer with powdered eyeshdows is that the eyeshadows are going to get into the primer and make a mess. Also, I just don't feel like the plastic case is the most secure and well sealed container for a cream product like this, it will most likely get dried out over time. If not, it will probably dry out sooner from exposure because of having the palette open for use. 

PRIMER 

Let's talk about the primer, since it's the same in both palettes. I actually really like it! I heard many people saying it was too emollient and it really concerned me but I didn't find it too emollient or greasy at all. It is a sheer beige tone that smooths over the eyelids and evens and lightens the tone of the eyelid. It blends very well into the skin and leaves my lids feeling silky and soft. I blend it really well into my skin with my fingers and it doesn't feel wet or sticky. The eyeshadow adheres well to the primer and the primer doesn't cause the shadows to cling or apply patchy. My eyeshadow really applied very smooth, evenly, and it blended very well on top of the primer! I am actually surprisingly impressed with this primer, not only do the shadows blend beautifully on top of them and more vibrant, the shadows stayed vibrant and last all day long (8+ hours)! Seriously, I noticed little to no creasing and my eyeshadow basically looked the same as it did in the morning! The very bit of very very subtle fading that occurred I believe comes from the shadow formulation itself, I will get into that in a second. 


EYESHADOWS - WARM 

There's a strange amount of cool toned brown shades in this palette considering it is a "Warm Palette". The whole right side column has very cool toned browns while the shimmery shades lean golden. There are only two shades that lean very obviously warm and coppery but the other shades are all quite neutral. I find this a bit strange but the palette is very pretty and the shades all work very well together to create cohesive looks. This palette is a basic palette and it really is as basic as you can get when it comes to a neutral palette. All the shades are beautiful but there is nothing that is a "wow!" or "pow!" kind of shade that will jump out at you, which is fine if that is what you need in your collection. What is nice about having the cool toned browns is that you can do your brows with them! This collection comes with two brow kits but if you have this palette, these shades totally work to customize a brow color!

 Close Up

 Back of Palette 

 Top Row - Left to Right: Primer, Gold Highlighter, Ombre Sculpting Powder

 Middle Row - Left to Right: Shimmer Beige, Shimmer Copper, Shimmer Brown 

Bottom Row - Left to Right: Matte Nude, Matte Ochre, Matte Charcoal

EYESHADOWS - COOL 

I love the texture and the overall cohesion to this palette. Purples tend to be quite tricky to formulate and I think Dior did and exceptional job on this palette. The colors compliment each other but they also don't get muddy as they wear on throughout the day. The overall looks you can create are very romantic and beautiful. I have been reaching for this palette more often than the warm palette. I think the colors work so well together to create a many different kinds of looks and I find the quality of the shadows to be better. I also feel that the purples in the palette are very wearable for all skin tones and are neutral enough to be worn everyday.

 Close Up

Back of Palette 

Top Row - Left to Right: Primer, Silver Highlighter, Ombre Sculpting Powder

Middle Row - Left to Right: Shimmer Pink, Shimmer Lilac, Shimmer Purple

Bottom Row - Left to Right: Matte Pink, Matte Mauve, Matte Plum

FORMULA 

MATTE EYESHADOWS 

I found the matte eyeshadows to be very creamy, blendable and pigmented! These surpassed my expectations and I really love the dimension and velvety finish these shadows add to the overall look. These mattes are superior to the shimmer shadows in texture and formula. I like the variety of color and tones, which all compliment each other very well and they all blend into each other very well but don't become muddy. The matte shades are impressively creamy and they do kick up a bit of excess when you dip your brush into them but the big thing is that it doesn't cause fallout!

SHIMMER EYESHADOWS

Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in the shimmer eyeshadows,  which is rare because shimmer shadows formulas tend to be easier to create. These shimmer shadows appear to be sheerer than I expected and they don't seem to build very well. I also notice that they tend to fade a bit throughout the day. They just seem to be this slightly grittier shimmer texture that is sheer and it doesn't layer very well. I tried a variety of brushes and even with my densest and flattest eyeshadow brush, the shimmer shadows didn't sit on the skin or build up. They are still very soft and reflective but don't expect much impact from these shades.


COMPARISON 

How do these shadows compare to the ones from the Reviver Palettes? 

After pulling out my Reviver Palettes again, I realized the formula and texture is seriously lacking. The original 001 Reviver Palette does not have great pigmentation and the textures are quite dry. Even the other two limited edition palettes have some pretty dry shadows, especially the darker shades, which create a ton of fallout! I also notice that the shades are a little to similar and the look can get a bit muddy. Despite the not-so-great quality of the shadows, the finished look is always exceptional. These shadows offer a really soft and luminous finish that really looks beautiful.

The new Backstage Palettes actually have matte shadows, which is awesome! This was something that was severely lacking in the Reviver Palettes! Now you finally have a variety of textures! The shadows are creamier and they produce less fallout! Another excellent thing about the new formula! While the shimmer shades in the new Backstage Palettes are significantly better than the Reviver Palettes, they are still not good. The adhere much better to the eyes, so there isn't any fallout but they are still kind of sheer and don't build very well. There's something about this shimmer formula that just doesn't work and though it has improved, I'm still very disappointed in it.

I have swatched similar shades from the various palettes to compare. You will notice much more of grittier texture with the new Backstage shimmers, while the Reviver ones are a lot softer and more of a satin shimmer.

 Backstage Warm Palette vs, Reviver 002 (LE) 

Left to Right: Backstage Gold Highlighter (top row, middle), Reviver Champagne (3rd from the left), Backstage Shimmer Brown (middle row, right), Reviver Shimmer Brown (last shadow) 

Reviver 001(still available) vs. Backstage Cool vs, Reviver Nordy Girl (LE)

Left to Right: Backstage Shimmer Purple (middle row, last), Nordy Girl (last shadow), Backstage Silver Highlighter (top row, middle), Reviver 001 Champagne (second shade from left), Reviver 001 Purple Taupe (second to last shade), Backstage Lilac Shimmer (middle row, middle), Nordy Girl Shimmering Purple Taupe (second to last shade)

FINAL THOUGHTS 

I like these palettes a lot but I'm not in love with them. I think the matte shades are phenomenal! They have this incredible buttery and creamy texture that blends out beautifully. They are very pigmented and buildup very well! The shimmers for me, leave much to be desired. They have a very sheer texture and don't seem to layer very well. However, they blend into other shadows very well and provide a very pretty soft glow. The primer is probably the most unexpected and best part of this palette! I'm probably going to be the only one who actually likes it but I found that it really held my shadows on all day long! I even decided to work out in my makeup after work and my shadows still looked just as vibrant and stayed on! There was a tiny bit of creasing but I was sweating. I love the shade selection in the cool palette more than the warm but overall, I think they both have beautiful colors. Are these a must-have? No, but they turned out to be my favorite product of the everything I bought from this collection but they aren't very unique and because the shimmers are lacking in quality, I can't say they are a must-have.

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