Shu Uemura Shu:Palette 16-pan nude eyeshadow palette swatches and comparisons

I probably didn't need this eyeshadow palette, but when there was a 15% off Lunar New Year code a couple weeks ago (the code was "SHEEP" -- double entendre?!), I couldn't help but jump on it! Retail is $89 USD (and 12000 JPY, or $160 Singapore dollars). It looks like the palette is sold out on the website, and I'm not sure if it's going to come back in stock or not. I figured I would throw my swatches here on my blog since I didn't find too many online when I was deciding whether or not to get it. The pans are the same as the full size singles, and the palette also comes with a double ended synthetic hair brush (but I didn't use it). The palette itself is huge! And it's hefty (in a good way) and has a really nice, big mirror. That said, I don't think I would travel with it, as I like to travel light.

It ended up being around $80 USD with tax after the code. Shipping was about 1 week (faster than I expected).

Palette on a pile of makeup and brushes


After getting my fingers and sponge tips into the pans - the pans wiggle around easily, so I suspect they are extremely easy to depot (though my experience with Shu pans is that they are not magnetic)


Back of the palette info


Spongetip swatches (2 swipes each)





Since I'm sure most makeup addicts would have dupes, I did a few comparison swatches:


taupes


lighter shades


matte light-medium browns


variety of browns (not too much overlap here in my collection)




Random Thoughts

• I like all the matte shades very much. The shades are very flattering on my skintone (NC25, very yellow). Quite smooth and silky textures, but not the butteriest (better than my Inglot mattes, not creamy like RBR mattes). 
• Blend easily on the lids, but do not overblend or get muddy 
• Some of the lighter shades are similar on my skin, so maybe not a lot of different looks in this palette - The blue shade is a little sheer to swatch, but I haven't tried it on the eyes yet 
• The silvery shade (ME471) is quite cool toned, and I haven’t tried it yet 
• The warm brown creamy shade P 875 goes on my eyes a lot warmer than it swatches 
• The palette is quite large, has a big mirror, and has a hefty weight to it. I haven’t used or tried the double ended brush (and I don’t plan to). The pans are not glued in that securely (probably glued in with that gooey glue used by many Japanese brands) 
• I find the shadows look very different on the skin than how they look in the pan, so I’m still trying to giro out combinations. Of the 4 times I wore it so far, I loved 2 of the looks, and didn’t are for 2 others. - Some shades are too shiny/light catching for my preferences (doesn’t look great on my eyelid texture). 
• Overall, it’s a very complete palette. I like that there’s a big range of light to dark, including a blending shade similar to my squinting, a darker matte brown to deepen my outer corner, and a black matte that works for liner AND (when used lightly) works for my brows as well. 
• The shadows last well on my lids with primer all day; no complaints here!

Hope this helps someone, and if you're interested, that it comes back in stock!