I love finding a high street product that rivals one of my beloved luxury favourites. When when I realised how similar the new Rimmel Magnif’Eyes palette is to my much-loved Naked Heat palette, I had to find out if this was simply a carbon copy of the cult classic palette, or deserved some praise of its own.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I’ve owned the Naked Heat palette for ages now, getting it not long after it launched and loving it tremendously, as the introduction to warm-toned shadows that I am still totally obsessed with. Gifted the Rimmel palette a few months ago, I couldn’t believe how high quality the shades were when I tried them out. They were really easy to blend and lasted all day, and that really surprised me – I expected it to have disappeared by lunch time! But I still doubted it could live up to my beloved Naked Heat surely?

It wasn’t until I had the palettes side by side that I noticed how alike they are. The reason why these palettes look so similar is because like the Naked Heat, Rimmel’s palette also has twelve shades, ranging from beige to reds to plums in the same order. Because of this, it is quite easy to compare the shades like-for-like. However, one key difference is that the Urban Decay eyeshadows all have names, whereas the Rimmel ones don’t. I guess this is due to the detail put into the palette by the brand, hence Urban Decay has the higher price point.

 

SHADE COMPARISON

 

 

Let’s talk about the shades! My up close photos of the palettes are totally unfiltered so you can truly see the similarities and differences between them. The first shade in the Naked Heat is Ounce, a gorgeous champagne-toned highlighting shimmer. The corresponding shade in the Rimmel palette is a fair bit more white toned; I prefer the more subtle highlight, but this isn’t a huge difference. The second and fourth shades in both palettes are neutral mattes and they are both very similar to each other, both in terms of colour and pigmentation.

 

The third shade of the Rimmel palette is where it differs from the Naked Heat the most. Instead of an orange-toned transitional matte like Chaser, we have a really pretty brown toned shimmer. This is a welcome difference, because the shimmer is really pretty.

 

The fifth shade in the Naked Heat is Lumbre, a red shimmer with gold reflects. It looks very similar to the corresponding Rimmel shade in the pan, however the amount of pay off on the eye is very different, and not in the way you would expect. Lumbre has always been the shade that disappointed me in the Naked Heat, because it was never quite pigmented enough. However, Rimmel’s shadow shows up exactly how it should and is super pretty – point to Rimmel on this one!

 

 

Carrying on through the palette we can see some very subtle differences; the mattes corresponding with He Devil and Cayenne are more orange toned – I think I would miss that true red He Devil offers, as one of my favourites in the Naked Heat. The plum similar to Ashes also doesn’t have quite the same depth. However, the three remaining shimmers are all very similar to each other, and the burgundy matte similar to En Fuego is basically a carbon copy.

SWATCHES

 

 

Unusually for me, I decided to pop some swatches into the post so you can get a feel for the pigmentation of the shadows. The fifth shade of the Rimmel palette is on top, followed by UD’s Lumbre – you can really see how disappointing it is compared to the Rimmel version, can’t you? It’s the exact opposite of what you would expect! However, the bottom two shadows are almost indistinguishable – this goes to show how similar the palettes are.

 

 

PACKAGING

 

Comparing the packaging, Urban Decay’s is much more sturdy and durable – it certainly feels like the luxury palette you’re paying for. On the other hand, Rimmel’s is not too bulky making it perfect for travel. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the brush that comes with UD’s palette is incredibly good quality whereas Rimmel’s is a flimsy little thing. But, that is what you would expect and at the end of the day, it’s the eyeshadows we’re paying for here!

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

So, is it worth paying over £40 for Urban Decay’s Naked Heat, or should you go for Rimmel’s Magnif’Eyes Spice for a fraction of the price? Comparing the eyeshadows like-for-like, I have to be honest – Urban Decay’s are really not that much better. Rimmel have really surprised me with this one, although I do find it a bit cheeky that they seemed to have copied Urban Decay’s cult favourite!

 

 

Have you ever found a product very similar to one of your favourites? Or perhaps tried either of these? I would love to hear!

 

EG x