Urban Decay Heavy Metals Eyeshadow Palette for Holiday 2017

Today I'm sharing one of the best releases for Holiday 2017 with the worst packaging. I want to focus on the product, but there will be significant whining.

First, the basics. This weighty palette retails for $55 and contains 20 all-new metallic eyeshadows. It's reportedly a brand-new formula, and each shade has 0.8g of product.

I'm going to lift the following straight from the brand because I purchased this myself but wanted to share the research I've done:

What sets Heavy Metals apart? We developed a whole new Eyeshadow formula for this palette. We bumped up the foiled effect to create our most metallic shadows ever. In doing so, we carefully crafted the formula on every shade to make sure each one would apply with a soft and creamy texture and create intense, shiny metallic effects. Every shade has a velvety feel for the perfect application, provides insane color payout and blends like a dream.

The shadows? They're the great part of this product. Before I show any more photos, it's time to bring in my whining- which may or may not apply to you.  Back to Urban Decay:

The killer lavender case has a crushed metal effect on one end…kind of like we smashed it while rocking out. It’s so gorgeous…like a modern art sculpture you’ll want to show off. Just imagine the gasps of, “WHAT’S THAT?!” when your friends see this baby. The palette slides open to dramatically reveal the shadow tray. When you’re ready to work your makeup magic, just pull the palette out and use Heavy Metals like a painter’s palette. Of course, we included a big mirror, so not only is this palette glamrock hot, it’s totally practical too.

Dear Urban Decay, I f*^*^g hate your modern art packaging as an amateur blogger- and as someone with OCD about smudgy packaging. It's also super bulky for most people's storage.

It's pretty much impossible to capture with a camera- and the fact that it's 100% reflective means there's no clean shot unless you have a professional studio with shadow box. As an amateur blogger, I shouldn't feel compelled to go spend another $250 on photography equipment to get one damn shot of this product. Screw that.

So guess what? Packaging photos aren't perfect. Don't blame me- blame the brand for the most frustrating, smudgy, and stupid packaging design ever. Breathe on it and it'll be messed up.

Oh, and let me get into the mirror in the middle of the shadows- seriously? I love having big mirrors, but this itself is not workable when doing one's makeup. I don't know anyone who props up a palette or hunches over a flat mirror to do their makeup.

I love the idea of being creative. And I effing love the shadows in this palette. But goodness, this packaging is the WORST.


OK, now that I've gotten my aggression out, here's the very best shot I managed of the front. It is pretty.

This is the same color as the LE lip palette for this holiday (which I won't be picking up).

OK, this is going to be tough to show because of the reflective packaging, but bear with me. When I'm thinking about my favorite releases for holiday 2017, only Kat Von D Saint and Sinner beats this- simply because there are multiple formulas. This is that good. Just know this is all metallic shimmers- aka a supplementary lid palette. That said, it'd be a kick-ass gift.

I'm going to have to photograph this in parts to avoid the mirror and minimize the reflection of, well, every damn thing on the palette's surface.

This is the cleanest photo I have- in which I tried to reflect a white Ikea loveseat. Oh, the things bloggers will do.

This palette has two distinct halves- a bold side and a neutral side. I've been playing with this for about 10 days and have loved everything that I've done.

Let's start on the bold side, shall we?

So pretty- and so reflective. Sorry for the camera reflection.

Ground is a great-performing shade for having a black base. I nearly used this on Halloween and look forward to incorporating it into glitzy smoky eyes.
Aluminum is incredible. I actually exclaimed "OMG" when I swatched this. It's the type of grey that's my HG.

Spandex is patchier but stunning. It's a deeper purple with a little red that doesn't show in these photos.
Dive is a lovely cobalt.

Metalhead performs like a purple, but has this stunning hidden blue shimmer.
Punk Rock is a lovely glitzy pink that would've been exceptional and a standout shade... until we had the pink explosion these past couple of years.

Mullet straddles the line between evergreen and grungy olive with less obvious glitz- but I predict it'll be on my eyes all of the time.
Amp is a shot of summer for me. It's screaming lower lashline for me. It's deeper and more blue and more pigmented than the blue in Natasha Denona Aeris, for reference.

Twisted is a gorgeous old gold that's buttery and all things good
Glamrock is a bit drier but a true platinum metallic shade


I think you can see just how metallic these are from the pans. Let's go to the swatches.

This is a party in a palette. Although the other half is more practical, I'm drawn to these at the moment.

I wanted to show you the first look I did from this palette. Yep, it's Mullet.

Forgive that wing that skipped a bit. Meh. But the shadow? STUNNING.

Now that we've had a party, let's take it into neutral.

I've worn quite a few of these to work, and I have a feeling I'll reach for these quite often.

Bass is a cooler taupey brown shimmer that's deeper than this photo shows.
Glory is a muted gold.

Demo is the deepest brown in the palette- it's a rich chocolate metallic shimmer.
Starfire is a fall copper shade- muted but still in that color family.

Afterparty is a shimmering garnet that's just lovely.
Angelfire is the only somewhat miss in the palette. It's more of a traditional glitter shade, and it's quite stiff.

Roadie is a deep shimmering burgundy. Two years ago I never would've touched it, now I know it's so pretty.
Maiden is a traditional champagne gold metallic shimmer that's very work-friendly.

Scream is a warm champagne shimmer that's not being done justice by my photographs. It's a great lid shade in a conservative workplace.
Acoustic is a light white gold shimmer.

Now that I've shown you the shades, let's go to the swatches:

There's a really nice assortment of neutral shades that should suit a range of skintones.

I wanted to share a look I did with Roadie:

Really nice on blue eyes. And I did this during the week- so no, I didn't get exceptionally adventurous. You try that at 4:30AM, ok?

Because pigmentation and fallout are the words of 2017, here's what my palette looked like following single swatches:

Sp yes, there's kickup- and you can see what a bear this palette is to cleanly photograph.

Overall, I think this palette is expensive but worth it. Putting aside my hatred for this packaging, the formula's really good. These are very pigmented and opaque shimmers that last all day on the lid with a primer. Yes, do your eyes first. But these make vibrant and striking looks.

I almost passed on this, but I'm so happy that I picked it up when I was in the midst of a 2000 point redemption at Ulta. This is one of my favorite Holiday 2017 releases.