Review: Urban Decay Loose Shadow "Shattered"

I've pretty much loved everything I've bought from Urban Decay. They were, after all the very first "high end" make up brand I bought from. I would say "high end" was something I couldn't get at Boots, but we can get Urban Decay from Boots these days. At the time I thought spending £5 on one item was a lot! I bought my first Urban Decay from Pure Beauty in London. That really was a great shop, I wish they were still open. So we're going back about 10 years!

However, the loose shadows just don't work. I only bought one and I was very disappointed.

This is in "Shattered" which is a tealy-blue with shimmer.


The packaging looks pretty. I love the detail that Urban Decay put into their packaging, but this just doesn't work! The loose shadow is held at the bottom of the tube and the lid holds a brush that you use to pick up the loose shadow and apply. To get the shadow out without the brush, you have to tip it into something else, which is going to waste a lot of product. I couldn't fit any of my eye shadow brushes into the pot either.

That wouldn't be so bad if the brush was actually useful.


The brush feels like it has natural bristles, it's very short and stiff. This means that it flings eye shadow everywhere when you try and use it. Also, the whole brush seems to get covered in the loose shadow so that gets dropped everywhere. If you look closely in the photo, there's drops of loose shadow in the background. I'd tried my best to tap off the brush, but I still got chunks falling off.

Another issue I had was that most of the colours were available in pressed form anyway. I think that was the biggest reason why I didn't bother buying any more. I think they were a little more than the pressed versions and I think you got a little less in there as well. I'm not completely sure as it was on the box, which I no longer have.


This is the pressed version of "Shattered", which I've had for a little while. It's the same colour as the loose shadow.

When I bought the loose version, I was shown that the best way to use it was to use it wet. The SA tipped some out and added a drop of liquid, mixing it to create a paste. It certainly does look a lot more metallic when you apply it that way, but you are going to waste a heck of a lot of eye shadow that way. I don't think I ever bothered to use it wet and anyway, the magic of Pixie Epoxy will do that even with the pressed version.

I usually used this with Urban Decay's Primer Potion and it lasted just fine on me. I didn't get any creasing or fading, which is usual for Urban Decay's shadows for me.


And, finally, here's some swatches.

If you can find this at a discount price then you might as well go ahead and get it. It's not worth it for the full price. I've not included pricing information as I'm not entirely sure this is a current product in the UK.