The arrival of Huda Beauty's second eye shadow palette, Desert Dusk, has been long awaited by the beauty world. Her first palette, Textured Rose Gold, was a smash hit, but the reviews of Desert Desk have been a completely mixed bag.
Now the internet has no idea what to think, and it all started with one vlogger.
Australian beauty YouTuber Michael Finch reviewed the Desert Dusk palette before most other vloggers, and things did not go well for him.
Right off the bat, Finch had difficulty blending out the palette's matte shades.
Some shades didn't play well with others, some were too pigmented to blend, and some blended well, but became very sheer and patchy afterward.
The pressed glitter shades, he noted, practically fell apart in the pan and left severe fallout on the face.
And no matter what tool or method he used, he just couldn't adhere the glitter to his eyelid.
The palette's kickback also proved problematic. As a fan of Huda's previous palette, Finch was severely let down.
Huda Beauty's previous palette, which he says is one of his tried-and-trues, does not deliver this result, according to Finch.
Naturally, Finch's followers were enraged by how the palette performed.
Many of them swore not to buy the palette, thanks to his review.
But after a handful of other YouTubers, namely Nikkie Tutorials, gave the palette glowing reviews, the internet became even more suspicious of it.
Viewers flooded Finch's Twitter to tell him that his review wasn't reliable for multiple reasons.
Some suspect Finch gave a controversial review for to attract viewers, some say he's not using the palette properly, and some say he was simply having an "off day."
After becoming the subject of beauty YouTube gossip due to his initial review, Finch decided to give the palette a second go.
The second time, Finch used the same techniques as NikkieTutorials' — similar to his own — and had a little more luck.
But Finch still noted a significant change in Huda's formula, which he believes caused the severe fallout and patchiness.
At the end of the day, Finch still couldn't bring himself to enjoy Desert Dusk as he does Textured Rose Gold.
The rest of the internet's opinions are rather mixed, though.
Some reviews note the same fragility of the pressed glitters, and others note the same lack pigmentation that Finch did.
But just as many vloggers created stunning looks without a hint of struggle.
Was there a batch issue? Is the new shadow formula just not up to par? Is it just a matter of personal preference?
Given that the palette, which has yet to debut in the US, will cost a whopping $65, few are willing to spend the money to find out for themselves.
Revelist has reached out to Huda Beauty for comment and will update this post upon hearing back.
We might never know for sure.
Fellow beauty investigators, now is your time to shine.
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