Milani Gilded Desires Eye & Face Palette

So far I've only had great experience with Milani products and I'm especially a big fan of the Conceal + Perfect foundation, but this is my first time trying their eyeshadows and this has to be one of the most pigmented eyeshadow palettes in my collection. Only TheBalm Nude-tude is equally great and maybe Too Faced Chocolate Bar, but that one has more densely packed eyeshadows. Gilded Desires is a limited edition palette with 12 eyeshadows, 6 metallics plus 6 mattes, and two pearly highlighters.

The texture of eyeshadows is so creamy and smooth, they are some of the creamiest classic eyeshadows I've tried. Only Colourpop Super Shock, Catrice's Metal Sensation and Essence Melted Chromes are softer, but they are not as pigmented as these. Metallics are super pigmented, though it differs from shade to shade, but all have a fully opaque look with very little effort and the effect is even better if you apply them wet (I haven't tried them that way, but I saw a review/tutorial with these and it looked like liquid metal). This softness does have a bad side at metallics, because you need to use light pressure on them to avoid denting them too much and there is some excess kick-off as well as some fall down. For metallics I prefer to use my fingers because I have a similar problem as at Catrice eyeshadows that a brush doesn't pick them up well, plus you use less if you use fingers. The mattes are a bit denser, less soft, but still super pigmented and very smooth. They blend a bit easier than metallics as you might expect, but it's not a big difference.

The collection of shades is overwhelmingly warm, which doesn't make it my favourite selection, but that's the trend nowadays and there are some nice neutrals that I will use often. For me what's missing is a less intense crease shade as the matte mid brown in the palette ends up quite strong. The black in this palette is exceptional, it's not often you see such a strong black. Highlighters are both warm, but they vary in intensity as the gold one is less strong.

1st row:

Naked Truth - a matte light yellow-toned cream shade.

Champagne Wasted - a metallic champagne shade, contains largest shimmer particles of all shades.

Sweet As Honey - a warm matte pale peachy pink

Most Covet Rose - a metallic light rose gold peachy-pink base with gold shimmer.

2nd row:

Love addict - a metallic tomato red. It looks less warm in the palette than on the skin.

Desire for Gold - a metallic yellow gold

Crazy for Cocoa - a matte mid brown.

Time to Un-wine - a matte dark/wine red

3rd row:

Just Bronzing Around - a metallic copper. This shade has the strongest metallic finish and creamiest, most pigmented formula in the palette.

The Olive of my Life - a metallic olive-bronze shade. My favourite.

Wood you Join me - a matte dark chocolate brown.

Black Tie Affair - an intense matte black.

Highlighters:

Brighten up my day - a white gold with a very strong glowy effect.

Highlight of the day - a peachy-gold.

Staying power is impressive. I half expected these to crease on me because of the creamy formula (like Essence and Catrice do), but this is a very long-lasting formula that stays put. They looked almost like freshly applied at the end of the day with no creasing, excessive fading or any extra fall down.

Packaging is gold and it's an absolute fingerprint magnet. Luckily they wipe of easily. You get a handy big mirror in the palette.

Price and availability: in Slovenia (and Croatia) you can get it on Click2chic for 24.49 €.

If you're a fan of metallic eyeshadows this is an excellent palette. It's super pigmented and the eyeshadows are great quality. I'd absolutely love it if Milani made a cool toned version too, something with a more green gold, bronzes and Mac satin-taupe like shades because now this is a very warm palette and I look so odd in red, yellow gold and copper shades, so I just stick to the light neutrals, sculpting mattes and that gorgeous bronze olive shade.