Natasha Denona Triochrome Review & Swatches

Natasha Denona, like most other beauty brands, released a limited edition holiday palette*, and I bought it. Clearly. I resisted at first. I loved the color story, and I was constantly doing double takes. But I held off. I didn’t need it and wasn’t sure if I’d actually get much use from it. But after I couldn’t stop thinking about it, noticed I kept saving looks using it on Instagram, and didn’t have many color alternatives in my collection, I went for it. And I’ve got some thoughts. So that’s what we’re doing today, focusing on the Natasha Denona Triochrome Review (with swatches.)

the basics –

I have one other palette from Natasha Denona in my collection, so this format isn’t entirely new to me. The Natasha Denona Triochrome palette* is a limited edition release for Holiday 2020. It retails for $129 and contains 15 shades.

One note I have about Natasha Denona palettes is how thought out the arrangement of shades is. In the Triochrome palette, each row tells a different color story. The top row is full of greens and golden greens; the middle row tells a purple story; and the bottom row is full of warm orange and peach tones.

The highlight of this palette are the 3 multi-chrome shades (down the center). And the rest of the shades are matte.

the packaging –

I don’t always review the packaging in product reviews, but I’m such a sucker for anything iridescent or with this multichrome reflect. The packaging on this palette reminds me of an oil slick. It’s a sleek, plastic palette that shifts from blue to purple to green. I love it. And this palette comes with a high quality mirror, something I like about the Natasha Denona palettes.

the shade selection –

Like I said, the palette is entirely matte, with the exception of the 3 multichrome shades in the center of the palette.

top row:

• Scrap – cool dusty army green
• Andradite – pastel mint
• Scarab – poison green / warm gold / blue
• Ion – acid green
• Vert – vibrant mustard

middle row:

• Naga – pastel lavender
• Manganese – vibrant eggplant
• Kinetic Purple – purple / pink / muted green
• Redox – dusty lilac
• Tungsten – toasted mauve

bottom row:

• Vertex – cool ivory
• Plutonium – burnt mandarin
• Color Flip – fuchsia / nude / dusty green
• Garmon – peachy taupe
• Diatonic – vibrant light coral

the review –

Overall, I really like the Natasha Denona Triochrome palette. I’ll get a lot of use out of these shades, and I’m inspired to create looks with this. But I do have some qualms with it, too.

Is the color story versatile?

Firstly, I really love the color story. Like I said, I think it’s inspiring and I’ll be able to create a lot of beautiful looks. I especially like a lot of these shades for a one shadow kind of look. Shades like Tungsten, Redox, and Garmon will look so nice blended all over the lid with a little mascara.

I also think that to a beginner, the color story may be a little daunting, but the layout of the palette makes it really easy to create cohesive looks with some of these out there shades.

Second, going into this, the shades were a lot more pastel than I thought they were going to be. And I thought I was going to have a difficult time working with such a light palette, but I actually really enjoy the shades. I do wish, though, there was maybe one or two deeper shades somewhere in the palette, either in the purple or brown realm. It’s a little difficult to deepen a look using only shades from this palette, I find. I can do it, but sometimes I want something a little more intense. You know?

Is the formula easy to use?

As I previously said, I’ve only owned one other Natasha Denona palette, the Safari palette. It is an all matte palette, and I found a lot of those shades quite difficult to use. However, these mattes are lovely, in my opinion. With the exception of Scrap and Manganese which take a little more effort to work with, all of the shadows are easy to blend and use. I don’t find that they muddle together when you try to blend, which I have found some shadows to do.

While I enjoy the matte shades, I really wish there were more finishes in here. You get 3 multichrome shades and 12 mattes. I wish there were a few other textures in there, especially with some of the lighter shades.

Are the multichrome shades worth it?

Short answer, no. I think these three shades are really pretty, especially Scarab. I’m a sucker for that golden green color on the eyes; it really makes blue eyes pop. But I also found they lacked that fantastical shifting element multichromes possess. Color flip, the bottom multichrome, gave a little shift, but it was also a little dull. And Kinetic Purple, the middle purple multichrome, just didn’t perform, to me. They seemed to perform more like a duochrome to me. Still pretty, but not quite what I signed up for.

I think I really wanted the equivalent to her Chromium Multichrome liquid shadows* in a powder form, and I’m not sure I got that. And when you can buy multichrome shades from indie brands for not only less money but with a much higher color payoff, I just don’t know that palette is worth it for those shades alone.

the bottom line –

Bottom line: If you’re buying these for the multichromes, buy something else. It’s honestly too expensive and contains too little of the multichrome formula to be worth $129. Plus, the multichromes in this aren’t even that spectacular. If that’s what interests you about this palette, I’d suggest going for an indie brand multichrome, like Clionadh. And if you really want to stay loyal to Natasha Denona, try the liquid multichrome shadows*.

However, if you’re buying this for the overall color story or the mattes, specifically, I definitely think you’ll enjoy this. I’m not unhappy I purchased it and think I’ll get use out of it, but overall I just don’t think Natasha Denona shadows are all that for me.

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What do you think of the Natasha Denona Triochrome palette*? Is it something you’d be interested in picking up or not your cup of tea?

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