Because I tend to do a lot of research before buying things (with some regrettable impulsive exceptions, of course), I'm rarely pleasantly surprised when I try out a new product. Sometimes I'm disappointed; a lot of the time it lives up to my expectations. In this case, however, the Juvia's Place Nubian Palette (or "The Nubian By Juvia's") as the packaging calls it) is much more amazing than I had expected or hoped. The colors are beautiful, and despite the fact that I usually have trouble wearing reds and oranges as eyeshadows, I've used every shade in this palette multiple times by now, and they all work for me. They're stunningly pretty, pigmented eyeshadows.
First, check out the cover, if you haven't seen it before:
For whatever reason, my camera (and most cameras, from other photos I've seen) has a hard time capturing the actual color of the packaging, which is definitely green (i.e. not blue or teal or aqua). As you may know, I don't tend to care much about packaging so long as it's functional. This is a cardboard palette with a magnetic closure. It's smooth enough that I've had it for a couple of months now and used it regularly, and it's not getting messy from the eyeshadow inside.
My favorite part of the packaging is the illustration on the lid. Look at all that detail in Nefertiti's makeup and crown! Very nice. My only pedantic quibble is that Nefertiti was Egyptian, not Nubian, and we don't have any evidence that she had Nubian ancestry. But hey, who knows.
Juvia's Place doesn't state anywhere on their website that their products are designed specifically for women of color, but the palettes are inspired by places in Africa and are illustrated with these beautiful images of women of color. The eyeshadow shades included tend to be on the deeper or more vibrant side, colors that would work well for deeper skin. Nevertheless, they also perform excellently on my pale complexion, so I'd recommend this palette to just about anyone (except if you absolutely can't wear warm colors).
Let me show you more pictures of the pretty!
