Review: Urban Decay Desperation Eyeshadow Single

Urban Decay describes their eyeshadow in the shade Desperation as a “greyish taupe brown satin-matte”. It's definitely an interesting color, and despite my aversion to neutral colors I just had to buy this shadow after using the sample card I received with one of my online Urban Decay purchases. This was my first Single eyeshadow from Urban Decay.

More after the break! (Several pictures ahead)

Urban Decay single eyeshadows retail for $18, (Buy online from Urban Decay) which feels ridiculous to a drugstore loving girl like me, but I already knew I loved this particular shade before buying the full-sized eyeshadow, so I decided to take the plunge and buy it anyway.

The packaging for Urban Decay singles is extremely classy: It comes in a dark, shiny, gunmetal grey plastic clam-shell style pot, with the both the brand's logo and name along, with their tag line on the partially clear top. On the bottom once again the brand's name is shown, along with the shade name. Urban Decay singles contain 1.5 gram of product, which is on-point with other company's singles, from what I own.

One thing I particularly love about these singles is the fact that you can easily pop the pan of eyeshadow out of the clam shell, and place it in a build-your-own palette that the company sells, and easily pops right back in as well!

Though the company calls this shade satin-matte, I feel like there's a distinct silvery shimmer to this color. I wouldn't call it glittery by any means, but it's not matte, or satin either. Their description of the color however is fairly accurate. Greyish taupe brown, with a slight purple undertone is how I'd personally describe it.

The shadow's texture is super soft and creamy, you only have to touch it with your brush to pick it up. It does kick up some excess powder in the pan though. Nothing extreme, but it's there. It applies and blends easily, and lasts for 8+ hours with a primer. I don't ever go without a primer, so I'm unsure of it's longevity without, but even in my experience it lasts for a substantial amount of time so I doubt it would crease, or fade away very quickly, even without, at least on someone whose eyelids aren't very oily.

                                Here I have Desperation in my crease and on my lower lash line.

I get the most use out of this shade by lining my lower lash line with a super small angled brush, and also using a fluffy brush, blending it into the crease. When it's blended out you can see the purple tones a bit more. Most of my brushes are from either e.l.f. Or BH Cosmetics, and I find that the Blending Brush offered by BH Cosmetics works really well for applying the color in the crease softly.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with this eyeshadow, and I will most likely repurchase it if I ever use it up. I highly recommend this single, and look forward to trying more shades!