Hard Candy Natural Eyes Palette Review and Swatches

Hard Candy Natural Eyes Palette ($8, Walmart) is new for Spring 2015 and is one of 3 palettes that were released, which also include Sassy Eyes and Smokey Eyes. These little tins contain 9 eyeshadows, a mini primer, and a mini Take Me Out Eyeliner in Soy (black).  Also included is an applicator and step-by-step instructional card.  Let's take a look! 

This tin has a magnetic closure and feels sturdy and well put together.  

Inside, everything has it's place...even the instructional card under the mirror has a little slot to slip it into so it doesn't go anywhere. Three of the shadows are larger than the other six which are actually a little smaller than I'd like them to be.  I like to have some room to swipe my finger or a brush around a bit and small eyeshadow pans make that more difficult.

This palette actually reminds me a bit of the Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette ($36), but I don't own that one so I can't really make a comparison. Still, it really looks like it based on the photos!

Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette 

The instructional card actually labels the eyeshadows, but the names aren't anywhere else inside the palette.  It shows how to get three different looks with drawings and diagrams, then on the reverse side, it shows the looks on real eyes.  I really like this idea a lot...it goes a step further than most other palettes like this.

The primer inside is a drier formula and reminds me of NYX Pore Filler or Benefit's Porefessional.  I did my swatches over this primer and I wasn't super impressed by it.  It was just ok, but the dry finish made it seem like there wasn't much for the eyeshadow to grab on to. It's a yellowish beige color, which does help to even out the eyelid color a bit.

When I started swatching, I was really impressed with the top row...mattes can be difficult to find soft and pigmented, but Hard Candy nailed it! These are just beautiful and took no effort to get dark, pigmented swatches. They did feel dry and powdery with tons of fallout, but they were super soft at the same time.

Tease, Toying, and Minx

The next three shades were also nicely pigmented and felt more buttery than the top row, with less fallout. The one thing I noticed with these was that I had to get past the top layer before I got nice color payoff. The first swatch wasn't impressive, but I pressed harder with my finger and really got into the pan a bit more and underneath that very top layer is a soft, buttery formula.  I think sometimes with these shades that contain glitter, a lot of it must settle on top, making them feel a little bit gritty and look less pigmented.

Bashful, Girlie, Philanderer

The bottom row was my least favorite...the first shade had very poor pigmentation and it was difficult to pick up much with my finger at all.  The middle shade was nice and buttery, but then the last shade felt dry and chalky and the glitter made it feel gritty, no matter how much I dug in past the top layer.

Chatty, Coy, and Frisky

Overall, this is a nice palette...I wish I were able to compare it to the Too Faced one, because it would definitely be interesting to see if they're similar or not.  Most of the shadows were of high quality and there were only two that I really wasn't crazy about. The eyeliner is super dark and glides nicely across my eyelid with no tugging.  I'm not crazy about the primer, but it'll do in a pinch.
What do you think of the shades, and this palette in general?  Have you tried it or one of the other ones?  Please let me know in the comments below!