Is this the most pigmented eyeshadow palette I own? {Saharan Palette Review}

I have got to be the most plain Jane that I know. There’s nothing wrong with being a plain Jane. Hell it saves time and on the occasion you veer off the ‘plain’ course, people take notice. As a seasoned plain Jane, I’ve always been drawn to very neutral eyeshadow palettes, browns, golds, more browns and more golds. I was hoping to own the Nubian palette from Juvia’s place one day, but common sense told me…Simone you have enough browns and golds! And then I spotted the Saharan palette from Juvia’s place. *Cue heavenly angel music*

I didn’t quite understand it, because these were not the kind of colours I was typically attracted to. I was confused…but so intrigued. A few weeks ago I spotted the palette on sale and my husband, ever the enabler, encouraged me to treat myself. They offered free shipping, it was on sale AND I was able to use a discount code to get a further 10% off. It was meant to be.

My palette arrived about a week or 2 ago and immediately I was smitten. I have used the Saharan palette a few times now and let me tell you, this neutral loving gal, is loving her some red eyeshadow these days!

About Juvia’s place:

Packaging and price

The eyeshadow consists of 12 pans and it comes in a sturdy peachy pink cardboard palette. I love the graphics on the palette. The only downside to this palette: There is no mirror. I do prefer a mirror in my palette as I do makeup in the car very often, but usually a mirror just increases the cost of a palette anyways, so I’ll make do 😉

I believe the total weight of the eyeshadows in total is 18gms, so that’s 1.5gms per pan. My total cost worked out to R420 including delivery, so that’s roughly R35 per eyeshadow. As a point of reference, see below for the costs of different brands per 1.5gm eyeshadow pan.

NYX – R99

MAC – R110

The Body shop – R75

Colourpop pressed shadows – Around R100 to R120

I think R35 per eyeshadow is insane based on how good I feel these shadows are.

Swatches

Please note that these swatches were all done with one touch and one finger swipe. I found all the mattes to be really soft and incredibly pigmented. You go in with a light hand on these shadows and rather build up the colour, as it is quite intense. Jamila didn’t provide the best swatch, but it performs really well with a brush and shows up well on the eye. The metallic and shimmer shades are beyond gorgeous! They are best applied with the finger, and again, less is more.

I think this palette is really versatile. If you just go in with Katsina and a shimmer on the lid, that could be quite a conservative look. Add Jamila to the crease though and you just find that you may be ready to push your own boundaries. The colours of the Saharan palette really inspire me, and isn’t that what it’s all about? Jamila currently is my obsession. Sokoto is stunning as well.

I bought this palette directly off the Juvia’s Place website, but you are able to purchase it locally. I’ve checked online and all the retailers I could think of are out of stock, but The Fashion Police has stock of some other Juvia’s place palettes that you can check out and they appear to be on sale <3

What’s your current favourite eyeshadow palette? What do you think about the Saharan palette? Do you own any Juvia’s place palettes?

PS To answer my own question, yes, I do think that this is the most pigmented eye shadow palette that I own 😉