From the moment I saw the first promo images of this palette, I knew it was a love affair waiting to happen. My very first high-end makeup palette was Urban Decay's Naked palette, and since then I've yet to be severely disappointed by any palette Urban Decay releases. Of course there are some that aren't my thing (such as the cool toned Naked 2), and then there are also some that are just completely 100% my thing. Like the newly released Urban Decay Backtalk palette, which contains a range of warm dusty pink/mauve/brown shades for both eyes and cheeks. I rarely wear other shades these days: my two latest looks I did on the blog (here and here) are solid proof. Yes, it's a love affair alright.

The mirror in the palette can be taken out, which comes in super handy!

I definitely did hold my breath when I got mine in the mail though, as I had already read quite a few negative or neutral reviews. I really wanted this one to be good because of those gorgeous warm pink shades. My palette luckily does not suffer from the comments I've been reading in those negative reviews. While I do find the pigmentation lacking in two of the eyeshadows (read on for more detail), I don't find the overall quality disappointing at all. The very pigmented eye look I did (see pictures at the end of this post) is the best proof of how far you can take this palette. For a more subtle everyday look, I recommend checking out this post by a fellow blogger. This is how I'd wear the palette to work on a day where I have no time for elaborate eye looks; just a light flattering wash of colour.

The design on the palette is also pretty cool, I don't think I've ever seen any others like it. The mirror can be taken out and clasps back in with a magnetic strip. So handy! The only dislike here is that it doesn't close completely (unlike the recent Naked palettes), so it does seem more fragile. I haven't had any issues when traveling with it, although I wouldn't put it in a bag in which it can move too much to avoid the mirror falling out and possibly scratching any of the powders.
 


The cheek side of the palette comes with three blushes and one highlighter (or two highlighters if you have a deeper skin tone). All four of these shades flatter my pale warm toned skin, so it's definitely quite the versatile palette. Even the highlighter Party Foul looks great on me with its light pink base that usually doesn't agree well with me. My favourite blush is definitely Cheap Shot - going in with a light hand this compliments my skin beautifully, but Low Key is really pretty too for a light cheek glow.

The eyeshadow side of the palette contains eight eyeshadows. Bare and Curve sadly don't perform very well - it takes quite some work to get some pigment out of these. To combat the tricky formula I pack on the eyeshadow with some Fix+ on a flat synthetic bristle eyeshadow brush, or you could also use your fingers to get some more pigment out of them. Shade, Attitude & 180 have a similar satin finish, but with much better pigmentation. The trick to these for super bold eye looks is that you're better of patting them on with a flat brush rather than sweeping them on - this ensures a super pigmented and even colour pay-off. 3 Sheets, Backtalk and WTF are matte shades that really bring the look together used as a transition color (Backtalk and WTF), on their own (I love a wash of Backtalk for daily looks) or as an understated inner corner highlight (3 Sheets).

Eyeshadow shades used: 3 Sheets (inner corner), Backtalk (transition), Shade, Curve & 180 (as a liner to darken lashes)

Cheek shades used: Cheap Shot (with a light hand) and Party Foul

I started playing with the palette on a regular Sunday afternoon and loved the look I did so much I wore it all through the afternoon and evening. The eyeshadows did not fade, smudge or lose any vibrancy - I was pretty impressed. I do always use a good eyeshadow primer for these kinds of looks, so as with any look I'd recommend to do the same. On my lips you can see Urban Decay's lipstick in Backtalk, the super popular lipstick shade this palette was based on. However I do feel like the lipstick differs in tone compared to the eyeshadow palette - it's much more mauve than the eyeshadows are. That's why I'd probably wear this look with lip shades like MAC Cosmetics' Spice or even a pretty warm nude lip to divert all attention to the eyes.