Iconic 1, 2 and 3

3 Reviews

1. 

   zestyToucan8

   Reply

   I got these in a 3 for 2 so super cheap. I wanted to see if it was worth shelling out for the real thing.
   Firstly, I like the packaging. It’s basic but not flimsy, doesn’t take much space and you know what you’re reaching for. My fave turned out to be no3, love the rose golds in it. Even the chunky pink shadow makes a nice inner corner highlight. I don’t feel the need to buy the genuine nakeds 1,2,3. I even printed the genuine shadow names out to stick into my dupes and It’s fun having the names (in no way does this look professional, it’s just for my reference/fun).
   I have the genuine naked smoky and while the dark mattes in that are easier to blend I don’t see a huge difference between the performance of that and my iconics. I dont have the iconic smoky to directly compare the two.
   PS based on these palettes I got the MUR chocolate bar dupe, I heart chocolate. I don’t like that at all (see separate review). Be aware that the brand is not consistent across its products. I may splurge on the genuine toofaced bonbons based on my abysmal experience with i heart chocolate.

2. 

   chicBobolink2

   Reply

   I have the iconic 3 and I find it to be a perfect dupe to the naked 3 ! Love it and the colours are so pigmented!

3. 

   sheepishZebra6

   Reply

   Update: after using these a while, I have found I really dislike the texture of the shimmery shades. they are heavy, as someone put it, almost slimey (many may read this as “buttery” but I don’t), and tend towards frost. Of the Iconic Pro 2 palette, which I depotted, only 2 out of 8 shimmery shades were non-frosted enough for me to bother keeping. For depotters, the matte shades are *exceedingly* fragile, moreso than the shimmers, depot with extreme care and heat only. Both the Iconic and Iconic Pro palette outer cases are decent quality, as a side note, if you don’t damage them while depotting they make great sturdy freeform palettes – just stick magnetic sheeting into them. I would not repurchase these again. If you can find a 90-100% matte palette they may be worth checking out but these shimmery and mixed palettes have proven to be a bust for me.

   I recently acquired the Iconic 3 and Iconic Pro 2 palettes from MUR, they are my first experience with the brand. I had been lemming Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette for a while but the 50€ price tag here always gave me pause. I do already own the original UD Naked 1, owned and gave away the UD Naked 2, and also own the original LORAC Pro palette, as a background.

   For the price (5€), the Iconic 3 palette has a better value to performance ratio than Urban Decay. That being said, I would not say the textures are across the board good – several of the glittery shades felt gritty to me, and had some fallout. From what I hear on the boards, they are still *superior* to the original UD Naked3 palette, but just judged on their own merits, I would not call the texture “good” – simply “decent” – even for a drugstore brand. The more finely milled shimmers, all but the lightest of the mattes, and in general the darker colours in the palette, perform much better and are smooth and easy to use, not too hard, and not too soft. The shadows do apply wonderfully over a primer (I use WnW Fergie), but they lose a bit of their intensity over the course of the day (maybe 5 or more hours? I never timed it exactly.) I can’t complain about that for the price, though.

   Compared to MUR’s own Iconic Pro 2 palette, the textures of the Iconic 3 palette are definitely not as good, particularly in the intensity and performance of the matte shades. That’s not to say they’re bad, but if you “had” to make a choice between their 5€ palette and their 10€ palette, the quality definitely shines though on the “more expensive” palette. But who are we kidding here. For these prices, you can get almost their entire range and still not reach the price of a single Urban Decay or LORAC palette.

   Specifically on the colour range, and I suppose this could also apply to UD Naked 3 or any of the various dupes out there – I took two points off because I feel the colour composition lacks enough contrast to create more than a just a few similar looks for my NC25 skin. This was not the case with the Naked 1 & 2 palettes, so it really is a critique of the colour choices in the palette. For those looking for an alternative and not hung up on the idea of duping the N3, I believe the Iconic Dreams palette has a similar selection of rose mauves, while also packing in a wider variety of olives and warmer shades in as well. It’s the same price and something I wish I had gotten instead of the Iconic 3, to be honest, as it condenses the many “same” shades in Iconic 3 into just one half of the Dreams palette. I did put one point back on because for the price, I can’t really complain about lack of variety, AND it is a straight up Urban Decay dupe, not an original composition of MUR artists.

   For those concerned about ingredient quality, the company is based in the UK, but the palettes are produced in China, hence why they are so cheap. COSDNA doesn’t raise any red flags on the ingredient list, but like any budget brand, YMMV – as another reviewer said, test these carefully first before you buy the whole kit and kaboodle. If they do happen to work for you, however, these shadows are a steal.

   NB: For you streamliners and depotters out there, the packaging of this is actually quite good. I know some people find it cheap, but I find it efficient – for me no mirror is a bonus, it saves on cost and I never use those anyway. The clear plastic top lets you immediately see what colours you have, the plain black plastic housing is thin and not gaudy, and the shadows are efficiently packed with no wasted space. You could depot these, but you don’t have to because the packaging is smart. I only wish they didn’t even bother to include the brush slot, personally. 😛